BOIDC Round 13: The top four decided

The top 4 teams have now been decided with 1 round left to play, as Cavaliers, St Pats Old Boys, Orange CYMS and Rugby Union have all qualified for the semi finals.

Cavaliers have secured a top 2 finish after defeating Rugby Union on first innings at Bathurst Sportsground. After having first innings points wrapped up on day 1, Cavaliers batted on before declaring at 9-215 with a first innings lead of 114 runs. Jacob Ryan picked up 2 further wickets to finish with 5/29 from his 13 overs for Rugby Union.

In the Rugby Union second innings, after his opening partner fell early, Sam MacPherson hit 48 before he was caught by Matt Corben off Kyle Buckley’s bowling with the score at 75. With Rugby Union content to bat the day out, the Cavaliers bowling unit clicked into gear, as Buckley removed Tanvir Singh a short while later, and then Hugh Middleton (2/11) and Tom Blowes (1/23) chimed in with wickets of their own to have Rugby Union 6/108 and still trailing Cavaliers with more than 24 overs in the day’s play remaining. Jarrod Edwards then joined Brad Glasson at the crease with the pair seeing off the bowling threat before the captains agreed to end the day early.

Cavaliers 9(dec)-215 (Matt Corben 60, Bailey Ferguson 50, Rory Kalnins 28no, Tom Blowes 27; Jacob Ryan 5/29, Tanvir Singh 2/67) def Rugby Union 101 (Toby Middleton 4/12, Josh Ward 3/8) & 6-131 (Sam MacPherson 48, Ryan Peacock 27; Hugh Middleton 2/11, Kyle Buckley 2/32) on first innings

At Riawena Oval, St Pats Old Boys added another 24 runs to their day 1 total, before they were dismissed for 368. Hugh Parsons added 2 to his score before he was dismissed by Clint Moxon for 78 to be the top scorer for his team. Aditya Adey finished with 4/55 for CYMS, while Clint Moxon and Joe Coughlan picked up 2 wickets each.

With a minimum of 73 overs available, CYMS were never really in the hunt as the St Pats Old Boys bowling lineup took regular wickets to deny them the big partnerships needed to chase down the 369 for victory. Opener Brett Wykes top-scored with 48 as CYMS were dismissed for 213 in the 57th over. The wickets were shared among the Saints bowlers, with Ben Sennett (3/26) the best. The win has pushed St Pats Old Boys 9 points clear of 3rd placed CYMS and a top 2 finish within their reach.

St Pats Old Boys 368 (Hugh Parsons 78, Blayde Burke 60, Cooper Brien 53, Andrew Brown 51, Bailey Brien 41, Ben Parsons 35; Aditya Adey 4/55, Joe Coughlan 2/47, Clint Moxon 2/48) def Orange CYMS 213 (Brett Wykes 48, Tom Belmonte 29, Aditya Adey 23, Clint Moxon 23; Ben Sennett 3/26, Ben Parsons 2/25, Jay Webber 2/39, Hugh Parsons 2/42) on first innings

Bathurst City have moved ahead of Orange City into 5th position due to a higher quotient after they defeated Centrals at Wade Park on Saturday. Needing a further 14 runs at the start of the second day/s play, Roshan Eiseman picked up his 6th wicket of the innings, removing Josh Knox in the second over of the day without adding anything further to the score. At 7-128 Centrals were in with a chance to steal the win, but Cohen Schubert (41) set about the task of securing the points for Bathurst City. Redbacks continued on to 178 before they were dismissed.

Batting again, Centrals were in early trouble at 2/7 before a 75 run partnership between George and Lester Currie put the red and blacks’ innings back on course. Cricket then did what cricket does, with a mini collapse swaying momentum back toward Bathurst City as Centrals lost 4/16 to be 6/98 and only 61 runs in front. Rowan Dray (41) then formed crucial partnerships with the tail enders, to help push his team’s score to 160 before declaring with 13 overs remaining. The declaration left Bathurst City with 124 runs for an outright win or Centrals with 10 wickets to overturn the first innings result. Both teams fell short of that target, with Blake Kreuzberger scoring 45 off 33 balls as Bathurst City finished 3-79 when stumps were pulled at the fall of his wicket.

Bathurst City 178 (Matt Holmes 50, Cohen Schubert 41; Roshan Eiseman 6/48, Rowan Dray 2/25) and 3-79 (Blake Kreuzberger 45) def Centrals 141 (Josh Dawson 55, Graeme Judge 29; Sam Knox 3/32, Jed Cruickshank 2/27, Blake Kreuzberger 2/56) and 9(dec)-160 (George Currie 59, Rowan Dray 43; Blake Kreuzberger 3/51, Cohen Schubert 2/23, Haydn Edwards 2/28) on first innings

In the final match, at Loco Oval, City Colts completed this comprehensive win over Orange City, after setting the visitors 409 for victory last week. The two Dave’s kept the ball to themselves, between themselves bowling all but one of the 49 overs sent down to the Orange City batters. Dave Rogerson finished with the fine figures of 7/47 off 23.3 overs, while Dave Henderson took 3/73 from 24 overs. Mortimer Hamling top scored for the Warriors, making an undefeated 31 from number 10, while Fletcher Byrne also scored 31 at the top of the order. The win leaves Colts 2 points adrift of both Bathurst City and Orange City to keep themselves in with the chance of a fifth placed finish.

City Colts 3(dec)-408 (Henry Shoemark 125, Daniel Casey 115no, Russell Gardner 102no, Kurt Toole 32) def Orange City 134 (Mortimer Hamling 31no, Fletcher Byrne 31, Harry Grindle 24; Dave Rogerson 7/47, Dave Henderson 3/73) on first innings

The final round of the regular season will see Orange City host Rugby Union at Wade Park, with City Colts travelling to Orange to meet Cavaliers at Riawena Oval. St Pats Old Boys play host to Centrals at Morse Park 1 and Orange CYMS are on the road to Bathurst Sportsground where they will play Bathurst City.