Drinks breaks were held frequently to combat the heat, with temperature reaching 39.2 degrees at 4pm, according to the Bureau of Meteroelogy. 

In the first fixture, the East Bowral Stags defeated the Mittagong Lions by six wickets at Centennial Park. 

Mittagong won the toss and batted first, posting a total of 82 runs. 

Opening batsman Craig Shaw top scored with 25. Nathan Taylor (16 not out) and Harrison Foote (10) also contributed to the total well. 

Ben Dunn was the pick of the bowlers for East Bowral with figures of 4-12 off six overs. 

Robert Cockburn also bowled well with and took two wicket for 20 runs. 

Ravi Wikramanyake, Matt Watson and Scott Pinn were responsible for taking a catch each. 

East Bowral Stage skipper Matt Watson said the team’s bowling got them off to a good start. 

“We started the game off well, our bowling and fielding was pretty good, especially in the warm conditions,” he said. 

Watson also commended Christian Molloy, Will Watson and David Binns on their bowling. 

East Bowral were next to bat and chased down Mittagong’s total in 16.1 overs. 

Wikramanyake top scored with an undefeated 56. 

Shaw was the best bowler for Mittagong with figures of 3-19 off four overs. Nicholas Taylor, Paul Jones and Jason Bardsley were all responsible for a catch each in the field. 

In another third grade fixture, Bundanoon defeated the Bowral Kookaburras at Stephens Park. 

Bundanoon won the toss and elected to open the batting, posting a total of 163 runs off their 30 overs. 

Openers Rodney Acton and Neil Xavier top scored with 27 runs each. 

Skipper Andrew Hore also did well with the bat and added 24 runs to the board for Bundanoon. 

Steve Beveridge also got 24 runs and was undefeated. 

Kane Acton (20) and Martin Filipczyk (14) were also good support. 

The Kookaburras’ bowling attack was in good form, John Lindsay was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets. 

Michael Thompson, Oscar Murton, Mark Chance and Simon Haire all took a wicket each while Paul Harnisch took two catches in the field. 

The Kookaburras were next up to bat and were unable to chase Bundanoon’s total down. the team were all out for 63 off 21 overs. 

Jonathon Shelley was the pick of the batters, taking 16 runs before he retired. John Lindsay batted well with 13 undefeated runs, as did Mitchell Murphy (10) and Phillip Muhlberg (9). 

James Hughes was the pick of the bowlers for Bundanoon with figures of 5-16 off six overs. 

Andrew Hore also bowled well with and took three wickets. 

Acton was strong in the field and was responsible for three catches.