Three half-centuries helped put Eastern Suburbs in a strong position against Kurri Weston in the top of the table clash at East Maitland Park.
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Easts recovered from being 6/140 to finish all out for 272.
Captain Andrew Vickery top scored with 64, while Chris Walker and Brendan Allen also both reached 50.
Kurri-Weston were without opening bowler Tim Harding, but skipper Michael Heinrich said Alex Seamer and Cameron Bates stood up in his absence.
Heinrich himself did most of the damage with the ball, claiming 5-72 off 18.1 and taking a catch.
Seamer took 2-44 off 16 and Marshall claimed 1-13 off six.
Heinrich said he was pleased to restrict Easts to 276 on what was a fast-scoring field.
Kurri-Weston lost a wicket early in their innings, with opener Josh Tuckwell out for four.
The wicket was taken by Daniel Stoneman, his first in the top grade after coming up from the third tier for the match.
Opener Lachlan Vassella (7), who was on debut, and Jack Bennett (6) finished the day not out to take Kurri-Weston to 1/19 at stumps.
While happy with the result on the opening day, Vickery said he wasn’t confident it would be enough to snatch the win from the number one team.
“They’re a very good batting side,” he said. “They’re more than capable of chasing that score.”
Vickery said against a line-up of top batsmen at a small oval, Easts would have to bowl tight lines to keep them at bay.
Heinrich said if Kurri-Weston bat well, they should be able to chase down the total, but will have to play smart against strong bowlers.