BATHURST have retained their dominant hold on Mitchell Cricket Council bragging rights after storming to a huge win over the Blue Mountains at the Sportsground yesterday.

It was the Jameel Qureshi show for the majority of the match as the star batsman clobbered an unbeaten 166 before taking 4-12 off three overs to bring a swift end to what had been a decent effort from the Mountaineers.

Bathurst smashed 3-327 from their 50 overs thanks mostly to Qureshi and his brilliant partnership of 254 for the third wicket with Andrew Best.

Normally Best’s 114 would have been the highlight, but his role was almost reduced to a support act behind his left-handed batting partner.

The Blue Mountains was dismissed for 157, giving Bathurst a 170-run margin.

“You can’t play much better than that,” Bathurst captain Daniel Casey said.

“We’ve had a bit of luck with winning tosses and it was a great pitch to bat on, we lost a few early ones but Jameel is one of those batsmen who just cashes in once he gets set, he played an amazing knock.

“Everyone has seen how well ‘Besty’ has gone since coming over from Mudgee, he’s made a hundred in local first grade and can obviously play, he was outstanding today as well.

“It was great to see that in the field, we kept the same intensity we would if we were defending 150. I couldn’t fault anyone today.”

Batting first, Bathurst were in a spot of bother early when they lost Henry Shoemark for four, but Callum Hotham (21) and Qureshi steadied things.

The elegant left-hander began in typical fashion by pushing plenty of ones and twos, but after seeing off Western Zone star James Heath (0-29 off 10) the fireworks began.

He found the fence 21 times, and though he was briefly reigned in after reaching 70, as Heath returned to stem the tide, the lack of depth in the Mountains’ attack meant that his patience paid off and he was able to go through the gears once more.

Best was hardly idle at the other end either.

He hit 12 fours and a six, that effort being a pivotal moment as he was caught on the boundary only for the fielder, at full stretch to try and make sure he secured the ball, to step over the line.

None of the visiting bowlers were spared in the brutal savagery of a passage that reaped 109 runs from the final 11 overs of the innings.

Jarrod Hastings, Phil Tree and Mitchell representative Chris Boothroyd all took a wicket, but none of them will want to look at their figures with too much fondness, given the rate at which they were scored off.

Always pushing things uphill in such a massive chase, the Blue Mountains actually started well enough in their pursuit, as openers Daniel Brown (38) and John Ford (45) put on 75 for the first wicket in 19 overs.

After Matt Stephens and Shabbir Dhamani made inroads though, the game turned dramatically.

Any chance they had of a miracle win was effectively dashed when Qureshi, on a day where everything he touched turned to gold, threw down the stumps from the deep with a direct hit to run out Nick Hancott for nine.

Alex Crowther (19) and Reece Boothroyd (18) were the only other batsmen to reach double-figures as Qureshi ripped through the middle and lower-order, with help from Dhamani (2-37).

The victory wrapped up a great first half of the season for Bathurst who have won five of their six matches, and they can now turn their focus to the Western Premier League in the new year.