Mil Lel v South Gambier
Mount Gambier’s stormy weather late last week meant the Mount Gambier and District Cricket Association’s round 10 clash between Mil Lel and South Gambier had to be moved from Mil Lel’s home Frew Park to Allan Scott Park.
The loss of the home ground advantage did not seem to affect Mil Lel though as they finished the first day in an extremely strong position with their first win of the season very much on the cards.
South Gambier told Mil Lel to pad up after winning the toss, hoping to bring some early wickets from a Mil Lel batting lineup that has had a tough year.
South’s captain Cam Jorgensen set his team off on the right foot taking the first wicket in the second over of the day.
William Rowland was only able to score four runs when he was caught by Adam Kuhl, Mil Lel were 1/6, an all too familiar sight.
The next over Craig Lock hit South young gun Elwood Geary for the first boundary of the day.
The overs that followed the wicket provided an intriguing contest between bat and ball with Mil Lel doing its best to tick over the scoreboard.
Looking comfortable Mil Lel then suffered a catastrophic run out in the ninth over, Nick Walters was caught out of his crease when the bails were removed and left the crease having contributed six runs to Mil Lel’s total.
Another quick wicket for South and Mil Lel found itself three down for only 27 runs, another low total was looking imminent.
Lock continued to score from the other end as the wickets progressively tumbled, including hitting Scott Easterbrook for nine runs in an over.
Logan Gibbs did not last long before Robert Drenthen dismissed him for his second wicket of the day.
South did not allow any partnerships to get out of hand with Ty Dinninson caught LBW for 4 to reduce Mil Lel to 5/60, and then Jack Miller for 16 to go 6/84, after he combined with Lock to hit Drenthen for 12 runs from the 27th over.
Lock brought up Mil Lel’s first half century with the hope to lead his side to victory, before Jed Sims found the breakthrough of Lock.
At 7/100 South needed to clean up the tail quickly, but the wickets could not be easily found with another tail wag from Mil Lel’s lower order.
Archer Virtanen and Jarrod Saunders combined for an extremely important innings for Mil Lel, Virtanen starting in an incredible fashion hitting Sims for a six from only his second ball.
Virtanen then hit Sims for two more sixes, and Saunders joined in hitting Sims for a maximum in the 44th over.
Virtanen scored quickly reaching 38 at more than a run a ball before South finally dismissed him, with Daniel Loupos claiming his first wicket of the day.
Virtanen and Saunders’ 58 run partnership provided crucial runs to Mil Lel’s total, taking the possibility of being bowled out for just over 100 to possibly scoring 200.
Saunders again combined for an important partnership this time with Shannon Megaw.
The two took Mil Lel to 9/190 with Megaw bowled by Loupos for an important 17 off just 18 balls.
Loupos finished cleaning up the tail, picking his third wicket for Mil Lel all out for 204.
Karthik Srikande was a capable support for Saunders facing out 22 balls for no runs.
Saunders finished 38 not out as he steered his team towards the victory path.
South was in with the bat for 16 overs to close out the day’s play.
The innings started off well including a six from David Somerfield in the fourth over.
The next over brought disaster for South when Logan Gibbs claimed the wicket of Ryan Kuhl for three and followed it up by dismissing Loupos the very next ball.
In the next over, South’s innings went from bad to worse when Walters also claimed two wickets in two balls with Elwood Geary out for a golden duck.
South faced a disastrous turn of events going from 0/18 to 4/18.
Walters claimed a third wicket before the end of the day’s play.
Mil Lel is in a strong position with South 4/35 chasing 204.
North Gambier V East Gambier
Hosting an in-form East Gambier was never going to be an easy task for a North side that has struggled for form this season and it proved to be a challenging day for North and a tough wicket for batting.
East won the toss and sent the North batsmen in. Some tight bowling from Alex Hentschke and Liam Turley meant North was only able to score eight runs in the first 10 overs.
The pressure continued with North openers Mitch Lewis and Mathew Robinson both struggling to see any sight of the boundary.
The terrific bowling meant North was only able to score 17 runs by the 20th over, which East’s pressure brought the wicket of Mathew Robinson for 10 from 56 deliveries.
