IT WAS almost “captain” day when the first of the Armidale first grade one-day matches graced the Lambert Park and Armidale Sportsground turf wickets on Saturday.
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At the Sportsground, Easts skipper Sam Uphill fired up with bat and ball as his side beat City by more than 100 runs in their 40-over-a-side match.
Making 8-236, in which Uphill had some fun accumulating an unbeaten 48, Easts then restricted City to 8-129, where Uphill claimed 3-26 from his seven overs.
City skipper Steve Butler topscored for his side with 42.
At Lambert Park, the captain knocks were even more impressive.
Ex-Services skipper Cody Graham blasted a brilliant 147 in his side’s 8-275 to set Hillgrove an imposing chase in their 40 overs.
However Hillgrove did it with some eight overs to spare and with captain Brad King leading the way.
King smacked 16 fours and two sixes in his 84.
He strode to the wicket with his side teetering at 4-70 but hit out to set the platform for a winning chase.
He and Scott Brennan (21) put on 120 for the fifth wicket to stoke the run chase.
Warwick Browne (35), Richard Heagney (37) and Thomas Browne (9no) also finished it off.
“It was good to see Wok (Warwick Browne) bat with his son too,” King said.
“It was a good win for us too to start the one-dayers like that.
“Cody hit the ball very well too.
“We dropped him seven times. I dropped him a sitter in the slips when he was 48 and paid for it.
“We didn’t bowl well but they batted well.”
Scott Brennan was Hillgrove’s best with the ball, wicketless but allowing 16 runs off his seven overs.
Everyone else went for runs, with chief strike bowler Lochlan Elks bowling 16 no balls in four overs that cost 38 runs.
Michael Dawson’s 2-30 was the next best to Brennan.
Ex-Services skipper Cody Graham was disappointed such a good batting performance ended in a loss.
“It was the best we’ve batted all season, maybe the best for a few seasons,” he said.
“It was disappointing to lose but we can take a lot of confidence out of that.”
He enjoyed his big century and was also delighted to see Will Green (60), Ben Spence (18) and Ben Jackson (26no) in the runs.
He was also impressed by the performance of “new boy” Josh Targett.
“He bowls left-arm medium, bowled well and finished with a couple of wickets,” he said.
