Brayden Ambler made an immediate impact at the NSW Country Championships.
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The South Wagga batsman scored a century on his Riverina debut in the five-wicket loss to ACT/Southern on the South Coast on Friday.
The 20-year-old made 122 before being run out in the final over as Riverina posted 2-247 from their 50 overs.
Chasing fast runs at the death, Ambler was involved in a mix up with Wagga City coach Jon Nicoll.
The part put on 196 for the second wicket before Ambler fell well short of his crease to be run out by former Wagga cricket Djali Bloomfield.
Nicoll finished unbeaten on 78.
Ambler was pretty pleased with his performance despite his team losing their first match of the competition.
“It wasn’t too bad I suppose,” Ambler said.
“It was a pretty hard wicket to bat on actually and we got tied down a fair bit but it was good to get off to a good start and put the runs on the board.”
On a Howard Fowles Oval pitch described as slow, Ambler had to alter his plans.
“It was pretty hard to get on your front foot and drive the ball,” Ambler said.
“There were a lot of cut shots, pull shots and you were off the back foot really.”
It backs up his good form with South Wagga after scoring 74 last week.
The 20-year-old was a later addition to the squad, coming in after Josh Thompson and Ethan Bartlett were unavailable.
He got the call up after impressing coach Robbie Jackson playing for Wagga Sloggers against Border Bullets in the Regional Bash.
Ambler scored 28 on that occasion and was pleased to justify the faith shown.
Nicoll started his campaign to retain his place in the NSW Country team no harms with another strong performance.
However it proved to be not enough as Riverina’s total was chased down with more than three overs to spare.
They get another chance to post a win against Central Coast on Saturday.