On the back of a Matt Rumble ton and a Ryan Noon four-wicket haul Waratahs secured a crucial Orange District Cricket Association second grade victory over Centrals on Saturday afternoon, in a thrilling two-day clash that went down to the wire.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
With his side entering Saturday’s second week at 6-188 after batting out the entire first day, Rumble resumed on 69 and added another 54 as the sky blues batted on for another 19 overs, eventually finishing with 123 of Waratahs’ 273.
That left Centrals with 49 overs – minimum – to chase 275. Achievable, yes, but with a required run rate of almost six an over from the word go it looked as though Waratahs had batted Centrals out of the game under the ODCA’s new, no compulsory closure rule.
That proved very much correct after Ryan Noon (4-25) and Alan Harper (1-27) struck early, to leave the red and blacks reeling at 3-13.
They were playing for a draw from then on and George Olsen (54) looked likely to save the game for his side, until he was run out with 10 overs left in the day.
That swung momentum back to Waratahs, and Centrals eventually fell for 145 with just two overs left.
The win and bonus points that came with it have helped the fifth-placed Waratahs make up more than seven points on the fourth-placed Centrals and almost eight on third-placed CYMS.
The sky blues are still more than 13 points adrift of the finals frame though, with two games left – and only one of those is a two-day game with maximum points available.
Cavaliers and Orange City, the top two respectively, both gained some more ground on the chasing pack too, with massive outright wins.
The maroons (9-223 declared) trounced CYMS (107 and 49) by an innings and 67 runs to pick up a whopping 16.83 points, while Orange City (8-93 declared and 0-49) picked up 15.43 by beating Kinross (36 and 102) by 10 wickets.
Manu Sebastian also joined Waratahs’ list of centurions on the weekend, clobbering 114 of his side’s 184 against Centrals-Wanderers. The sky blues won the third-fourth grade cross-over game easily, restricting Centrals-Wanderers to 9-138 in reply.
Cavaliers also defeated CYMS easily in thirds. Jason Drew (97) and Steve Nean (86) led Cavaliers to 244 despite a Scott Fitzpatrick (5-34) bagful, before CYMS managed just 158 in reply. The green and golds finished 4-110 after following on, avoiding the outright loss.
Orange City also defeated Kinross outright in third grade, while Spring Hill – Dallas Marsh in particular – continued its good form to thump CYMS in fourth grade.
After CYMS succumbed for 120, Marsh finished 79 not out as Spring Hill successfully chased with nine wickets and 24 overs in the bank.
CYMS (167) bounced back with a win in third grade on Sunday, defeating Kinross (164).
In Centenary Cup Brad O’Brien made 73 not out to lead Kinross to 162, before Nelson Shepherd took 5-23 to skittle CYMS for just 85 in reply.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
