Gleeson hammers a ton while Norths and Bay draw first blood
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FORGET the Big Bash League, there was enough excitement in the opening round of the SDCA Twenty20s to keep all cricket fans happy.
Just one round in and we’ve already seen some upsets with North Nowra-Cambewarra and Batemans Bay recording their first wins of the season and the first century, with Shoalhaven Ex-Servicemen captain Daniel Gleeson blasting the Bay and Basin attack into oblivion.
Bay and Basin did a reasonable job with the bat in their clash at Hayden Drexel Oval, thanks to some big hitting from Adam Hart (35), Danny Eccles (31) and Brandon Labb (23) on their way to a total of 6/117.
Nate Jones had a good night with the ball, with an economical 2/15, while Mat Ganderton, Shane Halliday, Brandon Booth and Dean Jones were the other wicket-takers.
Centuries in Twenty20s are rare enough as it is, but few would have managed the feat when they were only chasing 118 for victory, but take a bow Daniel Gleeson.
Gleeson hit 14 fours and four sixes to bring up his century from just 56 balls as Ex-Servos cruised to victory in the over, while Matt Tyler was happy to play second fiddle, scoring 12 not out.
At Nowra Showground, Berry-Shoalhaven Heads got their premiership defence off to a shaky start with a seven-wicket loss to Nowra.
Magpie skipper Kerry Penfold (12) was the only player in their top order to make double figures as the Nowra bowlers ripped through.
Some runs from Blygh Herron (15 not out) and Chris McCarron (14) down the order made some difference, but Berry only managed 9/93 from their 20 overs.
Nowra went about their run chase with the intention of polishing the runs off as quickly as possible and while they lost a few wickets, they needed just 14 overs to reach 3/94 for victory.
Chris Nation (26 not out) and Scott Fagerlund (16 not out) finished the job off, while Daniel Bryant made a handy 22.
Chris McCarron was the only Berry bowler to have much luck with 2/12 from his three overs.
There was a bit of an upset at Bomaderry Oval, where North Nowra-Cambewarra recorded their first win of the season.
Their total of 9/145 proved to be just enough, with a half-century to Matt Bell not enough to stop Bomaderry from falling four runs short of their target.
It also went down to the wire at Lighthouse Oval, where Batemans Bay picked up their first win since joining Shoalhaven, with a one-run victory against Ulladulla United.
Batemans Bay racked up 7/136 from their overs, which was just enough, as Ulladulla finished at 6/135 to lose by one run.
The second round of the Twenty20 competition will be held on Sunday February 9.