In a rematch of the grand final that never actually took place last summer due to torrential rain, Earle and Dhamani came together with their team in dire trouble at 5-44 after 16 overs.

They were chasing 160 for victory after a gutsy effort from an undermanned Ox-Cents line-up missing a number of regulars.

Led by Aaron Seymour and 2013-14 discovery Ricky Daymond, they forced their way into the match after removing most of the Redbacks top-order before Earle and Dhamani set about righting the ship.

They put on an unbroken 119 in just 17 overs – or seven runs per over – and demonstrated at the earliest possible juncture just how difficult it can be to crack them even when you have them on the ropes.

Earle clubbed four sixes in his 70, while Dhamani finished on 48.

“It was a fantastic partnership; 5-44 wasn’t exactly the perfect way to start off and in years gone by where we mightn’t have had the depth we do now, we might not have been able to recover,” winning skipper Ben Orme said.

“Kirby was exceptional. He had fielded brilliantly earlier in the game and just played a sensational innings when we obviously needed it pretty badly.

“Shabbir did what he has done since he joined the club and just batted to the situation. He is a very dependable player and makes a big difference for us.”

Earlier, Ox-Cents captain Josh Toole had decided to play for his side despite being under the effects of a serious injury a few weeks before the season and indicating that he would miss around a month of cricket.

The absence of a number of regulars, including Blake and Kyle Aubin, contributed to his decision, and it was a good thing he did as a number of starts went to waste in the early part of their innings.

Andrew Brown (15), Kesh Pillai (10) and Aaron Bell (13) all got themselves set before falling, and it was only Toole and Seymour who threatened something more significant.

Seymour continued to show the qualities of a genuine all-rounder with 39, while Toole made a valuable 38.

Orme was the main destroyer with the ball as he removed both openers along with Troy Oxley (nought), finishing with 3-38, while new recruit Charlie Morris and Adam Orme picked up two wickets each.

In their reply, Redbacks lost Greg Adams (eight) and Joey Coughlan (nought) to Daymond (2-35) before Seymour (2-18) removed John Rudge (10) and Ben Orme (one).

Elliott Redwin chipped in to get rid of Matt Willis (eight) and the premiers were in strife.

But not for long as the boundaries began to flow, and with it Redbacks once more stamped themselves immediately as the side to beat.

“That’s the way you want to start. There are things obviously we can do better, like not losing five early wickets, but all in all you can’t complain too much,” the Redbacks skipper said.

“We bowled well, we bowled fairly tight and for a while Ox-Cents looked like they might get away from us a bit, but we kept taking regular wickets.”