Neither South Gambier or Mil Lel hold the high ground after wickets tumbled on the opening day of the round 5 Hoggies Wines Baber Shield contest at Blue Lake Sports Park on Saturday.

No less than 14 wickets fell across the eventful 76 overs of play which sets up a tasty finale.

With overcast skies Mil Lel sent the home side into bat and tried to apply the pressure.

Initially the Demons’ openers Dan Loupos and Ryan Kuhl appeared up to the task with the latter on the attacking on the front foot.

Loupos hit the second ball for four and helped South to charge to 19 runs off the first four overs.

But his fun was finished by Nick Walters, who also removed Stephen Easterbrook cheaply.

The double strike brought the returning James Dunn to centre stage and the former captain shouldered his team’s responsibility.

Dunn and Kuhl fought hard to negotiate the first hour and get the team score past 50.

However, Logan Gibbs and Walters put the pressure on and Kuhl cracked after a quiet period of five runs in 42 balls.

The fall of the opener for 12 sparked a wobble for the home side which threatened to derail the innings as Jack Miller and Henry Smith nailed a good length.

Ethan Sims and Luke Zadow both snicked off for ducks, while Jed Sims also fell cheaply to put the Demons in significant trouble at 6/82.

But Dunn was still there and reached a fighting half century off 108 balls until Tom Smith ended his vigil.

After the big strike, Mil Lel had hopes of restricting South to a score around triple figures.

However, the Demons bat deep and the tail wagged once again.

Experienced heads Cam Jorgensen and Robert Drenthen slashed their blades against the grain and it paid off.

Drenthen was the aggressor hitting Tom Smith for a big six and was the only man to achieve a triple-figure strike rate.

He was given a life on 20 by Todd Carpenter, but just when the pair was on the verge of getting South past the psychological target of 150, Henry Smith returned and spoiled their fun.

The off-spinner proved too tricky to hit as Jorgensen (12) and then Drenthen (20) were dismissed in consecutive deliveries.

It was a dramatic finish to the Demons’ 146, while Henry Smith had the biggest smile on his face becoming the second Mil Lel player to raise the ball for a five-wicket haul in as many weeks.

But the drama did not finish there as Mil Lel had 25 overs to negotiate before stumps and both teams made big strides towards first-inning honours.

Will Rowland showed no fear at the top of the order targeting the mid-wicket boundary scoring three fours and two sixes.

However, South targeted the other end with devastating affect.

Jakob Opie removed Justin Smith for seven, Carey Megaw made his way to six before a Jed Sims direct hit from side on sent him packing, while Carpenter also fell for a single-figure score.

But the big wicket was Rowland, who had scored 72% of his team’s 64 runs and Easterbrook ended his onslaught at the key moment.

The fall of Rowland for 46 in the penultimate over gives South the slight edge heading into week two.