Travelling to WJ Findlay Oval in Wangaratta, the visiting Bushrangers fell to a nine-wicket defeat against a dominant Rovers side, which flew to victory with 19 overs to spare.
With skipper Brayden Stepien having won the toss and elected to bat, the Bushrangers soaked up some early pressure, scoring two runs off the first three overs before Stepien got into gear, notching back-to-back boundaries in the fourth over as the visitors looked to launch into their innings.
Disaster struck just three balls later, however, as Stepien was caught off the bowling of Will Graham for nine, leaving the Bushrangers at 1-10 as Vaughan Kirk joined James Carboon at the crease.
Both batsmen did their best to see off the new ball, although Carboon fell not long after Stepien, dismissed for one run off 19 deliveries as a hostile Rovers bowling attack began to assert itself.
Kirk and new batsman Jonty Priest dug in, navigating six overs together while ticking the scoreboard over, although when Kirk (20 off 41) was bowled by opposing skipper Jeremy Wilson, the Bushrangers were left teetering at 3-45.
Lucas Ham had a brief stay at the crease before he too was dismissed by Wilson, adding three runs to the team’s total, while Lee Brennan succumbed to Graham for eight, having stuck around for 31 deliveries.
Matthew Priest (2) and Dale Stratton (3) were the next casualties, as Rovers flexed their considerable muscle in a formidable performance with the ball and in the field, reducing the Bushies to 7-89 after running out Stratton.
Conor Brodie added six runs in his cameo at the crease, before becoming the final Bushrangers wicket to fall at 8-111, with Mitchell Wheelens ending the innings unbeaten on five.
Also unbeaten was Jonty Priest, who played a remarkable innings after striding out to the middle in the 10th over, providing remarkable resistance to churn out 38 runs from 116 deliveries and help his side to a total of 8-118 against an intimidating lineup.
Both Graham and Wilson were in a destructive mood with the ball for the home side, recording figures of 3-19 and 3-20, respectively.
The visitors would have their chance to reply with ball in hand, although with a relatively small total to defend, the odds were always going to be stacked against them.
It also didn’t help that Rovers opener Charith Perera took just one delivery to get his eye in before belting his first boundary, and going on to smack a half-century at better than a run-a-ball, finding the rope on nine occasions in the process.
Kirk (1-28) would make the breakthrough for Benalla in the 15th over, finally dismissing Perera for 60; however, the home side had already eaten into the required total considerably, sitting at 1-80 and needing just 39 runs to secure victory with 30 overs remaining.
Brennan and senior debutant Xavier De Fazio were both valiant with the ball for the Bushies, with Brennan finishing with figures of 0-16 off six overs, including the only maiden of the innings, while De Fazio, who still plays for the Bushies under-16 side, finished up with 0-14 from his five overs in a strong debut.
But the Bushrangers had already conceded too much ground, and Rovers romped to the win without any further loss of wickets, arriving at the required total in 26.2 overs for the loss of only one wicket.
The Bushrangers will look to redeem themselves this weekend as they head to Wangaratta once again for the second round of competition, this time taking on Wangaratta Magpies at Norm Minns Oval on Saturday.
