Lithgow and Cavaliers picked up their first wins of the 2019-20 Royal Hotel Cup on Friday and Sunday, respectively, with the Lightning's win also all but ending a plucky Kinross side's hopes of a rare semi-final berth.
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With two losses from their opening two games the students will need a minor miracle if they're to make the finals for the first time since 2014-15, although it's not impossible they're already chasing their tails in a big way.
On Friday night, the students did make Lithgow work for their 24-run victory on Friday night, although considering the Lightning posted more 6-171 that margin does look reasonably convincing on face value.
Jon Cronin made his presence felt from the top of the Lithgow order, pummeling 69 from just 50 balls to inspire his side's formidable total, with Kobe Hunter (31 from 20) and Nick Miller (23 from 15) chipping in towards the back end of the innings.
Kinross worked their way to 7-147 in reply which, in usual circumstances, would more often than not prove enough to win but sadly for the students, they left themselves too much work late in the innings to reel in Lithgow's target.
Will Luelf (4) and James Larkin (8) both fell early as the students slumped to 2-25 early in the chase, which is what proved the difference in the end, they were simply too far behind the ball from then on.
Max Powell did everything he could to give the students a sniff with a hard-hitting 71 from just 56 balls, he belted seven boundaries in that dig, and he was given plenty of support from Alex Brien (27 from 29).
They added 54 for the third wicket before the latter was dismissed and although Powell stayed at the crease and was he final Kinross wicket to fall in the final over, Lithgow's tally proved too big a mountain to scale.
Cavaliers' win over Centrals was an absolute thriller, the maroons eventually prevailing by the thinnest of margins.
Mitch Black made the most of his time at the crease for Cavaliers and punched out a 45-ball knock of 55 to lead the maroons to 5-162 from their 20 overs, with great support from Bailey Ferguson, who blasted 39 from 19.
Centrals fell agonisingly short after marquee player Zach Bayliss pummeled a quick-fire half century himself, the red and blacks needed three to win from the final ball of the game but could only muster a single to fall just short.
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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.
