They switched on blast off mode with the bat to rack up a big lead in pursuit of an outright victory, getting 109 runs clear of the students' score, before Rugby made massive inroads in the early overs of the second Kinross innings.

Kinross were thoroughly dismantled by a devastating spell of Tim McKinnon (5-19) bowling and were reduced to a meagre 5-12 at one stage, putting rugby on the verge of the first outright win for any team this season.

But some way, some how, the 10-man hosts prevented that from happening.

Rugby were stopped just one wicket short of an outright victory after Kinross captain Max Powell (35) was well supported by Harry Kermode (3) and Edward Taylor (0 not out) across a pair of lengthy eighth and ninth wicket stands.

Rugby Union skipper Imran Qureshi said his side went out to bowl with the hopes of having a small total to chase at the end of the day.

Never did he imagine Rugby could come so close to claiming an outright victory without having to pick up the bat again.

"We thought the lead probably wasn't going to be enough, but we thought that if we could roll them quickly then we might have a had a quick chase at the end," he said.

"That was the mindset but then Timmy McKinnon probably got one of the quickest five-fors in the comp.

"But the rest of the guys just batted really well, dug in, and did the job for them."

Earlier in the day Rugby passed the Kinross first innings total of 132 with four wickets in hand after resuming their chase at 3-73.

Qureshi (66), Sam Macpherson (66) and Brad Glasson (56) all helped push Rugby quickly past the Kinross total.

Once the Bathurst men got the first innings points they upped the pace, putting on 100 runs in 15 overs before declaring at 7-241.

McKinnon's start with the ball was spectacular as he picked up five wickets in the space of just 18 deliveries.

He sent top five batsmen Harry May (3), Tim May (0), Nicholas Rasmussen (1), George Cumming (0) and Oliver Hoskin (6) back to the sheds across an electric three overs.

It was disastrous signs for a Kinross side who still had to see out another 35 overs with just four wickets in hand.

Yet they managed to do it, ending the day on 8-79.

Qureshi couldn't fault the effort of his team in the outright attempt.

"We did everything we possibly could. We bowled well, we didn't drop any catches, we got through our overs to maximise our chance to win. At the end of the day those guys managed to hold on," he said.

"We set pretty attacking fields so there were a couple of gaps there but we didn't leave anything out there. We just weren't quite good enough.

"It's disappointing but we couldn't have done any more than what we did."

Ryan Smiles (2-12) and Jameel Qureshi (1-19) were the other wicket takers for Rugby Union.