Batemans Bay 2nd Grade's season ended agonisingly short of a semi-final position, as a result of disappointing defeats in their final two games of the regular season.

Batemans Bay had posted a mediocre total of 139 on the opening day. In reply, Bay and Basin had lost only three wickets, and were all but home and hosed, sitting at 3 for 133. Day two saw Bay and Basin gradually accrue a first innings total of 212, thereby ensuring they would progress to the semis.

Number three, Santino Battagliolo took his overnight score of 66 to 81, before eventually falling to the nagging line and length bowling of 'Snowy' Malcolm (2-24). Tom Purcell (1-31) bowled with precision, as he probed the defences of the Bay and Basin middle order. He could have taken a bagful with any luck.

Pace spearhead Darcy Knight was unable to bowl, having succumbed to a side strain. Lachlan Paterson continued to shine, developing his crafty off-break bowling. He gained some reward and consistently troubled the lower order, finishing with the tidy figures of 2-37 from seven overs.

A significantly improved fielding effort helped to curtail the home side's scoring. Several sharp catches were taken and the ground fielding was generally of a higher standard than had been seen in previous weeks.

Alas, it was all too late for the Batemans Bay side. Having lost on first innings, and with little to play for other than pride, Batemans Bay dug in for the afternoon, aiming to stymie the home side in their quest for 2nd innings bonus points and a possible outright victory.

For the second week, inspirational Bay and Basin captain Darren O'Keefe, cut off his elbow-to-finger cast in order to open the bowling. O'Keefe had fractured bones in his non-bowling hand - an injury sustained in the previous game as he fended a beamer off his face.

Again, O'Keefe bowled with accuracy and venom to trouble the top order of the Batemans Bay side.

The early departure of Anthony Mortimer (3) and Darcy Knight's premature dismissal for 1, both bowled by O'Keefe, had the Batemans Bay team reeling at 2-10. A third wicket recovery between captain Stephen Knight (31 not out) and Zac Henstock (28) alleviated any fears of capitulation.

A further half century fourth wicket partnership between Knight and 'Snowy' Malcolm took the score to 90 before Malcolm (28) succumbed to a sharp caught and bowled opportunity to Michael Dolby (2-19).

Praveen Varghese went first ball, for a golden duck, which placed pressure on incoming batsman Ryan Hall as he had to negotiate the hat-trick delivery. Hall did just that before quickly warming to his task, punishing some lesser bowling as the final overs ticked by late in the afternoon.

Hall finished with a quick-fire 28 not out, as the Batemans Bay side safely negotiated 47 overs to close their second innings at 5-127 as stumps were drawn for the regular season.

The team may now reflect on missed opportunities and begin planning for success in season 2019/20.

Batemans Bay 3rd grade side will host the major semi-final at hanging Rock oval this Saturday and Sunday, after holding off 4th placed Berry to win on the first innings and take out the minor premiership at Shoalhaven Heads last Saturday.

The Batemans Bay side were clear minor premiers but the finals are a completely different scenario, with the four finalists all starting on equal terms.

Berry openers Alex Dobson and Richard Brain resumed at 0 wickets for 20 in pursuit of 185 runs for first innings points. They took the score to 48 before Dobson was run out.

Wickets fell at fairly regular intervals. Brain was removed for 30, with Berry's number four, Hugh Dobson, making a substantial contribution of 66 well-compiled runs. However, once Dobson was removed by opening bowler Mark Templeman in his second spell , there was little resistance from the Berry tail.

Promising leg-spinner James Dickinson took 4 wickets for 31 from 16 well controlled overs, and added to his first innings 58.

Mark Templeman took 2 wickets, while senior bowlers Pat Griffin, Andrew Malcolm and Dave West each took one wicket.

Berry took to the field to try gain a bowling bonus point, which they managed to achieve by taking 3 of Batemans Bay's second innings wickets for 52 runs.

This additional bonus point allowed them to narrowly hold on to 4th position. They will have a return match against Batemans Bay in the semi-final at the Bay's home ground over two days at Hanging Rock this weekend.

Skipper Pat Griffin will be hoping for better batting performance from his tail to ensure his side prevails. If they do, the Bay will host the grand final at Hanging Rock on the following weekend against the winner of the other semi-final between Bomaderry and Nowra.

Batemans Bay 4th grade side continued their run towards the finals with a hard-fought win over Ulladulla at Surfside.

Last week the Bay dismissed Ulladulla for 120 runs and were in the handy position of 2 for 45 at stumps.

Ulladulla bowlers were not going down without a fight and had wickets falling consistently.

Batemans Bay scraped past Ulladulla's total with 8 wickets down, and went on to compile 138 runs. Chad Salmon was the best for the Bay.

Ulladulla returned to the batting crease but were able to bat out time, eliminating any slight chance of an outright victory to the Bay and finishing 9 down for 82 runs.

Tyler Frawley was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3 for 7 from 5 overs. Bayley King picked up 2 wickets with one each to Chad Salmon, Brett Woolridge and Mick Vanzetti.

Batemans Bay move with confidence into the semi-final against Bomaderry to be played at Shoalhaven Heads. They trounced Bomaderry outright in their previous encounter at home ground Surfside and will take great confidence from that victory. However, they will be disadvantaged by playing away from home.

Batemans Bay Under 12s were beaten by a committed Berry team in their grand-final at Ulladulla on Sunday.

It was a disappointing end to an excellent season for the Bay 12s , but they were outplayed on the day by Berry.

Batemans Bay won the toss and elected to bat first, and found runs hard to come by against some accurate Berry bowling, which was well supported by a strong fielding effort on a heavy outfield.

The Bay struggled to 102 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. Best with the bat were Kaleb Watson, 19 not out, Will McAteer 14 , Flynn Dunn 11, Jackson Riley 9 and Cooper Frawley 8.

In reply , Berry were struggling early but eventually gained the upper hand to pass the Bay's total three wickets down. The stars for Berry were Toby Eyland, 26, and Noah Hinkley. 23 not out.

The Bay team gave it their all until the very end, with patchy rain not helping their cause in wetting the ball and outfield, making bowling and fielding difficult. However, Berry were the better team on the day and deserved their premiership win.

In their final match of the season Batemans Bay's U11 side were narrowly defeated by Ulladulla.

Batting first at Ulladulla, the Bay scored a creditable 9 for 96 off 20 overs. Best for the Bay were Kayden Smith, Jesse Dunn, Andy Frawley and the much improved Maddy Malcolm.

In reply, Ulladulla scored 5 for 111 from their 20 overs . The runs off the bat were almost equal, the difference in the end being the additional extras conceded by the Bay bowlers.

Coach Andrew Malcolm was proud of his team, and was particularly impressed by the improvement shown by all players.

The womens social cricket was in earnest competition on Friday afternoon. Next Friday is the penultimate day of competition, to be followed the following week with finals and presentations.