RSL wins second grade T20 decider

RSL Cricket Club continued its second grade success when it claimed the 2019-20 Narrabri District Cricket Association second grade T20 championship on Saturday afternoon.

In a replay of the 2018-19 grand final, RSL challenged defending champions Tatts at Collins Park.

Tatts won the toss and batted first and made 99 runs, setting the team it beat in last season’s grand final 100 runs to win. RSL then lost eight wickets but reached the required total in the 17th over.

The match was played in extremely warm conditions, but both side battled through the heat to produce an entertaining game.

RSL took two early wickets, the first of which was with the fifth ball of the game when skipper Jason Trindall bowled Tatts opener Ash Watt (0).

Justin Saunders took the ball for the next over and conceded two runs from the bat of Tatts’ other opener Ryan Steel, but two balls later he dismissed Steel (2) who was caught by Craig O’Connor.

Tatts’ number three batsman Guy Gleeson helped steady the ship for his team with a game-best 29 runs, while middle order batsmen Eben Botha (11), Waldo Botha (11) Dylan Segundo (10) and skipper Bill Wood (19) all reached double figures.

Chris Watkins did the damage for RSL, taking a game best 5-18 from four overs with the ball.

Daniel Hughes (2-14 from 2.4 overs) and Saunders (2-29 from four overs) were RSL’s other multiple wicket takers, while Trindall’s economical spell of 1-12 from four overs including a wicket maiden helped limit Tatts to a double digit score.

RSL opened the batting with the father and son duo of Matt and Tyson Gilmore.

Their partnership contributed just five runs, broken in the second over when Tyson (0) was caught by a brilliant catch by Watt at short cover from the bowling of Jonty Fowler.

The older Gilmore scored 15 runs before he was bowled by Segundo in the fifth over which made the score 2-24.

Experienced RSL trio Watkins (15), Hughes (20) and Trindall (11) made key contributions in the middle order, while Bernard O’Connor’s unbeaten seven from 19 deliveries helped get RSL home.

Jonty Fowler threatened to turn the game on its head in the 17th over when RSL needed just two runs to win.

He took a brilliant catch from his own bowling to dismiss Trindall which meant that Tatts needed to take two wickets before RSL was able to score two runs.

RSL’s Will Ford entered at number 10 and immediately scored a run to level the scores.

A no ball from the final delivery of that over saw RSL earn its 100th and the victory.

Fowler (2-13 from 2.5 overs) was his team’s best with the ball on the day, while Eben Botha (2-18 from four overs) was the team’s only other multiple wicket taker.

The victory was RSL’s first short format grand final win in any grade since the 2012-13 season.

During that campaign RSL defeated Tatts in the second grade T20 grand final which was played at Collin Park.

Since then the club has qualified for two first grade T20 deciders and three second grade T20 deciders, but it lost all five of those matches.

Its last first grade title was won in the 2010-11 season.

Saturday’s victory was also the club’s second XI’s second consecutive grand final victory in its third straight grand final appearance across all competitions.

After losing that 2018-19 T20 grand final against Tatts, RSL regrouped and gained automatic qualification into the second grade one day grand final that season which it won by 114 runs against the Western Imperial Razorbacks.

The side is currently in the box seat to secure automatic grand final qualification in the 2019-20 one day competition, currently ranked first on the ladder two wins clear of the two sides below it with four rounds left.