Jarryd Hatton's five wickets help Corowa to an impressive win away to Belvoir

The visitors lost the toss but scored 8/235 and then bowled their hosts out for 197.

Matthew Grantham (57) and Jarred Lane (52) both made half-centuries after Ben Mitchell had marked his return to the club by opening the batting and racing to 43 off 37 balls.

Only three times in the whole of last season did Corowa post a higher score than this.

"Belief was the biggest thing," new Corowa captain Jarryd Hatton said.

"We're trying to instil it and JT (coach Jack Thomas) should take full credit for that.

"The way he's been able to instil that belief into the younger boys and even the senior lads, the likes of Matty Grantham, has been huge.

"Jarred Lane's leadership really stands out; whenever he needs to put his hand up, he just does it."

Grantham, batting at three, scored eight boundaries during his 86-ball stay in the middle.

"That was crucial," Hatton said.

"It came at a time when that's exactly what we needed.

"He just needed to consolidate for a bit, tick it over and he was striking at 70 through that middle period when they bowled some really good spells.

"They've got a cracking bowling line-up with Jaensch, Simmonds and all those guys, so much experience and their import (Hayat Niazi) as well.

"He was really handy and you could see him express himself at the end with his skills so to pip them in round one gives us the world of confidence."

Several Belvoir batters got starts but Corowa took wickets at crucial times to leave the hosts up against it.

Drew Cameron (38), Joe Cooke (33), Josh Staines (30) and Angus Sinclair (29) gave them a platform but the Eagles collapsed from 3/113 and lost their last four wickets for just two runs.

Hatton finished with 5-30 and there were also wickets for Nick Grant, Mark Athanitis and Patrick Lavis, while Ethan Lane (0-15) was tidy on debut.

"I'm pretty fit coming off the footy season and I've been able to monitor my loads through that, which has been pleasing," Hatton said.

"It comes off the back of all the other bowlers as well.

"We're a pretty selfless team and I'll take the credit today but it comes off the back of guys like Nick Grant and Benny Mitchell.

"We talk a lot about bowling in partnerships, in and out of overs, and it's a credit to those guys as to why I was able to get five today.

"I'll take it, though, don't get me wrong!

"We're not getting ahead of ourselves but it's a really pleasing win for the boys to dish up round one considering we didn't probably get one until nearly Christmas last year."

Tallangatta's game against Wodonga Raiders was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

To read more stories, download The Border Mail news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: