BOIDC: Five things we learned from round two of the 2020-21 season

Three teams - Cavaliers, St Pat's Old Boys and Orange City - remain unbeaten through two rounds of the competition, with all of them eyeing off another return to the finals.

If you haven't seen Hugh Britton bowl yet, here's a tip - brace yourself. His speed and bounce will make the batter about as comfortable as his action looks.

One of those unique bowlers that delivers the ball off the wrong foot, Britton has caught the BOIDC's batsmen on the hop this summer and has 11 wickets in his first two games for Cavaliers.

The maroons finished second last year.

They had the best bat in the competition in the form of skipper Matt Corben, and with Britton firing their bowling arsenal is now brimming too.

Cavaliers will take some beating this year.

It would have been tense at Wade Park at around 5.30pm on Saturday afternoon.

After Josh Toole (94) did all the hard work for City Colts in pursuit of Orange City's total of 9-205, the Bathurst club looked home and hosed needing 21 for victory with five wickets in the sheds.

But Toole fell, and then so too did Colts, losing 5-14 to be all out for 199 in the final over. Heartbreak.

Colts started 2020-21 very slowly and in the end that lackluster start cost the City Colts boys a place in the BOIDC finals series.

A win in round one and then this display, albeit a loss, shows Colts will be thereabouts this summer, and it shows the clashes between the best sides in the BOIDC will be worth watching.

Bring on the grand final rematch - Cavs and Orange City - this weekend.

Dave Neil is averaging 147. Shaun Grenfell's taking five-wicket hauls. Josh Toole's whacking 90s. Matt Willis is taking bagfuls.

Experience counts for plenty, it always has, and sides will proven veterans can never be written off.

Expect CYMS to trouble a number of sides this year, under the proviso their relatively pop-gun-like bowling attack can at least contain sides, because taking 10 wickets might be a mountain too high for a side that's relying on Adam Smith's slow bowling to take four wickets an innings.

Runs will again prove an issue for Centrals this season, by the looks of the opening rounds.

Scores of 200, or near-to, as opposed to scores around the 150-mark, are a must and the red and blacks just haven't had a bat stand-up and take either innings to kick-off the summer by the scruff of the neck.

Fletcher Rose is capable, and young Max Powell proved his worth with a decent half-ton on Saturday, but it can't be left solely up to two of the club's youngest.

Centrals is capable of recording wins against even the best opposition, but that won't happen until the club's top order begins to fire in partnerships, rather than one-out.

Three of the successful sides out of the second round ran down opposition totals, while another - that being City Colts - looked in complete control before a late-order collapse spoiled a fourth pursuit.

So, is there an advantage in running down totals this summer?

It was the same equation last weekend too - and, like City Colts this week against Orange City, you could argue Kinross botched their chase against Rugby Union when going down by just two runs in their opener.

Most sides will admit having a set target makes batting easier, with teams preferring to break down the chase into blocks of overs. Survive early, then hit the go-button through the middle overs.

It's hard to say if there's anything in batting second after just two rounds, but the coming weeks, and the tactics teams employ, will be interesting to watch.