The Bathurst native who now resides in Canberra produced two brilliant displays of aggressive batting that saw the Wranglers fight back from a disappointing round one loss to top their pool in the Twenty20 competition.

He scored 120 at a strike rate of 144.6 and with Hugh Le Lievre backing that up with some impressive bowling, the Wranglers edged out the Western Plains Outlaws for top spot in the Thunder 1 Pool.

It was a sweet moment given the Outlaws were the side that inflicted a 23-run loss on the Warriors on Saturday afternoon at Wade Park.

That loss stung, but on Sunday morning the Wranglers kept their hopes alive with a 20-run over the Illawarra Flames.

Dean hit 57 off 40 in a knock which included a pair of sixes and seven boundaries as the Wranglers batted first, Le Lievre then capturing 2-11 off his four overs as the Wranglers defended their 126 run total.

Still, going into Sunday's final game against the South Coast Crew the Wranglers not only needed to win big, but for the Outlaws to suffer a heavy loss.

Le Lievre (4-21) and Bathurst's Luke Powell (3-13) helped the Wranglers make a good start to their mission, restricting South Coast to 9-118.

Then thanks to Dean (57 off 27) and opening partner Henry Shoemark (36 off 11), the Wranglers managed to chase down the 119 needed for victory in just the ninth over.

Between them they hit six fours and eight sixes.

"You hope to see it click and it really did," Le Lievre said on watching the Bathurst openers bash the ball around.

"They've been mates for many, many years and they were really stoked to even play together for the Wranglers, so to see them do well together was good for us but I think really special for them also."

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Though they'd won, the Wranglers still had a nervous wait as the Outlaws lost wicket after wicket as they attempted to chase down the 113 set by the Illawarra Flames in their final game.

They were eventually bowled out for 72, which left the Wranglers and Outlaws tied on points.

So down to nett run rate it came and the boys from Bathurst and Orange came out on top to the tune of 1.36 to -0.04.

"That's called doing it the hard way. When you drop a game, everything has to go right for you to make it through and that's certainly what ended up happening," Le Lievre said.

"The really good thing is, everyone across the whole squad had a contribution across the three games. That's what you hope for in these games and now we get that opportunity at the SCG and I think that's a good reward for everyone."

Le Lievre, who captains Orange CYMS' first grade side, finished the group stage with nine wickets. It was the best effort from any bowler across the four pools.

Powell also impressed in his first appearance for the Wranglers, finishing with six wickets at an average of 7.33.

Wranglers skipper, Bathurst's Jameel Qureshi, couldn't wipe the smile off his face after he found out they had topped the group.

"I said to the boys at the start of this thing that this is more than just cricket," he said.

"For me personally, my representative career started down here in Wollongong in the 2004 Bradman Cup side. There's a picture there of me, Blake Dean, Michael Delaney, Nathan Lyon was in that side as well.

"We played against Hugh Le Lievre then and to now play back here with these guys at the back end of our career and to make the SCG is just a very special thing.

"It will be good to get back there [SCG] for a third time. To do it with those guys makes it that much more special."

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