Gold still winless

A STRUGGLING Gympie Off-road Gold 11 is still without a win in the Sunshine Coast cricket competition being beaten outright by the Hinterland Hawks on Saturday.

A STRUGGLING Gympie Off-road Gold 11 is still without a win in the Sunshine Coast cricket competition after being beaten outright by the Hinterland Hawks on Saturday.

The Gold were hoping to challenge the Hawks early on the second day of the round four match to claim victory and some tight bowling gave them a glimmer of hope.

Gold bowler Brad Brigg stepped up taking three quick wickets to limit the Hawks first innings to 221 – a lead of 79 and only 24 more runs than last week’s total.

Brigg finished with first innings figures of 4/66 and was ably supported by Dean Chandler with 3/49.

Gympie openers Steve Brady and Danny Sheperdson walked to the crease ready to eat away at the deficit before building a total for the Hawks to chase.

The Gold batted well before the lunch break in hot and steamy conditions, but the movement by the ball through the air and off the wicket made it hard for the batsmen to get into the groove.

The Gold sunk to 2/24 as Shepperson was caught out for five and Brady was out in similar circumstances for 12. Gold captain Tim McIntosh paired with Ash Sippel and the duo set about building a partnership. They slowly gained confidence moving past the deficit target 79 and then on to 110, an 86 run partnership.

Then, McIntosh fell, caught out, for a classy 45.

Sippel went on to reach his half century before also falling for a well-made 59.

Unfortunately, when Sippel fell with the score at 5/158, a 79 run lead, so did the Gold’s chances of winning.

Gympie’s tail failed to wag, offering little resistance to the Hawks’ attack. When the Gold was eventually dismissed for 193 in their second innings, it left them with a lead of only 114. The Hinterland side had 26 overs to face to reach the total and take outright victory.

Glimpses of good bowling and fielding were all that the Gold could muster.

With crucial misses and the odd bad ball, the Gold only managed to take four wickets and the Hawks only needed 24 overs to claim victory

Originally published as Gold still winless