Whitney Wrap | Macquarie eyes outright win while Mitch Bower batters Newtown

Almost 800 runs were scored across the three games on Saturday while 30 wickets also fell.

Twenty-one of those wickets came at No. 2 Oval, where Macquarie finished in complete control against South Dubbo.

Souths will resume at 1/51 in their second innings next weekend, still trailing the Blues by 20 runs.

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The Hornets were rolled for just 53 on a deceiving and difficult No. 2 Oval pitch after winning the toss and batting on Saturday and while Macquarie had little trouble chasing it down, they could only post 124 in return.

Lachlan Strachan then claimed the wicket of Lockie Rummans (5) late on day one to give his side hopes of an outright win next weekend.

Ben Strachan, who claimed an impressive 3/11 from 10 overs for the Blues in the first innings, said the pitch proved surprisingly helpful for bowlers.

"We definitely would have batted first," he said.

"We went out to bowl and I thought we were going to be out there for hours on a typical flat Dubbo pitch and 39 degrees.

"But we walked out there and it was actually a bit spongy. The ball moved around early and we just bowled perfect channels.

"We never got bored hitting those channels. People in Dubbo like to feel bat on ball so that was it for us and luckily enough were in the right areas and we knocked them over."

Strachan was a standout with his 3/11 while fellow new ball bowler Mitch Williams claimed 3/12 and Smith brothers Blake and Myles chimed in with 2/8 and 2/13 respectively.

The plan for the Blues was to bat out the rest of the day and hopefully build a lead of more than 100, but things didn't exactly work out.

Lachlan Strachan (31) and Myles Smith (30) ensured the Blues' passed Souths with little trouble but few other batsmen spent meaningful time at the crease.

The Blues were bowled out with a lead of 71 and that lead was whittled down to 20 by stumps as Souths finished at 1/51 in their second dig.

An outright win for Macquarie is now the goal and while it likely wouldn't be enough to get the Blues back in the finals race, Strachan said his side still has plenty of motivation.

"Our second grade is in the top four there and both our third grade teams are in the top four there so, from a club point of view, club championships means a lot," he said.

"I don't exactly where we're sitting with that but with twos and threes doing quite well it's a big plus for us.

"As ones, we'd love to win a few more games this season and maybe push for that club championships so there's still a lot to play for as a club."

As much as the club championships is now a prize, Strachan lamented the fact his side was all but out of the finals in first grade already after a disappointing summer.

"Our batting has never really performed and it's really cost us," he said.

"Last night we were having a quiet beer and we looked back and said the same thing. There's three or four games this season we should have won but our batting has really let us down and that's really frustrating.

"Our bowling unit has done a good job but not one of our top five (batters) is averaging over 30."

Next door at No. 3 Oval on Saturday, it was a Colts clinic.

The competition leaders showed their class in the longer format, amassing 9/340 in the top of the table clash with Newtown.

Bower was the star, making 108 while there were also fine performances from captain Marty Jeffrey (84) and Jason Ryan (69 not out).

Steve Skinner toiled valiantly for the Tigers during the Colts onslaught and was rewarded with the figures of 5/109 from 20 overs.

Former NSW Country player Bower was in brutal form on Saturday and his 121-ball innings included 10 boundaries and five sixes.

He and Jeffrey combined in a 165-run partnership after the early losses of Chris Morton (3) and Brad Cox (23).

Bower's century came just a week after he top-scored with 70 in his side's Danny Bower Cup win over Rugby.

In the weekend's other match, CYMS survived a potentially nervy end to day one of their clash with Rugby to finish in control of proceedings.

The third-placed Cougars will resume next week at 0/54 after bowling out Rugby for 150 at No. 1 Oval.

After knocking over Rugby, 16 overs were left in the day but Dan Holland (25 not out) and Fletcher Hyde (23 not out) navigated the testing period.

Earlier, Rugby again started well but fell away late with the bat.

After winning the toss and batting, Ben Wheeler and Nate Ambler guided their side to a promising position of 2/96.

But they fell in quick succession, Wheeler first via a caught and bowled for Bailey Edmunds when he was on 40 while Ambler and Aidan Bennewith both fell to spin within two runs of each other to leave Rugby reeling at 5/113.

Rugby also lost 5/10 late in the innings to be all over for 154.

Edmunds finished with 3/28 from 15.1 overs while Patty Nelson took 3/65 from 24 overs.

Day two of all matches will be played next Saturday.

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