SOUTH Wagga bowler Jake Hindmarsh put in a man of the match performance as Wagga successfully retained the O'Farrell Cup.

Hindmarsh took five Ardlethan-Barellan wickets as Wagga bowled out the challengers for 79 to complete a 132-run victory.

Hindmarsh took 5-11 off eight overs and also added valuable 30 runs batting at number 10 as the Wagga team overcame a middle order slump to post 9-211.

After a positive start by Jordan Lawrence (35) at the top of the order, Wagga were in trouble at 5-81 before Sam Perry strode to the crease.

Perry scored 45 before being the last man out, with Wagga punishing the Ardlethan-Barellan bowlers late.

Scoring 77 runs in the last 15 overs, Wagga put themselves in a strong position, before Hindmarsh did the damage with the ball as well.

Hindmarsh took four of the top six batsmen before coming back in later to snare Dave Elwin for a duck.

Wagga captain Joel Robinson was impressed with the paceman's accuracy as well as speed, as he constantly questioned the Ardlethan-Barellan batsmen.

"He and Luke (Hillier) probably have a little extra pace than what these blokes play week in and week out," Robinson said.

"They bowled in the right spots and did everything right."

Ardlethan-Barellan's performance was an improvement on last season, where they scored 64 batting first and went down by nine wickets.

The match could have been closer if they had of taken some of their chances, but unlike their rivals the catches didn't stick.

Robinson thought Wagga's fielding was one aspect that got them over the line.

"The pitch was a little bit slow and they bowled well, took the pace off the ball and bowled a good line and length," Robinson said.

"We struggled and were a bit lucky and had a few chances, but a good partnership in the middle and one at the end got us to a good score.

"I think they put in a good fight, were pretty unlucky and if they had of taken a couple more wickets when we were 6-100 it would have changed the whole game."