Round one of the Narrabri District Cricket Association’s 2019-20 Namoi Super Slog T20 competition was contested on Friday evening and it was Specialised Civil Services and Carla Baxter Real Estate which started their seasons on the front foot.
The Craig Gleeson-captained Specialised Civil Services went head-to-head with Lachlan Cameron’s Priag Marketing at Collins Park and the two teams contested a thriller which came down to the final ball.
In the end it was Specialised Civil Services which came out on top, winning the match by five runs.
Gleeson’s men batted first and made 100 runs before losing their final wicket in the 16th over.
They then restricted Priag Marketing to 95 runs before taking the 10th and final wicket with the last ball of the match to bowl the chasing side out.
In the match played at Hogan Oval it was the chasing side which won, as Carla Baxter Real Estate scored a five-wicket win against Rose Pest Control.
Rose Pest Control batted first and made 6-115 from its 20 overs.
That was not enough, with Carla Baxter Real Estate reaching the required total in the 14th over after losing just five wickets.
A lot of the pre-game talk in the build-up to Specialised Civil Services’ round one match was whether Nick Smart, the most expensive player at the Namoi Super Slog auction night, could justify the hefty price tag his franchise took him for.
He certainly delivered as he produced a dominant display, opening the batting and hitting three fours and the game’s only six on his way to a match-best 40 runs from just 25 deliveries, before opening the bowling and taking 2-20 from four overs which included the big wickets of Priag Marketing openers Cameron (18) and Jordyn Mowle (5).
However, Smart was upstaged on the night by an opposing player.
After Jade Lees removed opening batsmen Smart (40) and Gleeson (13), and number three and four Daniel Hamilton (6) and Eben Botha (diamond duck) were both run out, 12-year-old Western Imperial Razorbacks second grade player Clay Hoffman cleaned up the remainder of the Specialised Civil Services team to finish with best bowling figures of 6-15 from 3.3 overs.
Hoffman was given the ball by Cameron in the 10th over when Specialised Civil Services was cruising at 4-72 with Daniel Kahl and Jay Hall at the crease.
Hoffman’s first over conceded seven runs, then five more came from Lees’ last over which was the 11th of the game.
In the 12th over Hoffman dealt Specialised Civil Services a double blow when he dismissed Hall (7) and Kahl (11) from consecutive deliveries to make the score 6-92.
Then with the first delivery of the 14th over Hoffman bowled Daniel Hughes (1) before he rattled Hadley Sevil’s (0) stumps with the final ball of that over to claim a double wicket maiden and leave Specialised Civil Services reeling at 8-96.
The 15th over of the innings was Josh Trindall’s second and he conceded five runs before Hoffman returned for his fourth and final over in the 16th.
With the second ball of that over he bowled Jakeb Nipperess (5) before trapping Waldo Botha in front for a golden duck to end the batting side’s innings prematurely after 15.3 overs.
Hoffman (6-15 from 3.3 overs) and Lees (2-18 from four overs) were Priag Marketing’s only wicket takers while teammates Jye Manton and Dylan Smith both claimed a run out each.
Cameron and Mowle opened the batting for Priag Marketing and the pair put on a 10-run partnership in the first three overs before Smart struck for Specialised Civil Services, claiming the wicket of Mowle (5) from the second ball of the fourth over.
Mowle and Cameron crossed before the catch was taken by Sevil which left Cameron on strike and the score became 1-20 after just three balls when the Priag Marketing captain hit his Civeo teammate for two fours and a two.
But in the sixth over Smart had the final say when he trapped Cameron (18) in front to make the score 2-29.
That became 3-38 the following over when Jonty Schwager bowled Chris Watkins (12).
Schwager took his side’s next two wickets as he bowled Angus Galagher (1) in the ninth over before removing Lees (0) in the 11th who was caught by Kahl to make the score 5-45.
