With the mercury sitting in the high 30s and a daunting run chase of 237 looming, Cavaliers skipper Matt Corben knew things had to change.
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The defending champions had been a bit off in the field and so Corben got to work to inspire his troops, scoring 88 off 74 balls to spearhead a victory against second-placed Orange City on Saturday at Wade Park.
"I think the game lived up [to the hype]," he said.
"Before the game we had a chat about a par score being around the 220-230 mark. They batted really well to get to that total. We probably weren't where we needed to be with the ball and in the field.
"We were a little bit flat, I'm not going to lie. Obviously fielding 40 overs in that kind of heat takes it out of you.
"I said to the boys it's all about attitude. If we go out with this flat attitude we are not going to get this total.
"I think myself and Bailey [Ferguson] really set the tone for our innings. We started really positively and got the 240 total down to 180 relatively quickly which then makes it a lot easier to chase."
Corben said they were the hottest conditions he'd ever faced in the Colour City.
"Obviously Wade Park is a pretty nice place to bat so that was in our favour," he said.
"But the heat was pretty brutal. I've played some in Dubbo and the coast that have been pretty hot but this was the hottest one in Orange."
Cavs looking the goods
Cavs remain unbeaten in the 2023/24 Bathurst Orange Inter District Cricket (BOIDC) with one round remaining until Christmas.
They will face last season's grand final opponents CYMS next week and then have two byes in the space of four rounds to start 2024 due to Centrals withdrawing.
They are also ticking along nicely with the white ball, defeating Rugby Union in Friday night's Bonnor Cup outing to sit two from two largely thanks to a quickfire 70 off 52 from Bailey Ferguson.
Corben said the team has settled although jokingly suggested a loss would be good for them ahead of finals.
"Bailey set us up really well with 70 and that gave us our total," he said.
"It's always nicer to bowl than bat under lights and we bowled very well.
"You almost wouldn't mind losing a game so you get it out of the way. We have been progressing very nicely throughout the season and locked down our first XI.
"It will be a nice refresh over Christmas before we ease back into it in January."
