Archie O'Hara snaps Orange's unbeaten start while Neel Patel goes big again

King had scored just the single run in his opening two games for the Central Coast, but produced a gritty innings with the bat against Dubbo as he notched 69 from 89 balls.

But despite the form-finding innings, King wasn't able to produce the best knock of the day.

That honour went to Illawarra's O'Hara.

Taking on an undefeated Orange side at Jack Brabham, the home side got off to a strong start thanks to a 46-run opening stand by Charlie O'Brien and Ashton Nock.

O'Brien fell for 13, but Nock continued on his way, finally being dismissed for 54. At the end of Orange's innings, they had finished with a more than decent 7-158.

But this proved not nearly enough, as O'Hara bashed 73 from just 48 balls after coming in with his side sitting at 2-30. Illawarra would end up chasing down the target with more than 15 overs to spare.

While O'Hara's blistering knock no doubt provided the most entertainment, it wasn't enough to top score on the day.

Following on from his unbeaten century on the first day of action, Paramatta's Neel Patel came close to notching triple figures again. He would eventually fall for 82, stumped by Hawksbury's Mahiejth Aravind off the bowling of Nygel Shah.

Western Sydney's Nirav Sharma proved a class act at Jack Brabham, as his unbeaten 56 helped guide his side to victory against Shoalhaven.

Others to notch half-century's were Penrith firsts duo Theo Wood (53 not out) and Xander Carstens (52 not out).

Elsewhere, Hornsby's Joseph Gilbert tore through the middle order of Penrith's second side to finish with figures of 5-25 off his seven overs.

Others who impressed with the ball included Northern Districts pair Rubeindranath Gobinath and Augie Rebase.

Their 3-11 and 3-14 respectively helped bowl Blacktown Black out for just 75 as they successfully defended their first innings total of 112.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: