Winning the toss and electing to bat first on its home pitch, L-G was under pressure early after star batsman Tyler Jones departed for a five-ball duck at the hands of Alex Wagner (1-18).
The loss was further compounded by captain Joshua O’Shea’s (13) dismissal when he holed out off the bowling of Jeremy Felmingham (1-14) to have the home side reeling at 2-24.
Billy Hawken and Blake Gibson (9) looked to stem the bleeding, occupying time at the crease before Gibson also fell, with new batsman James Keath (15) following shortly after, both at the hands of Declan Pearse (2-22), to have L-G in all sorts of trouble at 4-75.
Hawken was the only Leitchville-Gunbower batsman who seemed to be able to find some rhythm at the crease and, although scoring was slow, he crept to 47 to be far and away the highest scoring L-G player.
But his departure saw the home side fall away at the end of the innings, adding just 22 runs for the final four wickets as Liam Hamilton (3-17) cleaned up the tail, with L-G recording a total of 8-125 by the time the allotted 45 overs expired.
BLU wasted no time in its chase, with captain Regis Chakabva and Hamilton getting off to a terrific start.
Chakabva made 76 off just 41 deliveries, with five shots finding the rope along the ground and another six clearing it completely in a quickfire innings.
The BLU skipper was dismissed by Lewis Stubbs (3-26) with his side at 1-94, sparking a mini collapse as both Pearse and Werner Brand fell for second-ball ducks to have the Lions three down for 95.
Hamilton was the final BLU wicket to fall, making 28 before Ben Reid (six not out) and Noah Turner (11 not out) closed out the emphatic victory for the visitors.
The win sees BLU enter the Christmas break just two points behind fourth spot on the McMahon Shield ladder, while Leitchville-Gunbower continues to suffer through a lean period in ninth spot, with its two points coming as a result of an abandoned match.
The Game
Leitchville-Gunbower 8-125 (Billy Hawken 47, Simon Tatt 17) lt Bamawm-Lockington United 4-126 (Regis Chakabva 76, Liam Hamilton 28, Lewis Stubbs 3-26)
