CAVALIERS have made light work of Centrals, defeating the red and blacks by eight wickets in a lop-sided affair at Wade Park.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Winning the toss and bowling first on Saturday, Cavs quicks Chris Martin (4-16) and Liam Gough (2-32) rattled Centrals’ top six batsmen to get the Orange District Cricket Association’s one-day hopefuls off to the best possible start.
From there Centrals limped to be all out for 71.
But it was a total Cavs skipper Richie Venner (46) made light work of, guiding his side to 60 before falling to leg spinner Nick Duffy (1-16).
Cavs lost Josh Doherty (11) with the score on 60 as well but Stu Middleton (five not out) and Gough (seven not out) steadied the ship to complete an ODCA demolition job.
Venner said on paper the win looked dominant, but his side still had to work hard for the points.
“We were up against one of the better sides Centrals has put together this season and winning the toss and bowling, there was a little bit in the pitch and we put the ball in the right areas and took our catches,” he said.
“Chris Martin bowled well. He bowled in some really tough corridors for the batsmen and when they weren’t scoring runs frustration brought about the big shot and we were able to capitalise.”
Cavaliers are still a hope of making the ODCA one-day final on December 21.
To do so, they must beat CYMS next weekend and rely on Centrals to knock off Orange City as well.
But Venner wasn’t overly concerned about the competition’s newest trophy.
Right now, all of the work Cavaliers are doing on the field is about putting the club in the best possible position for a tilt at the two-day title come the business end of the summer.
“It’s more about the bigger picture,” Venner said.
“We’ll be going into next week’s game trying to reverse our result against CYMS.
“We didn’t put any emphasis on making them earn their wickets and when it came time to bowl we didn’t have enough on the board.”