A RUTHLESS Bathurst side, inspired by a classy Joey Coughlan century, handed Orange its second consecutive President’s Cup loss at Jack Brabham (1) yesterday.
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After skipper Daniel Casey won the toss and batted first Coughlan carried his bat, finishing unbeaten on 114, as Bathurst piled on 6-221 from its 50 overs before Orange fell 69 runs short in reply.
After suffering a demoralising loss to Blue Mountains on Saturday, Orange started Sunday’s clash well as English tearaway Curtis Free removed Henry Shoemark (8) and Adam Ryan (0) in consecutive balls with the score on just 18.
However, from there Orange could do little as Coughlan and Callum Hotham (58) combined in a 158-run third wicket partnership before the latter was caught off the bowling of Charlie Litchfield as he looked to lift the run rate.
Josh Toole (11) was the only other Bathurst player to hit double figures, while Free was the pick of the Orange bowlers taking 3-36 from his 10 overs.
In reply the Bluebaggers slumped from 0-34 to 6-72 through the middle overs, all but putting the result to bed.
Litchfield acted as a rock for Orange as he put together a well-constructed 75, announcing himself as a contender for Mitchell Cricket Council selection in the process.
The scorecard could have told a much more sorry tale for Orange but for a 45-run seventh wicket partnership between Litchfield and stand-in skipper Jackson Coote (25), which helped boost the hosts’ score to a respectable 152.
“What can you say really, two losses in two days isn’t good enough,” Coote said.
“We improved today from yesterday in the scorebook, but that was thanks to Charlie Litchfield who batted really well.
“We can’t seem to put a complete performance on the paddock but we can only go up from here I guess.”
Casey was beaming post game, and said he could barely fault his side’s performance.
“We knew what we had to do today,” he said. “We recovered from two wickets in two balls, and we built a good foundation with the bat, and backed it up with the ball again.”
ORANGE’S performance on day one of the President’s Cup carnival on Saturday left a lot to be desired, while Bathurst produced a stunning victory over Mudgee.
Playing Blue Mountains, Orange restricted the Cattle Dogs to just 189 thanks to Chris Novak (3-33) and Matt Findlay (2-44) in particular.
However, the Bluebaggers’ chase never got going, with just Charlie Litchfield (37) scoring over 20 as Orange slumped to 110 in reply.
In stark contrast, Bathurst produced one of the biggest President’s Cup victories, defeating Mudgee by 235 runs.
Ben Orme (68) led from the front as Bathurst piled on 275 batting first, before Aaron Seymour snared 5-15 as the Mudgee side was bowled out for just 40, in only 17 overs, with four batsman being dismissed without scoring.
matt.findlay@fairfaxmedia.com.au
