Mil Lel is on the verge of claiming its third win of the season after the first day against South Gambier in round four of Barber Shield action.

Having won the toss and electeing to bat, South Gambier faced a disciplined Mil Lel bowling attack at Frew Park.

It was a disastrous start for South Gambier losing openers Jakob Opie and David Somerfield for a combined five runs.

Not long after the Demons were three down with Jack Miller picking up his second wicket of James Miller on 4.

Stephen Easterbrook was gone not long after for 28, an important wicket as he was threatening to go big.

Adam Kuhl emerged as the top-scorer, with his 40 runs off 68 balls, featuring four boundaries and a well-struck six.

Kuhl and Jaggar Geary did their best to provide some stability and runs in the middle order and were tracking well before Mil Lel finally got the key breakthrough of Kuhl.

Geary was gone just three balls later and from there South struggled to build a partnership.

Noah Maxwell provided some crucial runs at nine, stranded on 19 not out after running out of partners.

In the bowling Mitchell Little proved to be the most impactful once again, claiming four crucial wickets for 33 runs.

Harry Hicks, Jack Miller and Dale Bachmann were also in form, contributing with two wickets each.

South Gambier concluded its innings at 138 runs after 47.3 overs, which gave Mil Lel plenty of overs to bat.

Mil Lel faced an early challenge in its innings with Darren Whitehorn and Ty Dinnison departing early.

William Rowland and Darcy Williamson both threatened with the bat, however South Gambier dismissed them before either could get going.

It was a good start for South Gambier defending a smaller total, however Mil Lel required just one partnership to get going.

Toby Grigg and Dale Bachmann built a strong partnership which the Demons struggled to break.

The partnership took Mil Lel to the end of the day’s play with the pair remaining unbeaten at the crease on 23 and 22 respectively.

Jakob Opie was South’s highlight of the day with his bowling performance claiming three wickets for 26 runs.

As the day concluded, Mil Lel was in the box seat at 4/88 runs after 29 overs.

The bowling performances on both sides were strong, with Mitchell Little’s four-wicket haul for Mil Lel and Jakob Opie’s three-wicket burst for South Gambier standing out.

With Mil Lel A Grade trailing by 50 runs at the end of day one and South Gambier requiring six wickets, the match is finely poised for an enthralling second day next weekend.