Orange City have moved on to the knockout stage of the Royal Hotel Cup thanks to a swashbuckling performance from Lachy Coyte.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Going into the Twenty20 game against Molong on Friday night, all possibilities were on the cards as for how the three team group with Bathurst City would wind up.
Molong won the toss and sent City in to bat first at Wade Park, which came as a shock to Coyte.
"It was a bit of a surprise," the Orange keeper said.
"I didn't think they would bowl first on that deck, but I suppose they trusted their bowling."
That trust proved costly, as the home side stormed out of the gates with a 55-run opening stand by David Boundy and Michael Curtale.
That opening stand set the pace for the whole innings.
- Lachy Coyte
The fall of Curtale only brought more carnage, as Coyte made light work of the Molong attack, as he smashed his way to 73 from just 38 balls.
Young-gun Blake Weymouth added the cherry on top with 51 of his own, as City finished with a mammoth 209 from their 20 overs.
"That opening stand set the pace for the whole innings," Coyte said.
"Because of that start, Blake and I could capitalise and go at ten and over.
"It also gave me that freedom to play how I want to play, which is hit the singles and wait for the bad ball to hit the boundary.
"It was great seeing Blake bat like that and he showed a lot of people what he can really do."
Needing more than 10 runs per over for victory, Molong got off to a bad start, losing opener Tom Ferson in the first over for a duck off the bowling of Weymouth.
This brought captain Will Oldham to the crease where he, along with Andrew Henry, steadied the ship.
"They came out of the blocks hitting," Coyte added.
They put on 51 before Harry McGregor bagged the scalp of Henry, his first of two wickets on the day.
Oldham battled hard at the crease, but wickets continued to tumble around him, with no other Molong player managing to make double figures.
Oldham eventually fell for 34 off 44 and with that, any slim hope Molong still had of progressing on from the group stage.
"It's hard chasing 200 in a T20, you have to go hard from ball one," Coyte said.
"Because of that total, we were able to bowl to a plan."
The visitors were bowled in the 18th over for 96.
Standout performer with the ball for City was Jarryd Seib with 4-20.
The win means City, along with other group member Bathurst City, will progress through to the next stage of the competition.
Coyte believes the team's experience will be key.
"We will have a good belief going into the finals," he said.
"We've been there before and know how to overcome things."
HAVE YOUR SAY
- Send us a letter to the editor using the form below
Riley Krause
I am a senior journalist for the Central Western Daily. A jack of all trades, I cover everything from sport, to human interest stories and crime. Drop me an email at riley.krause@austcommunitymedia.com.au
I am a senior journalist for the Central Western Daily. A jack of all trades, I cover everything from sport, to human interest stories and crime. Drop me an email at riley.krause@austcommunitymedia.com.au
