Orange edge out Bathurst to secure a home final in the Western Premier League
- The Orange Cricketer
- Nov 9
- 2 min read
Our representative side made it three wins from 3 matches in the Western Premier League competition after defeating Bathurst by 4 runs on Sunday, to finish the competition on top of the table and a home final.
After winning the toss and batting, our innings got off to a promising start with 78 runs on the board at the end of the first 10 overs, and only our skipper back in the sheds. Opener George Fisher and first drop Bailey Ferguson put on 53 for the 2nd wicket before Ruben Newton had Fisher out caught for 32 in the 12th over with our score at 2-87.
Cohen Schubert joined Ferguson at the crease and the pair added another 50 to the score before Ferguson was out for 64. The Bathurst bowlers then managed to keep things in check for the rest of our innings, with wickets regularly falling before we were finally all out for 251 with a couple of overs to go. Ferguson top scored with 64, while Schubert made 56 and Fisher 32.
At 0-132, Bathurst seemed in control of the match before Harry Dyer removed Bailey Brien and then Bailey Ferguson bowled Cooper Brien next over, Bathurst now 2-133. Orange were slowly clawing their way back into the match, with some good bowling forcing the required run rate up over 6 runs per over.
The match continued to ebb and flow, but while Bathurst seemed to gain the upper hand once again, Harry Dyer chimed in again to take his second wicket, that of Tanvir Singh. The reintroduction into the attack of our opening bowlers paid immediate dividends with Aditya Adey removing centurion Hugh Taylor to swing the momentum slightly back in our favour. At the end of that over, the 44th, Bathurst needed 51 runs to win the match. They took 37 from the next 4 overs to seemingly have control, but Orange hadn’t given up.
The second last over of the innings, bowled by Ed Morrish was a big one for us, as Ed had Will Cross caught off his first ball and then bowled Ruben Newton off his last ball, conceding only 2 runs in the process. With Bathurst needing 12 runs from the final over in order to host the final, Aditya Adey gave the set batter, Blake Kreuzberger, little to hit to close out the match and secure the win.
The win not only secured a home final in the Western Premier League competition, but also won us the Presidents Cup, a Central West Cricket Council trophy that hasn’t been played for in 7 years, and one that we haven’t won since the 2009-10 season.
Orange 251 (Bailey Ferguson 64, Cohen Schubert 56, George Fisher 32, Ed Morrish 19, Harry Dyer 18, Rory Daburger 17) def Bathurst 6-247 (Ed Morrish 2/42 Harry Dyer 2/42 Bailey Ferguson 1/51 Aditya Adey 1/55) by 4 runs
