Ed Morrish takes match-figures of 11/39 against Centrals to give Orange City a chance at finals

Anything less than an outright win against Centrals in the Bathurst Orange Inter District Cricket and the side might as well kiss its finals hopes goodbye.

Well they stepped up and then some, with skipper Ed Morrish leading from the front to grab his first ever 10-wicket haul.

It was an inspired performance from the City left-armer who inflicted a short ball barrage on Centrals across the two-days of play.

On day one, Morrish came away with 6/25 after peppering the opposition with bouncers. The captain said he was just intent on keeping Centrals' score as low as he could.

"Just to roll them as cheap as possible, that was the idea of it," he said when asked of his mindset leading in.

"I've been feeling pretty good the last couple of weeks bowling wise so I thought I'd try and have a crack."

With Morrish leading the way, the Warriors managed to bowl out Centrals for 113. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows though, with City needing 9 runs with one-wicket left on the second day to avoid a first innings defeat.

Batsman Shaun Kirby showed no signs of nerves, hitting all the runs himself to give the side a three-run lead after two overs on Saturday before Morrish declared at 9/116.

Centrals looked decent early on, with an opening partnership between Angus Norton (29) and Kurt Gander (9) reaching 40.

However, wickets began to flow from there and in a flash, the red and whites were 6/69.

Kyle Nonnenmacher tried his best to keep City bogged down, hitting 10 off 18 overs but unfortunately wickets fell around him.

A tea break proved crucial for the Warriors with Nonnenmacher falling at 8/92 as Morrish ripped through the tail to bowl them out for 93 as the skipper finished with 5/14 to seal 11 wickets in the match.

The fast bowler said his mindset was solely on victory.

"I didn't think about it (the wickets) too much, I just wanted to win, that's all I cared about, trying to do my part," he said.

After Morrish's heroics, his side were left with a total of 90 to chase for an outright with opener Josh Coyte (51*) leading the way as the City men chased it down in 19 overs, three wickets down.

Previously sitting low on the ladder before that game, City will now move up into top-four contention with a significant battle heating up between them, St Pat's and Rugby Union for a finals spot.

Morrish said the win provides his team with significant momentum ahead of a two-day clash against Bathurst City Colts at Loco Oval.

"It's massive, we needed it, our season was on life support and that puts us in good stead," he said.

"We can't lose another game but that's given us the boost that we needed."

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