RUGBY Union's finals ambitions in Bathurst Orange Inter District Cricket remain alight, thanks in part to Jeremy Thackray's haul of 6-57 in Saturday's win over Centennials Bulls.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Thackray claimed his second five wicket haul of the season as Rugby recorded a vital 36 run victory, a win which sends both clubs into do-or-die situations for the final round.
Rugby were cruising in the field during their defence of 223 but Centennials gave them a big scare.
Thackray sent the Bulls top order packing during his long haul of 29 overs and, with help from Evan Jones (2-47), his side were on track to wrap up the day early at 8-113.
But Brett Archer and Ehsan Ahmad weren't going anywhere soon.
The Bulls lower order batsman slowly brought up to the score to a point where the nerves must have been creeping into the Rugby ranks, but it came to an end when Archer was bowled for 35.
Just 10 runs later Ahmad was caught for 33 to bring the late fightback to an end.
Tyler Horton top scored with 40 before he became the fifth of Thackray's six scalps.
Thackray said the winning belief was strong in the Rugby even when Bulls tried to mount a lower order miracle.
"We always felt we were in control because we were taking wickets at regular intervals," he said.
"A couple of their guys had a crack at the end but we always felt like we were going to get a chance, and we did."
Saturday marked Thackray's second five wicket haul after his 5-64 against Centrals in round four, and brings his tally to 20 wickets from six matches.
Those numbers have him pleased with the way his season has played out.
"I bowled well through the day so it was good to be rewarded for it," he said.
"I've been pretty consistent most games. I had those couple of five-fors and a four-for against Orange City as well. I've been happy with how I've gone."
Rugby go into next round's game against competition leaders Cavaliers not only needing a win but needing other results to go their way.
Should the blue and golds record a non-outright win then they need Orange City to defeat CYMS, St Pat's Old Boys to beat the Bulls and Bathurst City not to achieve an outright victory over Kinross.
On top of that Rugby's quotient would need to edge higher than Bulls, as the two teams would finish equal on 25 points in that scenario.
It's a lot of piece which must fall in the right place for Rugby but it's not impossible.
"Cavs are going to be tough. We've got out work cut out for us, but we do go into that game with a chance," Thackray said.
"I feel like we've underperformed a fair bit. We've been in positions where we've won the toss but maybe gone for the wrong option a few times.
"I think we've got a reasonably strong batting team but we've only put in a couple of strong performances, like our game against Orange CYMS at Morse 1, so it's been frustrating with the bat but our bowling has been okay.
"I feel like we're a team good enough to make finals but we missed out on a couple of chances."
Cavaliers and Orange City are the only two clubs guaranteed for finals cricket with one round remaining while City Colts and Kinross are the only teams mathematically out of the race.
DO YOU WANT MORE ORANGE NEWS AND SPORT?
- Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below ...