THE Batemans Bay Cricket Club struggled against competition front-runners Sussex Inlet on the first day of a two-day match in the Shoalhaven District Cricket Association’s third grade competition on Saturday.
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On a windy afternoon at Sussex Inlet Oval, Batemans Bay won the toss and elected to bat.
Matthew Klarica (10) got the scoreboard ticking over with two big off–drives but succumbed to temptation and was caught at cover off Geoff Benning.
Benning proved to be effective with the ball, as he was able to shape it away from the right-handers.
A string of wickets fell every second over as Benning either bowled, had people caught, or trapped them leg before wicket and Batemans Bay was quickly 5/23.
Harry Shannon (9), Liam Macpherson (10) and Sean Griffin (5 not out) provided resistance and soaked up as many overs as they could until Shannon was caught at deep mid-wicket with his side all out for 56 from 38.5 overs.
After lunch Batemans Bay was active in the field against the aggressive Sussex openers.
Macpherson’s good line and length troubled the batsmen and after a few chances went begging, he trapped Sussex’s captain Dave Goodwin (19) in front of the stumps and the home side was 1/32.
Jason Hornitzky (17) and Geoff Webber (7) took the score past the half-century mark and were close to a first innings lead when Macpherson plucked a catch at cover to remove Hornitzky off Josh Lee’s bowling.
A short time later captain Pat Griffin had Webber caught off a late pull shot to have the home side 3/60.
It was a good period of play for the Bay and the team’s pressure brought about another wicket when Lee combined with Klarica to remove Robert McDonagh (2) which left Sussex at 4/67.
John Boller also got his name on the wicket-taker’s list with the help of Klarica who tracked a ball down that flew over his head at gully.
After drinks light drizzle changed the conditions and the Bay’s bowlers struggled with a wet ball.
A few grassed catches didn’t help and Nathan Dobeson and Dale Jarrett put on a 97-run stand which took the home side’s score to 5/191 at stumps.
Lee was the Bay's most economical bowler on day one finished with figures of 2/16 from six overs.
Sussex now sits in a prime position to win outright and the Bay’s batsmen will have to call on experience from the first innings if it wants to avoid that outcome.
