That was the story coming out of Centrals' Royal Hotel Cup victory on Friday night as they booked their slot in the knockout stage.

Taking on City Colts at Wade Park, Centrals won the toss and chose to bat.

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They got off to a good start thanks to Max Powell, in what captain Daryl Kennewell called the opener's best performance of the year.

"It's very crucial for openers to stick out the first five overs and tick off the runs," the skipper said.

"For Powell, that's probably his best knock for the year in terms of game situation."

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He managed to bat deep into the innings for his 37, but it was some late innings heroics by Kennewell and Colin Starkey that pushed Centrals to 135.

"Before the game we thought anything past 130 with the bat was a good score," Kennewell said.

"But when we got out there, the pitch looked more like a 180."

Which made what they did with the ball all that more impressive.

After seven overs, Colts had only managed 27 runs. This was thanks in large part to spinner Ed Dodds who went for just nine runs from his four overs and also picked up a wicket for his efforts.

This was something Colts captain Dan Casey pointed to as a turning point in the game.

"With the bat we just really struggled," he said.

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"They opened with a spinner, so spin from one end and then that Rose is a pretty good bowler, so it was hard to get going. In those first six overs when the field is back, you've really got to try and capitalise on that."

Max Ripps then tore apart the middle-order with three wickets and helped restrict Colts to just 95 runs from their 20 overs.

"We did everything right with the ball," Kennewell added.

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"Just praise to the bowlers and the fielders and like I've said before, the club is building to where we want to be and this is a big step for that."

Having finished second in their group, Centrals will now wait for the other pool games to conclude before they find out who their opponent will be in the quarter-finals.

But regardless of who they play, their goal will just be "to do more of the same."

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