The juniors meanwhile had mixed success with a solid win in the U/12s and the U/11s coming up against a strong Berry outfit to be outclassed.

Batemans Bay 2nd Grade make hard work of win over Ex-Servos

Batemans Bay hosted an under-strength Shoalhaven Ex-Services side in a must-win fixture Saturday.

Losing the toss, the Bay took to the field on a slightly spongy wicket. Opening bowlers, Darcy Knight (1-4) and Mitch Hockey (1-7) initially tested the batsmen with short-pitched bowling that was difficult to negotiate, and hard to score from.

Ex-Servos lost their first wicket in the 10th over with the score on only 13. Praveen Varghese (2-10) and Josh Lee were at their miserly best, further restricting the run-flow. It was the introduction of left arm wrist spin after drinks that brought immediate and dramatic rewards for the Bay. Lachlan Croke bounced back from an early season lack of form to skittle the visitors in a masterly spell of guile and flight. Croke returned the excellent figures of 6-17 from seven overs to close the opposition innings at 66, inside of 31 overs.

Again the Bay’s innings got off to a rapid start with the ever-threatening Anthony Mortimer (15) middling the ball from the outset. His partner’s dismissal, Brendan Blackmore (5) sparked yet another collapse for the home side, who should count themselves lucky to be still a chance for the one-day semi-finals.

Looking precarious at 5 for 40, Batemans Bay steadied the ship to eventually reach the victory target in the 20th over. Composed batting from young all-rounder, Darcy Knight (12 not out) and skipper Steve, the elder Knight , ensured any faint whiff of an upset Ex-Servos victory was extinguished.

Batemans Bay can now secure a semi-final spot should they win next week against one of the competition’s front-runners, Bay and Basin. Finding the gaps and shot selection will again be at the forefront of the batters’ minds as they seek to go one better than last season in the short form of the game.

3rd Grade overcome tough North Nowra

Batemans Bay’s 3 rd grade side defeated North Nowra Cambewarra by 4 wickets and remain unbeaten after 6 rounds and have assured themselves of a home semi-final in the 1 day competition.

The Bay won the toss and sent North Nowra into bat with opening bowlers Mark Templeman and Paul Cullen toiling hard, with Cullen not making the breakthrough until the 8th over. A solid partnership then developed between Walsh & Ryan Lowbridge and the score was on 64 when Griffin took a sharp caught and bowled to remove Lowbridge for a hard hit 22.

Griffin and the Malcolm boys, Snowy and Lachlan, continued the tight line-and-length bowling but up-and-coming legspinner James Dickinson secured the next breakthrough helped by a great outfield catch by Sean Griffin. .

The Bay boys had an excellent day in the field backing up the bowlers and saving many runs with the NNC innings coming to a close at 5/145 off their allowed 40 overs. With the ball, Griffin Snr finished with miserly figures of 1/6 off 5 overs, Cullen 1/16 off 7, Snowy Malcolm 1/32 off 8 and J Dickinson 1/15 off 4 overs.

In form opening pair of Jamie Prior and James Cashin made a cautious start, but Cashin was bowled for 5 and Sean Griffin followed LBW soon after, leaving the Bay in trouble at 2/17 after 4 overs.

Paul Cullen (11) joined Prior at the crease and both batted confidently keeping the run rate in check and taking the score to 72 before Cullen was also adjudged LBW in the 18 th over. A mix-up between Prior and James Dickinson saw Prior run out for an innings high 35, including 5 boundaries.

Lachlan Malcolm (8) and Dickinson (21) kept the score moving with smart singles and excellent shot placement, both losing their wickets to have the Bay at 6/116 in the 30 th over, with the match evenly balanced. The experienced pair of Snowy Malcolm and Capt Griffin were able to finish the game off within the next 4 overs, Malcolm taking full advantage of the short pitched ball to finish 30 not out including 4 boundaries and the only six of the innings. The Bay’s innings finished at 6/148, in the end a well-deserved but hard fought victory and a great team effort.

4th Grade start T20 campaign with win

The Bay 4th Grade side started the T20 competition with a sound victory over Berry-Shoalhaven Heads.

Veteran Brett Woolridge led the way with both bat and ball as Berry were bowled out for 91 in 17.4 overs. Only one Berry batsman Mike Howard was able to make double figures , top scoring with 32.

All other batsmen struggled to counter the versatile bowling attack of Batemans Bay.

Josh Vanzetti made the early break-through , while his new ball partner Bailey King picked up picked up 3 wickets. 2 top order runouts dented Berry’s momentum , and Tom Brown and the wily Woolridge claimed the remaining scalps.

The Berry total of 91 appeared respectable on the slow outfield , and Berry would have been confident at the innings break in the shorter match format.

But Woolridge (44) and the emerging Mark Tuckwell (16 ) put the Batemans Bay side well on the path to victory with a quick partnership of 51 , which was followed up with a solid 16n.o. by Alex

Woolridge to see the win achieved in 12.1 overs.

After a slow start to the season, the win moves the Bay side into equal third position on the ladder and well-placed for the rest of the season. Wicketkeeper and captain Chad Salmon did not have to make any significant contribution but reported “I am very pleased to see the young players learning how to win games , and I’m looking forward to more wins after our slow start to the season”.

U/12s continue winning form

Batemans Bay U/12s continued their winning form with a convincing win over Shoalhaven Ex-Servos on Saturday. The Bay side won the toss and batted. They were soon in trouble as the top order struggled against some excellent Ex-Servos bowling , losing 4 wickets for with only 8 runs on the board.

Claudia Hannan steadied the ship with a well compiled and steady 26, while at the other end the tide was turned with strong hitting from Flynn Dunn ( 40 ) Kaleb Watson ( 30 ) and Will McAteer ( 32 ).

The Bay finished with an imposing 5/170 off 37 overs . This total was always going to hard to chase, and so it proved.

Ex-Servos struggled against fine bowling by the Bay attack and were dismissed for 25 runs in 14.1 overs.

Jesse Riley was the pick of the bowlers , with 4 wickets for 4 runs , Kaleb Watson ( 1-11 ) and Flynn Dunn ( 2-3 ) the other wicket takers. All the Bay bowlers performed well and scoring was difficult against the accurate attack.

The win sees the Bay at the top of the ladder, on percentages, but will have to repeat their performance next week against a strong North Nowra side at home next Saturday to stay at the top.

U/11s fall to Berry

The Bay Under 11s took the long road trip to Shoalhaven Heads on Saturday morning, but were unable to match a strong Berry side.

The Bay won the toss and batted first. All batters got away to good starts, but Berry were able to limit their scoring with accurate bowling. Jesse Dunn top-scored and was supported by all batsmen, with Bailey Kravstov, Archie Hancock, Andy Frawley and Charlotte King all making strong contributions. The Bay totalled 87 runs in their 20 overs.

Berry are a very strong batting side and the Bay bowlers were soon under the pump. Best were Maddy Malcolm , Ivy Prior, Jordan Stevenson and Charlotte King, but Berry were too strong and their batsmen built up a sizeable 160 runs off 20 overs. A good win to Berry, and the Bay side came away with some lessons learnt and coach Snowy Malcolm very positive about the team’s progress and improvement through the season so far.