Trent Hemsworth was crucial for Bathurst City, as he took 7-56 off 24.2 overs against St Pat’s Old Boys in the first game of the year for his club in Bathurst District Cricket Association first grade.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
However, he was unable to take Connor Slattery, who belted 105 runs for Saints at The Scots School on Saturday.
Redbacks were without skipper Matt Willis, Ben Orme and Mark Day and with Greg Adams to miss week two, the team needed someone to step up with so much experience missing.
Hemsworth was that man, claiming three of the opening five Saints batsmen – David Cant, Sam Hall and skipper Adam Ryan.
“I’m a little sore,” he said after the game.
“I’ve been a bit lean in the one-dayers. We had a few out and with one of our strike bowlers in Ben Orme out, someone needed to step. That happened to be me.
“I’ve never got an eight-for but I’ve got a seven-for before. It was good to get amongst it.”
It was good to get amongst it.
- Bathurst City's Trent Hemsworth after taking seven wickets
It is now the third time in first grade cricket that Hemsworth has taken seven wickets in an innings, after taking 7-28 against Saints and 7-54 against Centennials in the 2015-16 season.
Ben Mitchell, Ben Parsons, Tanvir Singh and Bailey Webber also felt the sting of Hemsworth’s bowling.
By the end of 76 overs, Saints were all bowled out for a total of 267.
Slattery batted his maiden first grade century, with his previous best the 71 runs he scored against ORC in the third round of this season.
Singh also scored a respectable 40 runs coming in at number nine.
Hemsworth was all praise for Slattery.
“Connor batted with real patience. It’s a new element to his game after being an aggressive batter for the past few seasons. It’s was good to see,” he said.
“We dropped Connor when he was on about 30. We were flat in the field and it’s not good enough. We’ll need to improve going in to the finals.
“267 is a big score though. It is more than what we wanted.
“It was a good fair cricket pitch for the bowlers but it was nice and flat for the batsmen.”
Other wicket takers included Clint Moxon (2-52 off 14 overs) and Michael Tobin (1-53 off 14 overs).
Redbacks went out with the bat and scored 0-15 before the first day ended.
While Adams will not be playing next weekend, Redbacks will welcome back Willis, Orme and Day.
A first innings win will be vital for third-placed Redbacks, as they continue to chase down ladder leaders Saints.
Play continues at The Scots School on January 20, at 1.30pm on Saturday.