West Gambier v North Sportsman’s
Two round one winners will face off in the second round of the Mount Gambier and District Cricket Association Barber Shield season as West Gambier host North Sportsman’s.
West Gambier started the season on a high note getting its revenge over East Gambier who beat them in grand final last season.
This season is a shot at redemption for West Gambier who were arguably the most consistent side last season and would have felt they should have won the final match of the year.
West started the season on the right foot with excellent performances with the bat and ball.
Justin Dejong was the highlight of the match for West Gambier with an incredible display at the crease with a quickfire 92 ball hundred.
Bray Stephenson and Jayden Prior were also impressive with the bat and North Sportsman’s will be looking to get their wickets early.
West will be hopeful that its bowling attack can deliver even contributions as it did in round one with all six bowlers taking a wicket and none taking more than two.
North Sportsman’s also delivered an excellent all round performance against Penola.
Chasing 190 is no easy feat and will fill North with confidence ahead of its match with West.
Nick McInerney will be crucial with bat and ball after an excellent round one performance, Brad Robinson and Declan Kenny were also impressive with the bat and will look to take their form into the second round.
The Tigers will be hopeful their bowling attack can be more threatening than it was in round one as they only took five of Penola’s wickets.
West Gambier’s performance against East Gambier was very impressive and despite North Sportsman’s win over Penola, West should be favourites heading into the match with a strong potential of the game going either way.
Penola v Mil Lel
Penola hosts a Mil Lel side coming off a big win against South Gambier and will be attempting to win its first match of the season.
Penola started the season off with a disappointing loss after failing to defend a good score of 190 against North Sportsman’s.
The Penola batsmen offered a promising start and Michael Waters and Drew Clayfield will be keen to repeat their innings against North and perhaps bat much deeper into the innings.
Mil Lel will be cautious of Gerard Merrett who caused the North Sportsman’s numerous issues last week picking up 3/24.
The rest of the Penola bowling attack will need to take a step up to restrict Mil Lel’s score.
Four players took two wickets for Mil Lel last week which is a good sign the side will not be relying on a single bowler and can make plenty of changes depending on the game situation.
Captain Jack Miller was partially impressive taking 2/12 from eight overs going at just 1.5 an over, a remarkable economy in a one day match.
If the rest of Mil Lel’s attacks tightens up its bowling then Mil Lel could get a real stranglehold on the match.
After last week Penola will know that Rowland and Williamson will be the key wickets for Mil Lel, if Penola can go through Mil Lel’s top order quickly it could restrict the visiting team to a very low total.
Apart from Rowland and Williamson only one batsman passed 10 for Mil Lel which could be cause for concern, but it will have this week to prove it has a strong batting lineup.
East Gambier v South Gambier
East Gambier and South Gambier will both be hoping to get its first win on the board after a disappointing first Mount Gambier and District Cricket Association match.
Allan Scott Park will host the match as the two sides meet for the first time since last year’s semi final.
In the round one match against West Gambier, East Gambier was well and truly below its best.
The standouts in the batting were Aiden Creasey and Alex Hentschke but both will require more support from the rest of the batting line-up.
Dion Stratford got off to a good start in the previous round however will need to put on a bigger score if the Doggies are to be successful.
East will also be hoping that its bowlers can fare better than round one where West Gambier scored quite freely at five an over.
Hentschke and Marc Roberts will both be crucial with the ball and if East Gambier can get some early breakthroughs the Doggies could be hard to beat.
South Gambier faced similar problems to East Gambier in round one.
Both of South’s openers were dismissed for a duck last week and that cannot be repeated in round two if it is to get the result.
Only three people passed 10 for South Gambier, meaning the batting line up this week will need to build some solid partnerships early and set a big total.
South’s bowlers will also require more even contributions, Robert Denthen and Jakob Opie both were good against Mil Lel but will need more support from the rest of the attack to restrict East to a low total.
East Gambier will begin the round sitting bottom of the ladder, while South Gambier sit one spot above it at fifth.
Both teams will be giving their all to avoid two losses to begin the year, East Gambier are the reigning premiers and will believe they are better than their first round results – and now they have a chance to prove it.