Those wickets left Trindall at the crease with Lachlan Woolford and the pair put on a 15-run partnership which ended in the 14th over when Woolford (7) was run out by Craig Gleeson.
Smith entered the middle to partner Trindall and the duo combined for a 32-run partnership to make the score 6-92 after 19 overs.
Priag Marketing entered the final over requiring nine runs to win before disaster struck for the chasing side.
Gleeson gave the ball to Eben Botha to bowl the final over after he had already bowled three overs at the expense of just 14 runs.
With the game on the line Botha delivered, taking two wickets from the first three deliveries of the over to remove Smith (22) who was caught by Hall, before bowling Trindall (17).
The wicket of Trindall actually completed a team hat-trick after Botha’s brother Waldo ran out Hoffman for a diamond duck from the second ball of the over.
Those three wickets made the score 9-92 and left Luke Baker on strike with three balls remaining.
Baker hit three runs from those two deliveries which left Manton on strike for the final delivery of the match needing a six to win.
But Botha ended any hopes of a fairy-tale finish, bowling Manton (0) to secure victory for Specialised Civil Services.
Botha finished with 3-17 from four overs, and teammates Schwager (3-16 from four overs) and Smart (2-20 from four overs) were the other wicket takers.
In the game played at Hogan Oval, Rose Pest Control batted first after skipper Ty Baker won the toss.
The side sent Nick Tomlinson and Toby Reynolds into bat who combined for a 51-run opening partnership in 7.1 overs.
In the eighth over of the innings Carla Baxter Real Estate’s Justin Knight struck twice, removing Tomlinson with the second ball who was stumped by Matt Conroy for a team-best 20, before trapping Reynolds (17) in front with the sixth ball to make the score 2-52.
Those wickets left Baker and Jake Brayshaw in the middle together who put on a 21-run partnership before Baker (16) became Knight’s third victim when he was caught by Jarrett Tough in the 12th over which made the score 3-73.
That became 4-83 in the Tim Hayne-bowled 14th over when Mick Smart (1) was run out by Hamish Duncan following a brilliant reaction from wicketkeeper Conroy who flicked the ball between his legs and onto the stumps.
With the last ball of that over Hayne dismissed Brayshaw (16) who was caught behind by Conroy.
Tough took the ball for the 15th over and piled on the pressure with a maiden, then in the 16th Hayne converted that pressure into a wicket when he removed Brendon Smith (1) who was caught by Hamish Duncan.
That was the last wicket that Carla Baxter Real Estate took in the match, as Rose Pest Control’s Shane Murphy (19*) and Joel Hogan (8*) remained unbeaten to guide their side to 6-115.
Knight was the pick of his team’s bowlers with 3-12 from four overs, while Hayne (2-12 from three overs) was the other wicket taker.
Carla Baxter Real Estate sent out Duncan and Luke Morgan to open the batting together and the pair got their side off to a flying start with the score reading 0-45 after 6.2 overs.
From the third ball of that seventh over Morgan (28) was bowled by Baker to give Rose Pest Control some hope.
In the 10th over Brayshaw dealt Carla Baxter Real Estate a double blow when he removed Duncan (18) who was caught by Smith, and Luke Barton (28) who he bowled.
That made the score 3-79 after 10 overs which became 4-96 in the 13th when Conroy (5) was caught by Brayshaw from the bowling of Baker.
Carla Baxter Real Estate lost one more wicket on its way to victory which saw Cody Kember (6) caught by Reynolds from the bowling of Brayshaw.
From the second last ball of the 14th over Zack Doring smashed a four to finish on an unbeaten 28 and secure the five-wicket victory for his team.
Brayshaw (3-33 from 3.5 overs) and Baker (2-41 from four overs) were their side’s only wicket takers.
In round two action this Friday evening Carla Baxter Real Estate will go head-to-head with Priag Marketing, and Specialised Civil Services will challenge Rose Pest Control at Hogan Oval.
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