Lobethal won the Alexandra & Eastern Hills Cricket Association (AEHCA) Twenty20 title following their 25-run win over Langhorne Creek in a low-scoring Grand Final at Mount Barker last night. Lobethal won the toss and decided to bat first and it was tough going with the ‘Creeks’ bowlers keeping it tight. Cooper Luke (15) and Dan Norsworthy (6) went early to leave ‘Lobey’ at 2/26. The key partnership of the innings came between Mitch Weeks and Ben Matthews who added a crucial 60 runs for the third wicket before Weeks was dismissed for 26 (33 balls). Matthews carried his bat through the innings to finish with 45 not out (55 balls) as Lobethal posted 3/107 from their 20 overs. Chris Russo (2/18) and Troy Blackwell (1/24) were the wicket takers for Langhorne Creek, while Adam Clements bowled a miserly spell of 0/11 (4). 

The ‘Creeks’ would’ve been confident of chasing down the target but they started badly as Daniel Kropp (2) and Ben Warren (11) were dismissed early in the innings to leave Langhorne Creek in trouble at 2/15. Russo (12) and James Dawson (20)  then came together to put on 27 runs for the third wicket as the game started to swing in favour of the Southern Tigers. Enter Lobethal off-spinner Will Zadow, who turned the game on its head with three wickets in four balls as he dismissed Russo, Clements (0) and Brayden Frost (0) to see the ‘Creeks’ reeling at 5/43. Blackwell battled hard to make 12 from 24 balls but the damage had been done as Lobethal took the last eight wickets for just 40 runs to see Langhorne Creek bowled out for 82 in the 19th over. Zadow finished with the fine figures of 5/19 (4) to win the ‘player-of-the-match’ award. Jeremy Hackett (2/19), Matt Jenkin (1/5), Matt Martin (1/11) and Mitch Weeks (1/18) were the other wicket takers for Lobethal.

In other Cricket news, the Meyer Shield Grand Final will be played today at Mount Barker and you can follow the game live on the Fleurieu App thanks to Murraylands Football & Netball sporting results. The game starts at 10.00am.