ST Pat's Old Boys hopes of claiming first place on the Bathurst District Cricket Association ladder are alive following a solid Saturday at Scots School.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Sitting second heading into the final two-day round of the regular season, the Saints dismissed Centennial Bulls for 93 before reaching stumps at 3-66 in reply.
It is solid position as the Saints look to leapfrog City Colts, who sit 0.67 points ahead of them.
"We need as many bonus points as we can to try and go towards securing first place, that's the main objective," Saints captain Adam Ryan said.
"At the same time we've still got to play hard cricket to make sure we get the win first, but our goal is to try and beat Colts to that number one spot."
READ MORE: Title wait is finally over for the Saints
READ MORE: Singh's super over helps sink Orange City
For the second game in a row Bulls skipper Andrew Brown carried his bat - making 41 opening the innings - but his team-mates found the going tougher.
Aside from Brown, only Mick Hutchinson (16) and Dallas Tilley (19) made double figures. Four Bulls batsmen were dismissed without scoring.
"Browny, he was their foundation, he batted the whole innings and was just unlucky he had no-one to go with him," Ryan said.
Bulls put on 24 for the first wicket, but after Tanvir Singh bowled Hutchinson in the seventh over the momentum switched.
The next nine wickets fell for 69 runs, Ethan Ivory at one stage finding himself on a hat-trick after dismissing Joel Gurney (three) and Percy Raveneau (duck) in consecutive deliveries.
Keep up to date with the latest sports news by clicking here
Ivory went on to claim 4-47 off his 15 overs, while Nic Broes continued his run of hot form by claiming 5-19 off 11 overs, five of them being maidens.
The Saints only conceded one sundry - a no ball - as Bulls were all out for 93 in 35th over.
In reply the Saints got off to a flying start, Broes hitting the first delivery he faced for six. He went on to make 36 before falling to Tim Ryan.
Josh Wilcox fell on the 10th delivery he faced for a duck, while a mix-up saw Connor Slattery run-out for three.
However, Ryan (18 not out) and Singh (yet to score) were at the crease at stumps as their side reached 3-66.
