With a crushing win over Centrals at Wade Park on Friday night the star-studded Centennials Bulls have announced themselves as Royal Hotel Cup title contenders, and completely justified the pre-tournament hype in the process.
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Boasting one of the most powerful line-ups the competition has seen since changing to Twenty20 five seasons ago, the Bulls ran rampant against the 2015-16 finalists and cruised home by eight wickets.
Chasing Centrals’ 7-121 – a respectable, competitive score more often than not – Bulls’ guns Josh Toole and Mick Curtale went to town early, so much so the Bathurst-based side only needed 12 overs to run the target down.
Toole finished with an unbeaten 58 while Curtale’s quick-fire 36 was enough to put the game to bed in the opening stages of the chase.
“Everyone knows what Curtale can do, if he gets any sort of momentum early games are basically over in the blink of an eye,” Toole said.
“We got off to a flyer in the chase, that made things a little easier. We were cruising at about 12 an over for the first five or six and that always makes a big difference in any game.”
Centrals did quite well to force the Bulls into a run-a-ball chase, after slumping to 2-13.
Jameel Qureshi (16) and Wes Roweth (31) put the red and blacks back on track, and 2017-18 recruit Ben Winslade (28) made a vital contribution from number six as well.
Former Centrals all-rounder Josh Coyte was the Bulls’ best with the ball, taking 3-26, while Western Zone quick Aaron Seymour snared 2-10.
Toole and Curtale added 51 for Centennials’ first wicket, rapidly, before Coyte (19 not out) finished the chase off.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
