Gibson’s power day

NEWTOWN & Chilwell strengthened its grip on second place on the ladder on the back of a red-letter day for Ryan Gibson.

The powerful Englishman plundered an unbeaten 145 off 128 balls as the Two Blues comfortably ran down Leopold’s 8-209.

Gibson hammered 18 fours and two sixes in an innings that formed 68.4 per cent of his side’s score, along the way forming a new one-day record for his club’s flagship team.

“We knew what he was capable of doing before he came out to Australia, but from the get-go he led from the front,” captain George Chisholm said.

“He timed his run perfectly today, taking it slowly at the start, reaching the ball count at about 80 and then taking off from there.

“He took his time to see if the wicket was playing well and if the bowlers were doing anything, we just let him do his thing today and it worked well.”

But Gibson’s presence wasn’t just felt with the bat. The burly medium-paced seamer opened his day with 4-44 as seven Lions reached double figures, the most meaningful union coming between Joey Vallelonga (42) and Pat Richards (33) with 68 for the second wicket. Tim Marshall also struck a 32-ball 31.

“Ryan bowled at the death and bowled really well,” Chisholm added.

“Leopold was hitting its straps before Christmas, so to get the points straight after the break was crucial for us.”