Two century stands have put City Colts in a strong position after day one of their round 11 match against Bathurst City.
After winning the toss and batting first at Bathurst Sportsground, City Colts lost opener Kurt Toole with the score at 19 in the 6th over. That brought Lochlan Shoemark to the crease who then partnered with Connor Brown to add 111 for the second wicket before Shoemark was run out for 55.
When Brown (64) fell to Blake Kreuzberger a short while after and then Jed Cruickshank quickly removed Cooper Stephen and Tyler Horton, Bathurst City would have felt they were on top, however the experienced pair of Russell Gardner (73) and Daniel Casey (71) had other ideas, putting on the second century stand for the innings (112) before Casey fell to Cohen Schubert.
Gardner and Israel Symington added another 56 before Gardner lost his wicket to Kreuzberger, City Colts declared their innings closed a short while after at 7/321. Jed Cruickshank (2/42) and Blake Kreuzberger (2/94) were the multiple wicket takers for Redbacks.
Bathurst City then had 6 overs to negotiate before stumps, losing the wicket of Haydn Edwards to end the day at 1/19.
Rugby Union have the upper hand in their match against Centrals at Riawena Oval. Batting first, Centrals were in strife at 5/40 before Rupert Begg (74) and Rahul Narwal (41) combined to add 96 for the 6th wicket. Flynn Taylor picked up 5/52 off his 16 overs to be the pick of the Ruby Union bowlers, as Centrals were dismissed for 164. In reply, Rugby Union had moved to 2/123 at stumps with Hugh Taylor undefeated on 75.
In the top of the table clash at Wade Park, Orange CYMS made early inroads into the Cavaliers top order to have Cavaliers 4/65 mid way through the first session. Captain Matt Corben (58) and Tom Blowes combined to add 58 for the 5th wicket with Corben and Hugh Middleton (29) then adding another 47 to take Cavaliers to 170, before a mix up saw Corben run out.
Cavaliers proceeded to lose 4 quick wickets to leave them at 9/179 before the final pairing of Josh Ward and Kyle Buckley pushed the total to 204. Wickets were shared among the CYMS bowlers, with Lachlan Wykes and Clint Moxon the multiple wicket takers, both finishing with 2/21.
In reply, Harry Pearce removed both CYMS openers to have his team on the front foot early. CYMS finished the day at 3/63 to leave the match evenly poised going into day 2.
At Morse Park, St Pats Old Boys finished the day at 9/281 in their match against Orange City. Bailey Brien top scored for the Saints with 105, while Ben Parsons also made 71 before he was dismissed off the last ball of the day. Hayden Griffith picked up 3/44 to be the pick of the City bowlers.
Play continues in all matches next Saturday.