Riverina bounce back from T20 losses to get first Bradman Cup win

Unable to get up on Western or Greater Illawarra in the opening Twenty20 games on Saturday, the locals found their rhythm on Sunday to put on an impressive 8-310 over the travellers.

Poor weather Saturday afternoon called for the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method to be implemented in their first game of the competition, where they were handed a 7-wicket loss before falling on the last ball in their second game that evening.

But it was water off a ducks back come Sunday and the decision to bat first paid dividends for Riverina.

Captain Sam Williamson said to lose on the last ball was tough to take, but fuelled the side for a bounce back.

Feeling his team better suits the one day format, he was pleased to have the home-field advantage at Robertson Oval.

"The first game we started and we were just off, we just weren't really up," Williamson said.

"The second game we improved a lot and it was an unfortunate loss on the last ball, but today was definitely a good improvement.

"We definitely wanted to bounce back from that and go win today.

"We came with the attitude that wen ended off the game with last night, with that fight in us, and we really fought back today and it showed in how we started."

With plenty of experience playing at Robertson Oval, Williamson said the home-team knowledge made it an easy choice to bat.

With two of their top order batters, Kynan Laursen and Wagga's Braith Gain, hitting 54 and 66 respectively, Riverina were off to a flying start.

The near-100 run partnership set the side up for the rest of the day, while Albury's Baxter Wilson came in to help seal the deal earning himself 67 (not out).

"The pitch, it doesn't do much and the outfield is pretty quick, so it was pretty simple to bat first," Williamson said.

"Braith definitely went well with the bat and got a couple of wickets with the ball, Baxter also went really well.

"It was a team effort though to be honest."

It wasn't just a good day for the batters though, as Southern Districts found themselves all out for 159, with thanks to Gain, David Caldow, and Nicholas Oliver who each took two wickets.

With just one run together before this weekend's games, Williamson said the group is better acquainted now and he expects a stronger performance when they head to Wollongong next year.

"We had one training run a couple of weeks ago but that's about it, so it's been pretty much on the run," he said.

"It's very important to have that rhythm, you have to know everyone, especially to play a good style of cricket like we did today.

"It's definitely exciting, I reckon we can go close up there."

The next round of Bradman Cup games will be played in January.