Gallery | Katandra looks fine as it defeats Pine Lodge in round one of Haisman Shield

After moving up as a club from B to A-grade this summer, Pine Lodge was given a difficult opening round task against top-of-the-table regular Katandra.

Rain threatened to halt proceedings across the region, but the match started without a hitch as the Eagles won the toss and elected to bowl.

A good, tight spell from English import and opening quick Seth Westley (2-20 from nine overs) and Hadleigh Sirett (2-24 from seven) got Katandra off to a strong start.

Pine Lodge at the 10 over mark was 3-30.

The Lodgers’ own international signing Emile Haratbar settled quickly into life as a batter on Australian pitches.

Haratbar struck 49 runs from 83 balls (five boundaries) to be the Lodgers' top run-scorer for the innings.

Katandra’s Bailey Simpson was arguably the pick of the Eagles’ bowlers, finishing with figures of 2-11 from nine overs in an economical display.

The Lodgers finished their 45-over innings with a low, but competitive, total of 8-136.

The Eagles’ response got off to a rocky start, with the Lodgers’ Tiron Fernando (3-29 from nine overs) threatening to rip the hosts’ top-order apart with a couple of early wickets.

Katandra sat on 4-30 after 14 overs and an upset A-grade debut victory for Pine Lodge was becoming more and more likely.

However, the Eagles’ two wily veterans, Jedd Wright and Andrew Riordan, reignited Katandra’s innings with a crucial 47-run partnership.

Riordan’s steady 20 runs off 42 balls perfectly complemented Wright’s classy match-winning half-century (54 off 68).

The Eagles’ Brady Black (18* off 39) and Sirett (11* off 12) got the home side over the line with 27 balls to spare.

Katandra coach Ryleigh Shannon said his players were expecting a fierce statement from Pine Lodge in their first A-grade match.

“When you see (the Lodgers') results in the previous years of B-grade and their want to play A-grade; we knew they were going to be up for the fight,” Shannon said.

“We were expecting a good battle and they definitely turned up.

“The deck was really nice, in mid-season condition already, it was a nice batting deck.”

The Eagles were particularly impressive with ball in hand.

Shannon credited their English import’s ability to quickly adapt to Australian conditions for Katandra's strong start to the match.

“Seth was really impressive,” he said.

“They always tend to bowl a bit short, English seam bowlers, with a bit of extra bounce here.

“But he adjusted after a couple overs and it was good that he made that adjustment and he could really put the clamps on the Pine Lodge top-order — really impressed with him.”

After spending much of last season dancing in between A and B-grade, Simpson is set for an extended period at the top level this summer according to Shannon.

“We are going to lean into ‘Baz’ a bit more this year,” he said.

“We have always had Jedd and ‘Riordo’ and we will still have them now, but we are going to give Baz a good opportunity to be our number one spinner and give him nine overs most weeks.

“He is off to a ripping start.

“He really strangled the Pine Lodge middle-order.”

While the young bucks took control with the Kookaburra, it was the seasoned veterans who dragged the Eagles over the line on Saturday.

Shannon said that while it was great to have the likes of Wright and Riordan to fall back on, he hoped Katandra wouldn't be dependent on them all season.

“It is a genuine luxury (to have Wright and Riordan),” he said.

“We know how lucky we are to have batters all the way down the order — Hadleigh is a genuine gun of the competition and we have him coming in at eight.

“While it is great to have Wright and Riordo, the idea is not to use them, we would have liked to chase those runs down with a few less wickets.

“Our bowling and ability to restrict Pine Lodge won us the game.

“Our batting was good enough, but we can always look to improve.

“Against the more experienced line-ups that will probably not cut the mustard.”