That will hopefully set us up for a good year.
- Ash Borella
TWO North Albury players smashed centuries to lead the club to the top of the ladder after the opening round of the 2015-2016 season.
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Recruit Ashley Hulme and captain-coach Brendan Simmons reached triple figures to lead the Hoppers to a 292-run win over Wodonga Raiders at Wilson Oval.
North Albury was sent in, but the Hoppers posted a whopping 6-385 from their 50 overs.
The Raiders never looked like getting close in the run chase, bowled out for 93.
North Albury star Ash Borella, who kick-started the day with 49, paid tribute to Hulme, who has relocated from Melbourne.
”He’s an awesome bat and he looked good as soon as he got out there and played his game,” Borella said.
“He plays the ball where it’s supposed to be played.
“Simmo and Ash batted for a while to give us a pretty good score.
“That will hopefully set us up for a good year.”
That pair came together with the score at 3-97 and then proceeded to put on a match-winning partnership of 156 for the fourth wicket.
Hulme had a debut to remember to finish on 115, while Simmons made 103 before he was bowled by Aaron Killen.
“We’ve got a pretty good batting order this year,” Borella said.
Jesse Griffiths top-scored for the Raiders with 32, while Jonathan Carson took 3-40 for the Hoppers.
Wodonga recruit Andrew Weighell also had a debut to remember.
He smashed a ton in the big eight-wicket win over Albury at Les Cheesley Oval.
Weighell opened the batting and top-scored with 102 as the Dogs made 7-229 in reply to Albury’s 9-148.
“He was sensational,” teammate Dan Dixon said.
“He hits the ball hard and certainly plays his shots and it was a lot of clean hitting.”
Weighell also bowled seven overs to finish with 0-17, a spell that included two maidens and four wides.
Albury won the toss but got off to the worst possible start, with recruit Alex Popko, Nick Sheridan and captain Kade Brown back in the sheds with the score 3-49.
Liam Hocking tried to hold the middle order together with a well-timed 47, but teammates fell around him as Albury finished 9-148.
Wodonga medium pacer Beau Kennedy was outstanding with the ball, finishing with figures of 4-23 from his nine overs.
“The bowling set it up for us,” Dixon said.
“It’s not an attack that will blast teams out but it’s honest and will make teams work hard for their runs.”
Premiers Tallangatta got its season off to a flyer after beating East Albury by 54 runs in the grand final replay.
Boom Bushies recruit Trent Ball top-scored with 72 as Tallangatta posted 6-241 at Alexandra Park.
Dylan Weeding (45) tried to lift the Crows over the line, but they finished 8-187.
And at Kelly Park, Josh Warren-Marmo made a surprise debut for Belvoir to help it beat New City by 115 runs.
Warren-Marmo top-scored with 60, while Callum Langlands took 5-81 for the Phoenix.
