Led by a breakthrough effort from Ollie Brincat, Orange District Junior Cricket Association stormed to a second straight Mitchell Cricket Council Under-12 victory on Sunday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Brincat carried his bat through the black and golds' successful chase against the Blue Mountains, finishing unbeaten on 55 as Orange won by six wickets.
The victory over the Cattle Pups backed up Orange's first-round win over Mudgee, and with Brincat leading the charge they needed just 24 overs to run down the 98 required for victory.
Orange coach Stu Middleton mixed his side's batting order up for the chase, and that allowed Brincat the chance to score his first career half-ton, a big thrill for the young gun.
Brincat was actually the only Orange bat to pass double figures but he was given good support from a handful of partners, who stuck around while he piloted the chase.
Orange's attack set the game up after they were asked to bowl at Jack Brabham 4, continually stifling the Blue Mountains and not giving their rivals much.
Granted they did concede 30 extras but that was a marked improvement on their first round tally of 56, and coach Middleton has always said game-by-game improvement is the biggest focus.
That strong bowling performance was spearheaded by opening bowler Hayden Griffith, who took an incredible 3-7 from his eight overs, five of which were maidens.
He was given excellent support by Tommy Maurice, who was almost-equally as miserly, taking 3-13 from his eight overs and bowling two maidens among his spell.
Charlie Miller also snared multiple scalps for Orange, taking 2-16, while Toby Middleton (1-6) and Jack Connolly (1-14) chipped in with one wicket apiece.
The latter backed up his three-wicket effort from the week prior against Mudgee.
While Orange will now wait a fortnight for their next clash, all signs point to an absolute epic in the third round on December 1.
The unbeaten Orange outfit will face the similarly-undefeated Bathurst, the traditional rivals squaring off on the latter's home turf in what already looks a grand final preview.
Bathurst picked up their second win of the season on Sunday easily, taking down Mudgee by a whopping 133 runs.
At Bathurst's Brooke Moore Park, the hosts piled on 3-189 from their 40 overs before skittling Mudgee for just 56 in reply.
Orange's under-14 side also kicked off their 2019-20 campaign on Sunday, and did so with a win over Lithgow on the road.
Following their round one bye the black and golds strangled the hosts and eventually rolled them for 120 in the 48th over.
Despite Murray Staines' valiant, three-wicket effort for Lithgow, he took 3-20, Orange made pretty light work of the chase.
The black and golds eventually picked up the win and 10 competition points with seven wickets and 26 overs to spare.
The next round of the under-14 competition isn't until December 8, while Mitchell's under-16 division kicks off this Sunday. Orange face Bathurst at Country Club Oval.
DO YOU WANT MORE ORANGE SPORT?
- Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below ...