Elliot Fisher came to the crease and the runs did not flow for him either, only scoring three off of his 17 balls when he was caught off an Emerson Marks delivery.
Nick Mclnernery came to the crease and in the 30th over hit North’s first boundary of the day.
East’s bowling remained difficult to face and the slow scoring continued, with the scoreboard pressure ensuring wickets became easier to get.
Marks claimed his second wicket of the day with Mclnerney leaving the crease for 13.
Lewis continued to fight for runs at the other end hitting Ben Hentscke for a six the over following McInerney’s wicket.
Harry Fisher became the third victim of Marks dismissed for a duck with the second ball of the following over.
Lewis was joined by Isaac Mulraney at the crease and the pair was able to score more freely than any partnership so far for North.
But some consecutive dot balls lead to the big breakthrough of Lewis for 34 caught behind off Liam Turley.
It was a massive loss for North losing the wicket of their captain who had fought hard for 34 from 142 balls.
North at 5/78 had big issues and needed some decent runs from the lower order to score a total their bowlers could defend.
The East bowlers proved too good breaking the partnerships quickly, Mulraney and Magidan dug deep to defend their wicket scoring 18 from 70 and five off 34 respectively but the East bowlers always had their measure.
Cull was Marks’ fifth wicket of the day to bring up an outstanding fifer, and Magidan became his sixth wicket only three balls later.
The first ball of the following over, East skipper Hentschke finished up North’s innings bowling Zach Clarke for a two ball duck.
Luke Richards remained not out having only faced the one delivery.
North’s total of 98 seemed well short of a defendable total, with East having 13 overs to make a dent in the run chase.
The reliable Hentschke and Turley both finished with two wickets each, while Marks starred with the ball with an impressive 6/25.
East’s innings started off nicely, scoring at a consistent rate and applying tough scoreboard pressure on North.
Chasing only 98 the players batted with confidence as Dion Stratford and James Sullivan seemed comfortable at the crease.
North picked up its only wicket for the day, the massive wicket of Stratford, for 19.
East finished the day 1/38 only requiring 60 runs on day two with nine wickets still in the shed.
Penola Vs West Gambier
Penola will go into the second day of its Baber Shield clash against West Gambier hoping it can score an upset victory.
West Gambier lost the toss and was forced to bat first, however the Roos’ openers made Penola question their decision to bowl first with some quality batting.
In the 20th over West brought up their 50 and the 50 partnership, however Penola took its first wicket the same over.
Trent Badman was the man to go, bowled by Jack Mullen for 15.
Nuwan Gunawardana scored well despite the loss of his opening partner.
Jake Blackwell and Sam Willis were both unable to cause any major impact to the scoreboard, only scoring a run each.
Gunawardana was stumped off the bowling of Mullen, a huge wicket for Penola.
His 73 top scored for his team with the importance of his innings becoming even more clear by the end of the day.
The tally of 4/95 quickly became 6/97, as West suffered an awful collapse of 6/46, having started off flying.
Jack Geddes only scored four when dismissed for Mullen’s third wicket, Niall Easterbrook’s partnership with Bray Stephenson did not add any runs to the total.
Mullen picked up his fourth wicket with the dismissal of Easterbrook for a duck, Penola had staged an incredible fight back with West now 8/106.
Stephenson was the only batsman left, offering resistance to Penola’s bowling attack.
But Mullen proved too good, bowling Stephenson for 22 to claim his fifer.
The last wicket partnership for West was only able to add nine runs to the total, with West dismissed for 132.
Chasing a low total with a lot of overs to do it Penola’s bowlers had set their batsmen an easier task than usual.
The innings started in terrible fashion with the first wicket of Jake Schulz coming in the very first over, before a run had been scored.
Lewis March was caught LBW by Kyal Chapman for seven, two more wickets fell in quick succession with Jack Mullen out for 21 and Tom Clayfield for six.
Penola finished the first day 4/44 with Mark Smith and Lachy Jones to restart at the crease on day two.
Penola requires 88 runs with six wickets in hand on the second day against top of the table West.
