JAMEEL Qureshi got in his car at 3.30am yesterday morning at Sydney, drove to Parkes, walked to the crease in 40 degree heat and still pulled out an unbeaten century to help Bathurst to their first SCG Cup win over Parkes.

Bathurst had not overcome the side since they first took them on in the 2009-10 season, but the win finally arrived when their 253 couldn’t be chased down by home side Parkes, who fell 40 runs shy.

Qureshi’s 102 not out at Woodward Oval was a highlight on a memorable day for his side, who managed to overcome a lingering hoodoo against both Parkes and the SCG Cup itself.

The win brings an end to a four-game losing streak against Parkes.

Bathurst now progress to the fourth round of the country knockout tournament where they take on Dubbo on December 14.

Parkes and Dubbo have proven insurmountable hurdles for Bathurst in the competition – previously having a combined 0-5 record against them in SCG Cup – but yesterday’s effort was a weight off the shoulders of captain Dan Casey and his side.

“They’re quality teams, Dubbo and Parkes. It always seems like we come up against Parkes at Parkes in this. We’ve had some good fights against them before, but they would always get the better of us,” he said.

“Today we got there, but we were in a bit of trouble early. We had batsman, though, right through to 10 and 11, guys who would normally be at five or six for their club. It was good knowing we had those guys there."

Qureshi strolled to the crease with Bathurst at 2-27, but set to work establishing himself at the crease.

Once opener Henry Shoemark was removed for 25, bringing Callum Hotham (50) to the crease. 

He and Qureshi put on 82 for the fourth wicket before Hotham was run out.

Just when Parkes thought they had put a dampener on Bathurst’s momentum, Josh Toole (57) simply picked up where Hotham had left off, as the new pairing applied an even bigger 106-run partnership.

Parkes were much steadier than Bathurst in their top order. 

After two brief rain delays the game resumed at 2-101.

Pat Rosser (14) was instantly removed by Ben Orme to see the home side three down, and from there they never recovered.

Hayden Sealy’s aggressive 58 provided some middle-order fire from Parkes, but his eventual dismissal left them 8-183 and, despite some resistance for the last two wickets, Bathurst broke their curse.

After his batting efforts, Qureshi was also the leading bowling for Bathurst with 3-46, while Orme was the next best with 2-34.

“Jameel was just awesome and Callum Hotham and Josh Toole were as well ... It was probably our batting that got us home and it was great to put that sort of score on these guys. With any early wickets that really puts the pressure on them,” Casey said. “Every time they started playing their shots we would keep taking wickets and it kept their run rate down.

“Every game is a new game. We’ve been close in the past, so we knew that we could do it. We’ve got a lot of respect for these teams. We haven’t lost a game in district this season and that’s given us a lot of confidence.”

Dubbo booked their spot against Bathurst yesterday with a dominant nine-wicket win over Orange, chasing down with ease the total of 56.