GFS Engineering and Wahgunyah Dreamtime Mirri set up a highly-anticipated top-of-the-table clash with round five wins

Narrabri District Women’s Cricket Association’s 2023/24 T20 campaign resumed on Saturday night after the round four matches a week earlier were washed out and declared draws.

Three teams went into round five locked on 19 points at the top of the competition ladder, and two of them were victorious as Wahgunyah Dreamtime Mirri scored a 58-run win at Hogan Oval while GFS Engineering prevailed by three wickets at Collins Park.

GFS Engineering challenged Wilga Hotel, which were the other team that entered the weekend on 19 points. Their loss saw them finish round five on 20 points and fall six behind both Wahgunyah Dreamtime Mirri and GFS Engineering as that duo climbed to 26 points, while fourth-placed side Nandewar Motel are now on eight points following their loss against the Wahgunyah ladies.

In a game that went the distance at Hogan Oval, Wahgunyah Dreamtime Mirri batted first and scored 2-135 in 20 overs before restricting Nandewar Motel to 5-77 from their 20 overs.

The defending champions got off to a flying start as they piled on 10 runs in the first over of the match, but Nandewar Motel then managed to get themselves on the front foot when Bec Cope caught Molly Welsh (10) during the Candice Stang-bowled fourth over and then Cope bowled Kimberley Laurie (6) in the seventh over to make the score 2-27.

That left Lidia McCauley and Velvet Cragie together at the crease and they powered their side to a defendable total with an unbeaten partnership of 108 runs during their almost 14 overs at the crease together.

McCauley finished the innings on 28 runs while Craigie amassed 57 as she became the fifth player this season to score a half-century following what was a brilliant innings that included 10 boundaries.

Nandewar Motel’s top run-scorer Michaela Plata opened the batting in the second innings of the contest and led the way for her side once again with a high score of 30. However, she was eventually caught by McCauley from the bowling of Karen Baker off the first ball of a wicket maiden.

Fiona Redfern (10) was the only other Nandewar Motel batter to reach double figures before she was run out by Baker.

Baker was a standout in the second innings as she finished the game with sensational figures of 1-10 from four overs, which included an impressive 17 dot balls.

The Wahgunyah Dreamtime Mirri skipper Angie Knox and teammate Brogan Morris also took a wicket each, and the other wicket came via a run out as the Wahgunyah ladies limited the chasing side to 5-77 to score a 58-run win.

That victory was the defending champions’ third in a row as they now boast the largest active winning streak in the competition.

In the other match at Collins Park, Wilga Hotel batted first and were bowled out by GFS Engineering for 79 runs in 16.1 overs before the chasing side reached the required total during the 20th over of their innings.

Wilga trio Alex Conroy (16), Kate Rickard (13) and Diana Burtenshaw (11) scored in double figures for their side, while Grace Farrer (3-12 from four overs) and Milly Adams (2-7 from four overs) were GFS Engineerings’ best with the ball.

Adams then opened the batting for the chasing side and scored 13 runs to get them off to a positive start before being trapped in front by Conroy.

GFS Engineering skipper Alecia Tubner then brought the win home with a game-high score of 18 runs. She struck two boundaries during her innings and remained unbeaten when her side surpassed the required total in the 20th over.

Wilga Hotel’s Sally Clark was the game’s standout in a losing side as she took five of her team’s seven wickets and finished on 5-11 from three overs, which was the first five-wicket haul of the 2023/24 competition.

All eyes are now on this weekend’s round six matches, which will be played across two nights at Collins Park. Nandewar Motel will go in search of their first win of the season on Friday night when they take on Wilga Hotel, before Wahgunyah Dreamtime Mirri and GFS Engineering line up against one another in a highly-anticipated top-of-the-table clash on Saturday.