In what was due to be the opening leg of a weekend double-header, it was a three-wicket haul from a newcomer and a fine knock from a returning opener that did the damage.

English leg-spinner Darrel Williams claimed 3-35 from 10 overs and Ben Patterson took the same figures from his nine overs to restrict Bathurst to just 236.

Henry Shoemark made a classy 93 for the visitors, but after being 2-93 at drinks they were restrained by the hosts.

Jordan Peacock (91), back from a stint in Sydney, then led the way for Dubbo with some assistance from Jordan Moran (48) and Mitch Bower (42) as the competition favourites got home with five wickets and seven overs to spare.

For Bower, the win was what he wanted to see from a group with no preparation.

“I thought we let them get away in that first session, but we won every session after that,” the Dubbo skipper said.

“They were looking at maybe 300 at one point so for us to restrict them to 236 was big for us.

“It was our first look at Darrel but I thought he bowled really tight for us through the middle and took some timely wickets.

“Patto did a good job as well and then the two Jordans got us off to a big start with the bat.

“I was a bit disappointed we lost a few wickets towards the end, myself included, but we did what we needed to do and that was win the game.”