Having defeated Mudgee in a one-sided thrashing on Saturday, they backed it up yesterday and handed Orange its second consecutive loss at Jack Brabham 1.

Bathurst look primed to have a number of players in contention for Mitchell selection as a result of their two wins.

After skipper Daniel Casey won the toss and batted first Coughlan carried his bat, finishing unbeaten on 114, as Bathurst piled on 6-221 from its 50 overs before Orange fell 69 runs short in reply.

Coughlan’s brilliant knock came nearly a year after he smashed three figures against Dubbo.

After suffering a demoralising loss to Blue Mountains on Saturday, Orange started yesterday’s clash well as English tearaway Curtis Free removed Henry Shoemark (eight) and Adam Ryan (nought) in consecutive balls with the score on just 18.

However, from there Orange could do little as Coughlan and Callum Hotham (58) combined in a 158 third wicket partnership before the latter was caught off the bowling of Charlie Litchfield as he looked to lift the run rate.

It was a strong debut weekend for Hotham who also made handy runs in the win over Mudgee.

Josh Toole (11) was the only other Bathurst player to hit double figures, while Free was the pick of the Orange bowlers, taking 3-36 from his 10 overs.

In reply, the Bluebaggers slumped from 0-34 to 6-72 through the middle overs, all but putting the result to bed.

Litchfield acted as a rock for Orange as he put together a well constructed 75, announcing himself as a contender for Mitchell Cricket Council selection in the process.

The scorecard could have told a much sorrier tale for Orange but for a 45-run seventh wicket partnership between Litchfield and stand-in skipper Jackson Coote (25), which helped boost the hosts’ score to a respectable 152.

Unlike day one where Aaron Seymour ripped through the opposition with a standout exhibition of fast bowling, the work against Orange was more of a team effort. 

Matt Lawson (2-37), Shoemark (2-32), Charlie Morris (2-34) and Shabbir Dhamani (2-6) all chipped in to keep the wickets falling regularly.

Casey was beaming post game, and said he could barely fault his side’s performance, and praised their general effort across the entire weekend.

“We knew what we had to do today,” he said. “We recovered from two wickets in two balls, and we built a good foundation with the bat, and backed it up with the ball again. It was surprising yesterday against Mudgee to win so easily.

“Knocking ‘OB’ [James O’Brien] and ‘Knighty’ ‘[Steve Knight] early helped, but they threw it away from there.

“Everyone bowled well, but Aaron Seymour was fantastic. 

“It’s good to see him playing district cricket, and sticking his hand up for Mitchell too.”