BLUE Mountains captain Charlie Griffith put the dagger into the Bathurst side in their Mitchell Cricket Council under 16s game on Sunday.
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In what was a preview game for the upcoming final, Griffith (90 not out) combined with Jim Schoeler-Jones (31 not out) to produce a 98 run match-winning stand at the Sportsground and reach Bathurst’s total of 202 with an over to spare.
Both teams entered the match with undefeated records and with every indication it was going to be a closely contested game of cricket.
The home side won the toss and chose to bat, falling perhaps a touch short of the total they wanted but still throwing down a testing target for the visitors.
At 4-105 Bathurst would have been fancying their chances of success but little were they aware that they wouldn’t be able to claim another Blue Mountains scalp.
Bathurst coach David Currie said his team were solid in defeat and know where they can improve.
“I thought we batted quite well with a number of players making a start. I guess the problem was that we had playing scoring 13, 23, 35 and 36s but no-one has gone on to make a significant score,” he said.
“We batted out our 50 overs and scored 202 and I thought that would be enough for us to defend but our bowling wasn’t as tight as it’s been in previous games.
“We leaked runs over the course of their innings and to Blue Mountains’ credit Charlie Griffith went on to score 90 and that underpinned his team’s innings.”
Bathurst has a meeting with Orange this Sunday before the final against Blue Mountains on March 3.
“We’re the top two teams in the comp and I told the team after that we let that one slip away and next time around, if we bowl better than this time, we’ll be much more competitive,” Currie said.
“The boys still had a great time out there and it wasn’t in 40 degree heat either.”