The Bathurst under 14s will take on Mudgee for the right to play in the Mitchell Cricket Council grand final after they went down by 62 runs against Orange at Riawena Oval on Saturday.
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Orange maintained their unbeaten run to earn a home grand final, while Bathurst will play again in a fortnight to try to earn a rematch.
The hosts were sent into bat by Bathurst, making 172 before they were dismissed.
Bathurst found it hard to withstand the onslaught from the Orange fast bowlers and, with some slow scoring early, the run rate began to get away from them. They finished on 6-110 after 50 overs but learned a lot from their first match of the season against Orange.
“We hadn’t played Orange during the regular rounds because our match against them was washed out, but we knew they were going to be the team to beat,” Bathurst coach Richard Newell said.
“In all likelihood the two teams are going to meet again in the grand final, so we decided we would use this game to figure out what we need to do to beat them then.”
Orange lost an early wicket but opener Angus Gilmore anchored the innings with his knock of 52 runs, while James Donato also made 39.
The Bathurst bowlers then began to make inroads later in the innings, tearing through the middle order, before a bit of resistance from the tail.
Ryan Peacock was the best of the bowlers for the visitors, finishing with 4-21 off 10, while Henry Allen (3-10 off four) and Dillon Sargent (2-27 off 10) also chipped in to help get Orange away from the crease.
According to Newell, the performance late in the innings was one of the real highlights, and something they can build on if they get past Mudgee and into the final.
“There were definitely some positives to come from the game. We managed to bowl them out when they could have scored 200 against us. Our last [bowling] session was very good, we took seven wickets, and if we could have found that zing earlier, it could have been a different game,” he said.
“Eight of those wickets were either bowled or LBW, so it shows that the guys were bowling stump to stump and doing very well.”
Unfortunately for Bathurst, their batsmen struggled to overcome a fired-up Orange attack. Jonty Gardner showed plenty of determination to finish with 39, while Peacock chipped in with 16.
The score was only 1-28 after 17 overs, and while the scoring picked up, it wasn’t enough for them to be able to challenge Orange.
