Carl Shilling onslaught lights up the night in thrilling start to T20 season

As batters have toiled away on tough surfaces this season one man took the opportunity to unleash full T20 mode at the first opportunity as Carl Shilling battered Wanderers into submission on Friday evening. Kade Gillingham won the toss and sent the Pointers in to bat but would have questioned his decision as Bluff Point hit 3-152 and never looked back posting a 61 run victory. Shilling hit a six off his second delivery and set the tone for his whirlwind innings as he belted a career-best 67-ball 92 including a mammoth nine sixes. He put on 34 in an opening stand with Matt Reid who scored just six before he was bowled by a Riley Jupp yorker in the sixth over. That was as good as it got for the Wanderers with the ball as Callum Joss came to the crease and proceeded to put on 114 for the second wicket with Shilling. Shilling was motoring along, feasting on anything short as cow corner was being peppered and he brought up his 50 as Jack Annison palmed a tough catch over the boundary for six. Wanderers then let him off a second time putting a simpler chance down at short third man as the runs continued to flow. Joss was the perfect foil at the other end rotating the strike well and able to punish any bad balls that came his way. Wanderers had four men out on the boundary between mid-on and square leg but Shilling continued to take them on and clear the boundary as the prospect of a century became near. He moved into the 90s with two overs to go but when Joss got a single off the end of the 19th an overthrow saw them try for a second to have Shilling on strike but it wasn’t on as he was run out at the bowler’s end for 92. It was the only sour note in a fantastic innings as 152 was an imposing total. Wanderers began well in the chase and were keeping pace with the required rate at the halfway mark. But they had lost wickets as Shilling became the tormentor with the ball removing Shayne Bidwell with his second delivery before having Clayton Bruce Cherry caught in his next over and trapping Jason Partington in his third over to take figures of 3-29. Only Gillingham (25) and new player Riley Jupp (15) endured as Joss tore away at the other end with 4-11 and once he had Gillingham bowled the Wanderers folded, losing 7-24 to fall to a heavy defeat.