COMBINE opener Anthony Taylor chalked up a ton, finishing with 142 runs off 142 balls, but elsewhere on day one it was all about tight bowling in Ballarat Cricket Association club firsts.
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DARLEY 76 v MOUNT CLEAR 8-102 at Darley Park
WICKETS were flying in Lions' territory - 18 fell - and while scalps were shared across the board, Mounties captain Nathan Yates collected the best bounty with 4-23 off 13 overs.
Mount Clear is ahead on the first innings, it is far from comfortable.
The Mounties have a 26-run lead on the Lions with two wickets remaining.
This is going to make for a really interesting day two's play.
Lions' opener Oliver Smith was the only batsman to really dig in at the crease.
Smith was 33 not out, which he patiently built off 112 balls in his team's 36 overs.
Grant Trevenen was the Mounties' only other multiple wicket-taker, with Yates, but Ash George, Simon Feros and Josh Tong each chipped in for a reward.
The Mounties did not fare greatly better with the bat - Nathan Yates made 27 in the top order, and Paull Jeffrey kept the tally ticking with an unbeaten 26.
Lions Sajith Rupasingha (3-37), Matt Cape (2-16) and Brian Wheelahan (2-28) each nabbed multiple wickets.
GOLDEN POINT 1-32 v EAST BALLARAT 135 at Eastern Oval
East Ballarat veteran Carl Haseloff ticked over his 10,000th career run.
Haseloff was needed nine runs for the impressive milestone - a rare feat in the BCA - after falling just short with a 69-run haul against Ballarat-Redan last week.
He made 28 here, top-scoring for the Hawks, under lean Point bowling.
It was left to Josh Brown, again, to help boost the Hawks' tally, which he did with 24 runs through the lower order.
Dwayne Hiscock (2-16), Simon Ogilvie (2-20), Andrew Warrick (2-22) and Dan White (2-43) picked up the bulk of the wickets.
Point captin Josh White and Andrew Falkner played careful defensive cricket to round out 23 overs' start on East Ballarat after opener Hiscock fell cheap.
The Pointies bundled out East for 135 runs in the 54th over and, after plenty of time to get started, have 104 runs to make for victory.
BALLARAT-REDAN 257 v NORTH BALLARAT 1-21 at City Oval
North Ballarat playing-coach Jason Crosbie has captured a five-wicket haul a second consecutive round - and once again has been forced to share the spotlight with a rival batsman.
And this match marks Crosbie's 200th senior game.
Ballarat-Redan opener Anthony Taylor made 142 runs off 142 balls. Taylor is the only batsman to have made a significant scoring impact in the BCA club firsts on Saturday.
Even Combine skipper Bobby Hind struggled to find momentum in his first game against the team he used to captain - he was caught by Ash McCafferty off a Crosbie delivery for three runs.
Most of Crosbie's wicket work was made in the Combine's middle and lower orders.
Billy Jones held strong to make 32 runs and Greg Wakeling (21 not out) and Justin Marson (21) kept the tail lingering.
The Roosters made a start in 12 overs with the bat, losing youngster Matt Zakynthinos with Mitch Zakynthinos and Jakob Tidyman to resume next week.
NAPOLEONS-SEBASTOPOL 134 v CORONET CITY 2-19 at Napoleons
Naps-Sebas opener Matt Ringin worked hard to restore the order against Coronet City.
His team was in serious trouble at 3-17.
Ringin found help in a 59-run fourth-wicket partnership with Liam Rigby (34 runs) before Rigby was caught out.
He kept chipping away to gradually build 35 runs off 126 balls before the experienced Brendan Burns bowled Ringin out. And Naps kept tumbling.
Naps A-grade debutants Zac Hunter and Tom Baxter made a late start.
It was a tough day for Luke Corden, who was dismissed for a duck in his 100th senior game.
City's Dale Jeffrey 3-23 adn Andrew Stevenson 2-15 topped the bowling.
WHAT ELSE WE KNOW...
*Wendouree was 9-178 late in play against Brown Hill at Western Oval. Bulls pacemen Matt McMahon and Shane Harwood had taken three wickets each at that stage.
