Despite questions over COVID and a slight delay to the season, the opening round of A grade matches were played on Saturday.
●Bamawm-Lockington United have started the season with an upset victory against Tongala.
The rising Lions won the toss and went into bat, and were led by a Greg Pearse 52, with support from Liam Hamilton (25) and Josh Cairns (34) as the team made a strong 8/175 in their first innings of the season.
The Blues struggled to get going, with Rory Knight top scoring with 30, and six players failing to get beyond 10 runs.
The Blues were bowled out for 138, giving BLU a 38-run win.
●Echuca South came incredibly close to starting the season with a win, falling by two wickets to Moama.
Clayton Holmes top scored with 49 while opening the batting, but struggled to find much support as seven of his teammates failed to get past 10.
South finished with a respectable 9/159 from their 45 overs, but the tally would not be enough.
Mitchell McMullan (44) and Zak McGregor (41) led the way as the Magpies launched their new club rooms and facilities, with the team making it past the tally with five overs to spare.
●Reigning premier Kyabram Fire Brigade produced more of its typical brilliance in scoring a big win over Echuca.
The Flames made a strong 8/191 off the back of an unbeaten 59 from Robert Salter.
In reply, Curtis Townrow produced a brilliant display for Echuca with 69, but was the only player to score more than 10.
The Flames were too good, claiming a 49-run win.
●The performance of the round belonged to Cooma's Stephen Barrett.
Barrett hit 12 boundaries in his 99-ball innings of 84, leading his side to 8/186 against grand final regulars Rochester.
But Angus Martin (54) and Sean Williams (43) were typically brilliant as Rochester got the job done by four wickets to get its season under way with a win.
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