Hahndorf remain undefeated after a grinding 23-run victory over Langhorne Creek at Hahndorf Oval in round eight action of the Alexandra & Eastern Hills Cricket Association (AEHCA). Hahndorf batted first in the grand final rematch and it was opening batsman Andrew Baker who once again led from the front with his second half century of the campaign, compiling a fine 62 (7 x 4’s, 1 x 6). Skipper Kris Dawe (22) added 45 for the third wicket with Baker but at 4/74, Langhorne Creek held the advantage. Graydon Brand (31) then put on a 72-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Baker to lift the Magpies to 4/146. Four quick wickets fell thanks to fine bowling from Troy Blackwell (4/37), Brad Clements (4/42) and Brodie O’Dea (2/40) and a score of 200 looked doubtful before a cameo from Benny Montgomerie (33 not out from 25 balls) lifted Hahndorf to exactly 200 at the end of their 45 overs. Langhorne Creek began their run chase in steady fashion with Nathan Wundersitz (48) and O’Dea (11) adding 24 for the first wicket before a collapse of 4/14 left the reigning premier in trouble at 4/38. Ben McLeod (15) and Troy Blackwell (22) joined Wundersitz in trying to resurrect the innings and lower order contributions from Caleb Howell (18 not out), Daniel Kropp (17) and Clements (17) lifted the Tigers to a total of 177 before they were bowled out in the 44th over, 24 runs short of victory. Hahndorf used seven bowlers with six claiming wickets including Jarrad Tait (2/25), Brett Krieg (2/27), Kris Dawe (2/29) and Michael Shanahan (2/33).

Lobethal have won their fourth game on the trot to sit just outside the top four after a convincing seven-wicket win over Wistow at Wistow Oval. Wistow batted first and struggled their way to 95 before being bowled out in the 39th over. Matt Martin was the pick of the Lobethal bowlers as he snared 3/27 (9). He was well supported by Ryan McEachern (2/12) and Dave Huxter (2/19) while Mitch Weeks was extremely miserly taking 1/8 from eight overs. Lobethal made light work of the run chase with skipper Ben Matthews (36) and Weeks (20) top scoring as the runs were knocked off in just 22 overs.

Strathalbyn consolidated second position on the ladder with a thrilling one-wicket victory over Woodside at Woodside Oval. The home side batted first and it struggled throughout the innings with only Jimmy Kain (28 not out) and Tommy Baldock (25) passing 20 as the Warriors were bowled out in the 41st over for just 133. Matt Hein (4/25) was the star with the ball and he has now taken 14 wickets at an average of 9.14 this season. Brayden Gaiter (2/23) and Matt Abbott (2/24) also chimed in with wickets for the Stallions. Strathalbyn also struggled with the bat and apart from Luke Cousins (38) and Matt Abbott (41), no other Stallion passed 11 runs. At 7/72 it looked all over for Strathalbyn but Abbott was still there as the runs were slowly ticked off, but when Abbott was run-out, the game swung back in Woodside’s favour with the score at 8/108. Danny Horan (11 not out) came in and batted sensibly but when the ninth wicket fell, Strathalbyn were still 10 runs short of victory. Horan and Hein (2 not out) battled hard and got their side over the line with five balls to spare in a thriller. Shane Collins (2/14) and Dave Wescombe (2/17) were the multiple wicket takers for the Warriors who now sit precariously in fourth spot on the ladder, only net run rate ahead of Lobethal.

Robert Crook’s maiden century has led Nairne to a crushing 113-run win over local rival Mount Barker at Nairne oval on Saturday. Crook opened the batting and peeled off 118 from 113 balls (11 x 4’s, 5 x 6’s) as the Razorbacks put up a sizeable score of 5/263 from their 45 overs. Handy contributions from skipper Luke Timmins (40), James Graves (28) and Richard Boscence (26) helped lift the home side to their highest score of the season. Jackson Lane (2/33) was the pick of the Kookaburras bowlers. It was always going to be a difficult run chase for Mount Barker and so it proved as they came up 113 runs short at 9/150 from their 45 overs. Chris Paterson (49) made his highest score of the season and he was supported by Deklan Porter (30) and Wayne Buckland (20 not out). The wickets were shared by five Nairne bowlers with Michael Harden (2/24), Sam Rowe (2/28) and Duncan Rogers (2/33) the chief destroyers as Nairne banked their third win of the 2019/20 season.

Round 9 (14/12/19) fixtures (home sides named first)…..

Strathalbyn v Hahndorf

Mount Barker v Langhorne Creek

Wistow v Nairne

Bremer-Callington v Lobethal

Woodside has the bye