Parkes have made an early exit from this season’s SCG Cup after going down to Bathurst at Woodward Oval yesterday.
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The home side could only manage 214 after the visitors had posted a very competitive 254 off their 50 overs.
Jameel Qureshi starred for Bathurst, scoring an unbeaten 102 and claiming 3-46 off his 10 overs.
Parkes captain Anthony Heraghty was disappointed his side had bowed out of the competition.
“We shot ourselves in the foot a bit,” Heraghty lamented.
“We dropped some catches and that has really hurt us again.
“Don’t take anything away from Bathurst, they played pretty well.
“Losing the toss was a big thing in the game also.
“We were forced to fields in the heat and then chase runs.
“Unfortunately my form with the coin toss is terrible - I am none from 11 this season.
“Things could have been very different if we had taken our catches though,” he said.
Two of the three dropped catches were off Qureshi who made Parkes pay.
“We dropped him early on and again when he was about 60 odd,” Heraghty said.
“As a side, we were good in patches but didn’t put that together for long enough periods.”
Chasing 255 to win after 50 overs out in the 40 degree plus heat was always going to be a difficult task and some inclement weather made it harder.
“We weren’t helped by the rain at all,” Heraghty said.
“When the first patch hit us, we were behind the run rate but in a solid position in the match.
“All the rain did was liven the wicket up and make it harder to bat on, especially for new batsmen just coming to the crease,” he said.
While Qureshi easily top scored for Bathurst, he was given good support from Callum Hotham (50) and Josh Toole (57).
The experienced Phil Dunford was Parkes’ best with the ball claiming the good figures of 2-31 off his 10 overs.
Hayden Sealy also claimed two wickets (2-35 off 9 overs) before he top scored with the bat, making a very good 58 runs before becoming one of Qureshi’s three scalps.
Shane Hodges scored a good 38 while Heraghty made 30 runs before being run out.
The loss will see Parkes forced to travel to either Dubbo or Bathurst for their first SCG Cup game next season.
They play Cowra this Sunday when they will again hope to defend the Grinsted Cup.
