Taking the field, the home side were looking for early wickets to dent the confidence and weaken the resolve of the competition leaders, Sussex Inlet.

Pace bowlers Mitch Hockey and Darcy Knight posed plenty of early headaches for the opposition openers, but were let down by some uncharacteristic lapses in the field.

It took the wily veteran, Bradley Hancock, to make the initial breakthrough, removing both openers within the space of 14 runs.

Hancock was virtually unplayable, returning the figures of 3 for 2 from seven overs of impeccable line and length bowling.

Praveen Varghese (2 for 13) was at his usual searching best, as Sussex were dismissed for just 85 in 31.1 overs.

Sensing a real opportunity to achieve an outright victory, stand-in captain, ‘Snowy’ Malcolm enforced the follow-on.

Hockey struck an early blow, removing the opener, Ireland, in just his second over for a globe.

The Bay bowlers toiled hard on an increasingly flat deck over the course of the afternoon. Sussex knuckled down and demonstrated impressive fortitude in negating the local bowling, ultimately avoiding outright defeat, as they negotiated the day’s play, ending on 4 for 88.

Wickets for the home side were shared between Hockey (1-26), Varghese (1-12), Hancock (1-7) and Paterson (1-19). Sussex opener J. Kingston again displayed a combative resolve to top score for the visitors with a well-made 43.

In the final wash-up, Batemans Bay, although disappointed not to achieve the outright victory, totally outplayed their more fancied opposition, in what could prove to be a season-defining match.

They play Berry next week in the final match before the competition breaks for Christmas.

The Batemans Bay side travelled north to play their second and final match in the Tier Two T20 competition, looking for a victory to secure their place in the January 6 final.

Fresh from a convincing two-day victory over Sussex Inlet the day before, the Bay won the toss and elected to bat.

Opener Anthony Mortimer immediately found the bowling to his liking, striking cleanly and with great impact. Mortimer single-handedly took the game by the scruff of the neck in a whirlwind innings of 70. His knock included six fours and five sixes.

By the time he was dismissed in the 11th over, Batemans Bay were charging along at 2-112.

Number three, Zac Henstock continued to build upon his mid-season revival, compiling a stylish 48 without taking any risks whatsoever. However, his dismissal in the 15th over, with the score on 145, allowed Sussex to apply the hand-brake to the run scoring.

Batemans Bay finished with a respectable, if slightly sub-par total of 169 from their allotted 20 overs.

Impressive young quick, Mitch Hockey’s opening salvo of thunderbolts had the Sussex openers on the back foot early.

Emerging left-arm quick, Sean Griffin proved a perfect foil for Hockey, enticing the drive and frequently finding the opening batsmen’s edge.

Frustratingly, edges flew to the boundary consecutively, as the Sussex openers rode their luck, scoring at 10 per over.

The game shifted to-and-fro, almost from over-to-over, as both teams fought for the ascendancy.

The Bay team held important catches and fought hard for every run in the field. Ultimately, it came down to the final over, where 11 runs were required for victory.

Young Sean Griffin (3-27) was tasked with the ‘death’ bowling duties, and proceeded to calmly deliver an impeccable, nerveless six balls, securing a breathtaking victory for the visitors.

Batemans Bay will now contest the Final of the T20 competition on January 6, 2019.

Batemans Bay have further entrenched their position at the top of the Shoalhaven Cricket 3rd Grade competition table after completing a resounding outright victory over an under-manned Bomaderry side last Saturday at Hanging Rock.

On the first day, the Bay scored 230 and had Bomaderry struggling at 4-40 in its first innings.

On resumption on Day 2, the Bay bowlers continued on their destructive path and soon had Bomaderry’s batsmen struggling.

Bomaderry were dismissed for a total of 79. Wickets were shared by Mark Templeman (3) Dan Smith and Sean Griffin each with two and Matt Klarica one. 

Bay skipper Paddy Griffin had no hesitation in enforcing the follow-on, and it wasn’t long before Bomaderry found themselves in deep trouble again.

The veteran Paul Cullen lead struck early and often to finish with 4 wickets for 8 runs from 7 excellent overs.

Dan Smith picked up 2 wickets and Tom Purcell’s legspin mopped up the last.

Bomaderry could only muster 39 runs in its second innings leaving Batemans Bay victors by an innings and 112 runs. 

Skipper Griffin was full of praise for his bowlers but highlighted the excellent all-round fielding performance by the team, which provided massive support for the bowlers and gave Bomaderry’s batsmen no quarter. 

Batemans Bay 4th grade travelled to Bomaderry where the tables were turned by the Bomaderry side on Batemans Bay with an impressive win in their T20 match. 

Skipper Brett Woolridge won the toss and chose to bat first with the Bay soon in trouble losing early wickets. Only Mark Tuckwell, 12, and Woolridge, 17, were able to reach double figures, until a late rescue effort by Josh Vanzetti put some respectability in the total of 8 for 108 from 20 overs.

Vanzetti’s excellent innings of 38 not out proved very timely for the Bay and pushed their total to something competitive for the bowlers to defend. 

The Bomaderry batsmen had other ideas, however, and lost only 3 wickets in passing the Bay’s total after 17 overs.

The Bomaderry openers put on 67 runs before the loss of three quick wickets gave the Bay some hope.

But the bowlers could make no further inroads, as Bomaderry cruised to the winning total. The wicket-takers were Woolridge and Kasper Matuschka, and Paterson, with 59 not out, was the best performer for Bomaderry. 

Batemans Bay U12s continue to impress and notched up yet another win last Saturday, this time over Bay and Basin at Sanctuary Point. 

Batting first, Batemans Bay put on a very respectable 6 for 117, with Cooper Frawly 31 n.o. and Flynn Dunn 26 n.o. The top run-getters, they were well supported by Jackson Riley, Kaleb Watson and Ricky Holmes, who all made valuable contributions.

In reply, Bay and Basin started solidly with an opening stand of 30, but once the first breakthrough was made, the Batemans Bay bowlers took control. Bay and Basin’s innings fell away to finish 8 for 65. 

Best Batemans Bay bowlers were Deakin McPartland, 2-4 off 2 overs, Claudia Hannan 0-4 off 2 , Jackson Riley 2-8 off 4 and Flynn Dunn 2-3 off 3 overs.

Fielding again was excellent with Joshua Franklin and Oliver King both running out an opposition batsman at critical times in the innings. 

Batemans Bay Under 11s returned to the winner’s circle with a strong performance to overcome a determined North Nowra last weekend.

Playing at the picturesque Cambewarra Oval, the Bay won the toss and invited North Nowra to bat first.

North Nowra compiled a creditable total of 9 for 120, which the Bay would have to bat well to surpass.

Best bowlers for the Bay were Andy Frawley, Archie Hancock and Jesse Dunn who each got a wicket, but none was better than Maddy Malcolm who took 2 wickets for 6 runs - her first ever wickets in competive cricket. Great work Maddy. 

In reply all Batemans Bay batsmen made solid contributions to their winning total of 7 for 136.

Jesse Dunn top-scored, closely followed by Kayden Smith and Archie Hancock. Andy Frawley, Bailey Kravstov, Maddy Malcolm, Charlotte King and Jordan Stevenson all made valuable contributions to a great team score. 

Coach Andrew Malcolm was very pleased with the team effort.