DAY one of the Spirit of Cricket Twenty20 franchise tournament showed plenty of what can be expected across the next few days of competition.
Eight games were completed yesterday with local players finding themselves on the winning side.
Australian Pavillion, with local players Tony Hickey and Mark White, defeated Sandgropers by 14 runs in their opening game.
Vice-captain Richard Gabb smashed 80 from 52 deliveries as Pavillion finished their overs at 5/146.
In response, the Sandgropers reached 6/132, with Todd Zani leading the chase with an unbeaten 49 from as many deliveries.
Saxon Kings earned a first-round victory over EV2 Cricket by 11 runs.
Kings finished their 20 overs at 5/135, led by Gavin Brown 43 (43) and captain Andrew Sharp 32 (33). EV2 bowler John Short took 3/14.
In reply, EV2 posted 8/120, with Ashley Sippel, Matt Harris and Glen McFadden all scoring 29. Anthony Wilkes took 3/20 for the victors.
Simon Neich starred for Team Thunder with a century as they defeated Spot On Strikers by 87 runs.
The vice-captain smashed 106 from 63 deliveries, featuring 11 boundaries and five maximums as Thunder made 6/173. Neich was well supported by Gerard Wyeth who made 40 (35).
Strikers finished at 8/86 in reply, with Wyeth wrapping up a strong all-round game with 3/20.
Team Thunder in the afternoon became the first squad to win batting second, securing a five-wicket win over Saxon Kings.
Wyeth took 3/17 and Thunder captain Matt Lewis 3/25 to dismiss Kings for 86.
Russell Ingram led the run chase with 34 off 49 as they reached the target with 10 balls remaining.
Garry Eisenmenger took 3/19 for Saxons.
EV2 responded from their first-up loss by defeating Australian Pavillion by 44 runs.
Sippel top scored for the winners with 61 from 40 as they finished on 6/167, Hickey taking 2/34.
In response, Pavillion finished on 8/123, Anton Balym leading the chase with an unbeaten 31.
RJR All Stars held on for a 21-run win over Sandgropers at Mildura Senior College.
All Stars batter Mark van der Merwe made 48 from 36 as his side scored 7/156.
Sandgropers fell short despite an unbeaten 45 from Ben Warren and 45 from Jamie Lee.
The biggest run fest of the day came in the entertaining clash where the Lightning Storm secured an 11-run win over Spot On Strikers.
Adnan Khawaja scored a brutal 100 not out from 52 deliveries on the way to Strom reaching 2/211. He was well supported by vice-captain Mason Robinson, who made 57 (39) not out in an unbeaten 164-run stand.
Strikers came close, finishing at 8/200 led by an unbeaten 42 from just 17 deliveries from vice-captain Simon Tape. He was supported by John Garry with 40 from 32 before he was dismissed by Mildura’s Brad Purdue.
Lightning Storm v RJR All Stars full scoreboard was unavailable at time of writing.
