Lots of finger-nails are now be shorter following a nail-biting conclusion to the Shoalhaven Ex-Servicemens and Bay and Basin match at Lyrebird Sports Park Number Two.

This Shoalhaven District Junior Cricket Association under 12s one day match was pretty much decided in the last over.

Exservos batted first, made 6/116 and the Basin with 7/111 almost got the points.

Matthew Higham’s 41 runs with nine boundaries proved to be the difference between the two teams, while Jack Langford 15 runs and Hunter Gilkes 12 runs also edged Exies in front.

Ryan Malecki was the star with the ball for the Basin with a three wicket haul.

Kingsley Smith’s unbeaten 26 runs with five boundaries was the highlight of the innings for the Basin.

Ryan backed up his bowling efforts by making 12 runs and Daniel Hylton-Cummins made a handy 11 runs.

Nash Connell, Thomas Richards and Matthew Higham all picked up two wickets apiece for Exservos.

Ulladulla United v Berry Shoalhaven Heads

A calm and collected batting effort from Ben Clough nudged Ulladulla United to victory over Berry Shoalhaven Heads at the Ulladulla Sports Park.

Things were going okay for United but Ben’s 26 runs with three boundaries pushed them to handy 5/92 total.

Berry, after openers Patrick Higgins 15 runs and Noah Borg 13 runs left the crease, struggled for runs and United took control.

William Kingston was the most successful United bowler and he took two wickets as Berry made 5/78.

Batemans Bay v North Nowra Cambewarra

North Nowra Cambewarra completed what was a successful run chase against Batemans Bay on Saturday at Surfside Main.

The home side batted first, made 7/66 and Norths got the points with its 6/86 total.

James McMillan-Bartlett with 17 runs did most of the damage with the bat for the Bay.

Thomas Duncan, three wickets, and Harry Dowling, two wickets, did well with the ball for Norths.

Without Lucas Zerafa’s 36 runs with two boundaries and Sam Neri’s spanking 19 runs with four boundaries Norths would have been in trouble.

Jackson Riley was sharp with the ball for the Bay and he took three wickets.

The seasoned Berry-Shoalhaven Heads under 14s side wasted no time in getting back to run scoring mode when it took on North Cambewarra Blues on Saturday at Zealand Oval Two.

The Berry side has loads of Shoalhaven District Cricket Association experience and its 7/233 total will take some chasing.

Classy Alec Dobson led the way for Berry with a 55-run effort, from only 48 balls which included seven boundaries.

Opener Christian Page (22 runs) and Max Carr-McCarron (24 runs) got things off to a good start for Berry with a first innings partnership of 32 runs which rest of the team was able to build on.

Thomas Hodgkins 21 runs with two boundaries and Joshua Weakley 20 runs and played many great shots for Berry.

Daniel Morrison and William Dyball each took two wickets for the Blues.

The Blues will be out to produce some batting brilliance when the match continues on Saturday.

North Nowra Cambewarra Maroons v Shoalhaven Ex-Servicemens

With a fairly even mix of wickets and runs, the North Nowra Cambewarra Maroons and Shoalhaven Ex-Servicemens at Village Green is shaping up nicely.

The Maroons batted first and put on what is a competitive 9/198 runs.

Credit had to go the Exservos for never giving up as early on it looked the Maroons were headed for a total over 200 runs.

However, Exservos did loads of damage in the middle to late order and got things under control.

Hyeon Parsons 54 runs with 10 boundaries and a six was the batting star for the Maroons, while Riley Sims 38 with five boundaries also played well.

Levi Webber 19 runs, Jacob Zerafa 19 runs and Micah Edwards 12 runs also enjoyed some time out in the middle for Norths.

Luke Jones led the way with the ball for Exservos with three wickets.

Ulladulla United v Batemans Bay

A century opening stand from Jay Ramsden and Lachlan Barr has Ulladulla United in charge against Bateman Bay at Lighthouse Oval.

Both Jay and Lachlan retired when they reached their half centuries and then sat back as their team-mates piled on the runs as they made 3/243.

Drew Ramsden made the most of the openers’ good work by hitting his own half century which included an innings high nine boundaries.

Bailey Law 22 and Tara Rudd 20 made sure the Bay continued its work in the field.

All matches continue on Saturday.

THE Ulladulla United’s under 16s Shoalhaven Cricket Association side showed off its batting ability on Saturday against Bomaderry.

United, at the Bomaderry Oval, batted first and made 3/217 runs in what was a consistently strong effort on day one of this two day contest.

The United top order really clicked into gear and all the batsmen made starts to their innings.

Rocky Lavalle led the way with 41 runs which included six boundaries and he also hit the only six of the innings.

Other runs contributors for United were Dale Ramsden 38 runs with six boundaries, Ryan Geerlings 32 runs with seven boundaries, Alex Baccarini 32 runs with four boundaries, Nathan Simmons 24 with four boundaries, Casey Dorrell 17 runs and Riley Jarrett 12 runs.

The Bomaderry attack toiled hard and did well to keep United to 217.

The home side only gave away 13 extras which was a good effort.

Bomaderry will start it run chase on Saturday morning.

North Nowra Cambewarra Maroons v Batemans Bay

Strong batting efforts seem to be the theme of round one of the under 16s competition and North Nowra Cambewarra Maroons at Bernie Regan Oval also hit a top score.

The Bateman Bay attack did not get much assistance from the pitch and Norths put 7/206 runs on the scoreboard.

Opener Harrison Graham got the scoreboard ticking over for Norths and he top scored with 55 runs which included two boundaries.

Alex Parsons 40 runs with four boundaries is also in good early season form, as is Rhys Burinaga 29 runs, Toby Huard 18 runs and Charlie Howard 14 runs.

Sean Griffin and Ryan Hall two wickets apiece for the Bay and the match continues on Saturday.

All matches continue on Saturday.