#BPL14: Day 1 wrap

by Val Febbo on February 21, 2022

It was a history-making day at #BPL14, with two new franchises making their tournament debut, while another returned to the competition with a statement victory.

The Melbourne eXtreme kicked off its BPL campaign against the Moama Steamers on night 1, falling in the opening set before forcing a deciding tie-break.

Ali Forsyth almost sealed victory in the breaker before the jack edged out of bounds by centimetres with the Steamers finishing off the bonus final end.

The eXtreme would find its historic first victory against the Sydney Lions in the second round, this time flipping their fortunes to win the tie-break from a set down.

Sydney lost both encounters on the opening day’s action, with the first loss to the Gold Coast Hawks who trounced the Lions with a strong straight sets victory.

The Gold Coast would go on to fall to the Adelaide Pioneers in an enthralling second round contest that ebbed and flowed in favour of both sides, with Adelaide overcoming a 13-shot defeat in the second set to claim the tiebreak.

Moama joined the Pioneers without a blemish, as did the Perth Suns, who recorded straight-sets wins over both the Melbourne Pulse and Brisbane Pirates respectively.

The Pulse went winless on the first day’s action, as did back-to-back defending champions, the Tweed Heads Ospreys, who fell in straight sets against both the Pioneers and the Tasmania Tridents.

Tasmania made its own history and like the eXtreme, won the franchise’s first ever Bowls Premier League match in round two following a tiebreak loss to the Pirates in the opening match-up.

In the return of Alex Marshall MBE, Brisbane ended their day at one win and one loss.

Progress results from #BPL14 below:

Round 1 –

Gold Coast Hawks Def. Sydney Lions 5-2, 13-0

Perth Suns Def. Melbourne Pulse 10-3, 7-2

Adelaide Pioneers Def. Tweed Heads Ospreys 8-0, 9-2

Melbourne eXtreme Def by. Moama Steamers 10-3, 4-7, 1-0

Tasmania Tridents Def by. Brisbane Pirates 3-7, 4-3, 1-0

Round 2 –

Tasmania Tridents Def. Tweed Heads Ospreys 7-3, 7-4

Sydney Lions Def by. Melbourne eXtreme 2-7, 8-2, 1-0

Melbourne Pulse Def by. Moama Steamers 7-2, 5-4

Brisbane Pirates Def by. Perth Suns 9-1, 6-5

Adelaide Pioneers Def. Gold Coast Hawks 5-4, 0-13, 2-0

#BPL14 will run from February 21-25, 2022 and will be broadcast live on Fox Sports, Kayo and Sky Sports NZ nightly from 4pm-10pm AEDT.