South Gambier v North Sportsmans
South Gambier took on North Sportsmans on Saturday in the first day of their two-day Mount Gambier and District Cricket Association match, with the Dees winning the toss and electing to bat.
South openers Sam Bradbrook and Robbie Drenthen got off to a strong start.
Despite lasting a solid time at the crease, Bradbrook fell first on seven runs after facing 30 balls.
Shortly after, North struck again as South’s Sukhbir Singh struggled, out for a duck.
The Dees were able to steady the ship when Adam Kuhl came in, with Drenthen and Kuhl combining for some solid runs.
Both were dismissed in a short span as Drenthen fell first on 31 followed by Kuhl on nine.
Noah Maxwell came to the crease and was the saving grace for the Dees as he put a solid amount of runs on the board over a long period of time.
Other than Maxwell, the Dees continued to struggle as captain Elwood Geary fell on one run followed by Hanish Jalota on two.
The Dees finally got some consistency in the back end of the batting order as Jagger Geary made a solid partnership with Maxwell before getting out on 21 after facing 28 balls.
Geary was followed by James Miller who did a solid job, making 10.
The quick runs kept coming for the Dees as Kobi Maxwell came in and did some damage late, scoring 21 runs from 18 balls.
At the bottom of the list Jakob Opie did a solid job closing out the innings, making 17 off 23.
Maxwell was finally dismissed, to bring the innings to a close, making 40 off 108.
The Dees finished their innings all out on 164.
South captain Elwood Geary thought his side batted well after a shaky start.
“The start of our batting innings was a bit shaky but our middle and lower order held up well which was able to get us to a decent score by the time we got bowled out,” he said.
Geary said Noah Maxwell and Robbie Drenthen stepped up for the side with the bat.
“The main standouts for us were Noah Maxwell who held our innings together, facing out 108 balls to make 40 was a great effort, along with Robbie Drenthen who made 31 opening the batting,” he said.
East Gambier v Mil Lel
East Gambier took on Mil Lel on Saturday at Allan Scott Park, with Mil Lel winning the toss and opting to bat.
Mil Lel’s openers Jarrod Sanders and Nick Walters got the side going early on.
Both lasted a long time at the crease with Sanders falling first after facing 65 balls and making 22 runs.
Mil Lel continued to hold their own at the crease as William Rowland came in, putting together a solid innings, facing 43 balls before getting out on 18.
The Doggies built off the wicket from Rowland as they dismissed Brodie Pfitzner four balls later.
Mil Lel chipped away and added to their run total as Vaibhav Patel put in a good shift, making 15 off 37.
Down the line Mil Lel continued to put runs on the board with Jack Miller making 15 and Harry Hicks getting 10 on the board.
Late in the innings Mil Lel got a big push from Inesh Patel who made 31.
After a huge innings opening, Nick Walters was finally dismissed after making 63 runs off 214 balls.
After 80 overs Mil Lel made a solid total of 205 runs.
Penola v West Gambier
West Gambier took on Penola on Saturday at Frew Park, with the Roos winning the toss and electing to bat.
West got off to a shaky start with lots of early wickets from Penola.
Jack Geddes was the first to fall, making four, while Jayden Prior could only put five on board with Jake Blackwell scoring four.
West found a bit of consistency from opener Justin de Jong who made 28 off 35.
West skipper Bray Stephenson came in next and put some solid runs on the board just as times were looking tough.
Stephenson made 28 off 49 in his innings which got the ball rolling for the tail enders.
West had some good contributions in the back end of the batting list which helped them pull together a solid run total thanks to good performances from Sam Willis, Sujith Nikethana and Sam Hunt.
Willis scored 19 while Nikethana had a big innings, making 77 off 85 while Hunt made 34 from 51.
After an up and down innings West finished all out on 220 with still a bit more cricket to play with Penola going into bat to close out the day.
Penola did not get off to a strong start to begin their innings with Jack Mullan falling on four.
Fellow opener Lewis March got things going, sitting on 16 runs not out.
Penola did a good job at lasting at the crease but struggled to put many runs on the board as Bredon Smart faced 41 balls to make nine while Eli Hunter ended the day not out after facing 28 balls and making one run.
Penola will pick up at the crease on Saturday as they currently sit 2/33 after 24 overs.
