West Gambier will go into the Christmas break with winning momentum after a solid victory over Mil Lel in a top of the table clash during round six of the Mount Gambier and District Cricket Association’s Barber Shield.

After winning the toss West Gambier set Mil Lel the task of batting first at Frew Park and it proved to be a very tough task for the home side.

It was a disastrous first over for Mil Lel as Bray Stephenson took two wickets.

Darren Whitehorn was caught LBW by Stephenson for a four ball duck, which brought William Rowland to the crease who only survived the two balls, bowled on the final ball of the first over.

Ty Dinninson followed Whitehorn and Rowland shortly after, only managing two runs before being caught off the bowling of Justin Dejong.

Mil Lel was in serious trouble losing three wicket sin the first four overs of the match as Darcy Williamson was joined by Archer Virtanen at the crease.

The pair offered the most resistance the West Gambier bowlers faced all day as they began to build a partnership.

An excellent Sam Willis delivery had Virtanen walking before too long for 10, and not long after Willis had a second, bowling Jack Miller for 1.

Dale Bachmann failed to make an impact on the scoreboard before he was bowled by Justin Dejong.

West Gambier finally got the wicket it was after with Darcy Williamson bowled on 39 by Willis.

From there West Gambier had no problem cleaning up the rest of the batting lineup.

Dejong picked up two wickets in the one over, before Bailey Rothall wrapped up Mil Lel’s innings with Nick Walters caught behind.

Mil Lel finished all out for 76 after 23.4 overs which meant the side had its work cut out for it, as it attempted to defend its total and go into the new year on top of the Barber Shield ladder.

Justin Dejong and Nuwan Gunawardana got West Gambier off to a quick start with the bat, the pair found the boundary often causing the Mil Lel bowlers problems.

The pair quickly passed 50 together, putting West Gambier in an almost unlosable position.

Craig Hicks took the breakthrough of Dejong for 27, but the damage was done as Gunawardana was joined by Jayden Prior at the crease and the pair cruised past Mil Lel’s total.

West Gambier then got a good chance to pile on some runs, Prior and Stephenson were out within three balls of each other with Nick Walters taking both wickets.

Gunawardana stuck around and managed to pass the 50 mark, but he too was brought undone by Walters, caught on 58.

Willis and Sujith Nikethana attacked scoring quick fire runs, Willis in particular was impressive knocking 63 off 44 balls to go with his three wickets from the first innings.

Bachmann picked up the wickets of Samuel Coxon and Jack Geddes in consecutive balls as Nikethana remained not out on 26.

West Gambier finished as comfortable winners in the top of the table clash and will take winning form into 2024.