Second grade in the hunt

On Saturday, Batemans Bay trekked to Bomaderry Oval and elected to bat first after it won the toss.

Steve Knight and Lachlan Paterson opened the batting.

The pair ticked over the scoreboard until Knight (2) was caught in the fifth over and the visitors were 1/15.

First drop Andrew Malcolm joined Paterson at the crease, but Paterson (15) could not convert his start into a big score and was dismissed by Anthony Johnston with Batemans Bay’s score at 2/22. 

Malcolm and Paul Windsor put on a 23-run stand and almost took the Bay’s score past the half-century mark when Malcolm, who had smacked four boundaries, was caught off Matthew Lees’s bowling.

Windsor fell five runs later and the Bay was 4/50 after 17 overs. 

New recruits Luke Strachan (27) and Nick Smith were the foil to Bomaderry’s bowlers and regained momentum for Batemans Bay.

The pair solidified the visitor’s batting and despite the dismissals of Simon Blue (8) and Praveen Varghese (10), Batemans Bay reached the century-mark in the 36^th over.

Shortly after Strachan was trapped leg before wicket and Batemans Bay was 7/103.

Smith smacked a few boundaries and soaked up time, but was stumped on 39 with the total at 138.

Harry Shannon (4) and David West (7) added late runs, but Batemans Bay was bowled all out for 146 from 53 overs.

Matthew Bell was the best bowler for Bomaderry and finished with first innings figures of 3/29 from 14 overs.

Johnston (2/20) and Lees (2/7) and Trevor Wright (2/23) were the other multiple wicket-takers.  

In reply, Bomaderry made a fast-start scoring at almost six runs an over.

Varghese was brought into the attack and dismissed opener Michael Blattner (11) with the last ball off his first over and Blue held the catch.

Varghese’s game-changing spell sprung Batemans Bay to life as he was on a hat-trick in his next over. 

He combined again with Blue to remove Greg Wellington (1) and trapped Michael Lees leg before wicket and Bomaderry showed it was vulnerable at 3/41.

Bomaderry’s opener Travis Roth (37) was a thorn in Batemans Bay’s side and controlled the innings, until he was caught by Knight off Varghese with the home side at 4/67.

Matthew Lees (23 not out) and Wright (13 not out) flashed a few late boundaries and will take to the crease when play resumes next Saturday with their score at 4/97.

Batemans Bay’s captain Andrew Malcolm said he was pleased with how the new players performed.

“There are a few new players to the club and considering that, we’re really pleased by their start,” Malcolm said.

“It was a solid effort all round. 

“A couple of us made starts and maybe we were a bit unlucky getting ourselves out.” 

Malcolm praised Varghese for his tremendous bowling spell and hoped his team could put early pressure on next week to chase first innings points.