BEN Mitchell has produced some impressive performances with the ball so far this season and on Sunday he added another to add to his highlights when helping the Bathurst under 16s to victory.
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Mitchell claimed 5-19 against Mitchell Cricket Council rivals Blue Mountains, that performance setting up an eight-wicket win for the Bathurst District Cricket Association outfit.
It came on the back of an ultra impressive 1-0 off six overs in late November when playing for Saint Stanislaus’ College against Central Coast Grammar and betters the 4-24 off eight he took in Bathurst second grade for St Pat’s Old Boys.
Phil Cant, who co-coaches the Bathurst 16s along with Mike Mitchell, was impressed by what he saw from the young talent at Katoomba Reserve.
“Ben Mitchell was the star, he took 5-19 off his allocated overs. He bowled full and straight, four of his wickets were bowled and the other was LBW,” he said.
“The rest of the bowlers did well too, but Ben took a majority of our wickets.
“It was a synthetic pitch, which was a bit different and the boys had to adjust to it. They had to bowl a bit fuller because of the bounce.”
With Mitchell spearheading the Bathurst attack, Blue Mountains was dismissed for 100 after winning the toss and electing to bat first.
In reply, Bathurst lost just two wickets as they comfortably chased down the required total.
Bailey Brien (30) and Ben Cant (21) put together a solid opening wicket stand before Mitchell (20 not out) and Sam Hall (15 not out) guided Bathurst home.
It continued Bathurst’s undefeated run in the competition and with one round game remaining before the semi-finals, they look like qualifying in top spot.
Still, Cant said his side must continue to work hard if they are to avoid an upset loss.
“It took us 20 overs or thereabouts to get the runs against them [Blue Mountains], it was all over fairly quickly,” he said.
“We played fairly well, it wasn’t our best game but we did enough to win it comfortably. There is certainly still room for improvement for us, our fielding wasn’t the best, but then again, the boys were all fairly excited about school holidays.
“We do have a very strong side, but we’ve just got to make sure that we switch back on when we get back into it in February against Lithgow.
“One thing we are very conscious of is not being complacent.”
The 16s next match will be on February 4. Meanwhile, the under 14 Bathurst Green outfit will play its last game before the Christmas/new year break this Sunday when taking on Blue Mountains.
