West Gambier dressed up for its annual Pink Stumps Day and put on a show on and off the field at Malseed Park.
Players were all pinked up in support of the McGrath Foundation, but a Roos’ rampage left North Sportsman’s rosy in the face after a dominant performance to seal top spot in Pool B of the 2021/22 Dycer Constructions Big Bash.
Under grey skies the Tigers padded up to post a total on the board and the pursuit of quick runs suffered a nightmare start.
Sam Willis opened the bowling and only conceded a single from the first over and his effort was backed up by captain Justin DeJong.
DeJong was on the money straight away to set up the key wicket of Nick McInerney.
North struggled to pierce the gaps as the first boundary did not arrive until the 21st delivery off the bat of Jake Schutz.
Although the visitors struggled to break the shackles Elliott Fisher started to look set and smashed Kyal Chapman for six to progress to 10.
However, Chapman returned serve getting him caught to spark a mini collapse as West reaped the rewards from its tight bowling performance.
Across four tough overs North slumped from 1/23 to 5/31 as Schutz (15) and Mitch Lewis (2) followed each other back to the pavilion.
The final and most painful part of the Tigers’ period of pain was Shane DeJong’s maiden which finished with the dismissal of Mitch Robinson after a mix up running between the wickets.
North captain Declan Kenny took matters in his own hands and tried to turn the game from the dire situation in the second half of the innings.
Kenny progressed to what eventuated as the equal highest score of the innings of 16, while Michael Johnston hung around to push the to above 50.
However, West never lost control and Shane DeJong removed both in the space of three balls.
At 8/63 the Tigers were in big danger of being to restricted to an embarrassing total, but Isaac Mulraney attempted to score against the grain.
The youngster struck a six off Justin DeJong, but he could not leave a lasting impact after Chapman returned and finished him on 16.
It was the final chapter of a forgettable innings for North after being skittled for 83 with Chapman, Lachlan Brown and both Dejong’s taking multiple victims.
With a meagre target to chase, the Tigers’ attack had to attack with the new ball, but it was always going to be a lost cause
Jake Blackwell and Niall Easterbrook silenced all of North’s hopes of an early breakthrough by peppering 29 runs from the first three overs.
Easterbrook was the aggressor racing to 18 until he edged a Kenny ball to the keeper, but the wicket did little to slow the hosts.
Youngster Hamish Case teamed up with Blackwell and the pair remained calm and attacked the bad balls.
Blackwell was deadly off his hip to compile 27 runs until he was removed by Fisher, who also picked up Willis and Chapman cheaply to salvage some pride.
Case played smart shots on his way to 23 to push the Roos to the brink of victory until Mulraney ensured he would not finish with red ink.
Despite the four late wickets, Connor Prior and Justin DeJong ensured West cruised to the inevitable win with 5.5 overs to spare and complete Pink Stumps Day celebrations.
