SUPER SLOG BEGINS: NKT Excavations and WTC Group off to a red-hot start

Narrabri District Cricket Association’s 2023/24 season Coates Hire Namoi Super Slog competition is underway and two teams are off to a flying start.

There were four entertaining T20 matches contested across Friday and Saturday, with two of them won by NKT Excavations and the other two claimed by WTC Group.

The new campaign got underway on Friday night at Hogan Oval where NKT Excavations downed Specialised Civil Services by five wickets under lights.

Two matches were then played side-by-side in extremely warm conditions on Saturday afternoon when the NKT Excavations men made it two from two with a 91-run win against J and D Weed Management at Hogan Oval while WTC Group got their season off to a positive start with a three-wicket win against Specialised Civil Services at Leitch Oval.

The fourth game of the season was then played under lights at Hogan Oval on Saturday night where WTC Group won again as they beat J and D Weed Management by 33 runs.

There is already added interest in the fourth edition of NDCA’s Super Slog season following the introduction of the leading run-scorer and leading wicket-taker prizes.

Moments prior to the player auction getting underway at Narrabri Bowling Club on Friday, December 1, it was announced that both Specialised Civil Services and WTC Group will sponsor prize money for the players who lead the way with bat and ball after the six rounds, with WTC Group putting up $500 for the top run-scorer prize and Specialised Civil Services putting up $500 for the top wicket-taker prize.

NKT Excavations’ Matt Conroy leads the way on the run-scorers’ tally with 93 across the first two rounds after he scored 43 on Friday night and 50 on Saturday afternoon.

Seven runs back on 86 is his NKT Excavations teammate Cody Kember, who is still yet to be dismissed after registering an unbeaten 14 on Friday before blasting a brilliant unbeaten 72 on Saturday.

The only other player to have scored more than 50 runs in total across the first two rounds of the season is J and D Weed Management opener Nick Tomlinson, who made 44 on Saturday afternoon and then added 15 more on Saturday night to finish the weekend with 59 runs.

With the ball, Tim Hayne leads the way with six wickets off the back of a match-winning performance in his side’s opener on Saturday afternoon, during which he took the first and only five-wicket-haul of the season. He then claimed one more wicket in his side’s victory on Saturday night to end the weekend two in front.

J and D Weed Management’s Clay Hoffman is just behind him with four wickets after he took one on Saturday afternoon and then three more on Saturday night.

There are seven players from across the four franchises lurking a wicket behind Hoffman with three.

NKT Excavations got their inaugural campaign off to a sensational start on Friday night as the newcomers won the opening game by five wickets.

Specialised Civil Services’ skipper Lachlan Woolford won the toss and elected to bat, and he helped get his side off to a positive start as he opened alongside Adam Gordon and the duo combined for a 57-run partnership.

Jarrett Tough took the first wicket of the competition in the 10th over as he broke the deadlock by dismissing Woolford (18) with the assistance of a Jake Brayshaw catch.

Gordon eventually reached a team-high score of 37 runs before departing during the 13th over, caught by Jake Thurston to become the first victim of a Brayshaw double-wicket-maiden, which also included the scalp of Josh Trindall (0).

Karl Hatfield (11), Ryan Steel (10) and Jye Manton (14) all made handy contributions in the second half of the innings to help their side reach 6-103 at the completion of 20 overs.

Brayshaw (2-11 from four overs) and Matt Conroy (2-15 from three overs) were their side’s best with the ball, while Tough finished with 1-13 from three overs and the side’s other wicket came via a Cooper Brayshaw runout from the final delivery of the innings.

Specialised Civil Services managed to take an early wicket when Manton trapped Aaronn Baker (5) in front in the third over, and then Dustyn Allen (14) and Jake Brayshaw (8) departed cheaply.

A brilliant knock by Conroy, who top-scored with a game-high 43 runs, and then contributions from Cooper Brayshaw (8) and Cody Kember (14*) got NKT Excavations home in the 19th over after the side had lost just five wickets.

Gordon (2-4 from two overs) was Specialised Civil Services’ best with the ball.

NKT Excavations then registered the largest total of the campaign so far on Saturday afternoon when they lined up at Hogan Oval again.

They batted first after their skipper Cooper Brayshaw won the toss and they batted out the 20 overs to finish on 5-186 before restricting J and D Weed Management to 6-95 at the end of their 20 overs.

NKT Excavations opening batsman Baker got his side off to a flying start with a boundary from the first ball of the innings, but he was caught by Nick Tomlinson from the final ball of the over as Dylan Segundo made the score 1-4.

Four of the side’s top five batsmen departed for single-figure scores, but Conroy kept the run rate ticking over with a brilliant half-century.

After dispatching five fours and a six the previous night, he smashed eight fours and a six in his second innings to lay the platform for a successful innings.

The score was 5-91 when Conroy was dismissed in the 13th over and Kember was joined by Jake Brayshaw at the crease.

They brought the crowd to life with an entertaining 95-run partnership to guide their side to 5-186 in 20 overs. Kember finished unbeaten on 72 runs off just 35 deliveries at the completion of a fine innings that included seven fours and five sixes as he scored the largest individual total of the season so far, while his teammate Brayshaw finished unbeaten on 24 runs off 23 deliveries after he hit four boundaries and held up an end well while ensuring his huge-hitting partner was able to get on strike as much as possible.

Segundo (2-26 from four overs) was the J and D Weed Management side’s best with the ball.

The chasing team looked quite solid during the second innings and there was never any real sense that they would lose all 10 of their wickets.

However, their run rate was never high enough to create much hope that they could win the contest, and they finished 92 runs short of victory as they totalled 6-95 in 20 overs.

Tomlinson was his side’s best with the bat after opening and making 44 runs from 59 deliveries, but Hamish Duncan (10) and Segundo (14*) were his only teammates to reach double figures.

Following his brilliant efforts with the bat, Kember (2-15 off four overs) was also his side’s best with the ball, and he chipped in with a catch too as he had a hand in all of the first three wickets.

In the other match at Leitch Oval, Specialised Civil Services batted first after their skipper Woolford won the toss and they scored 7-68 in 20 overs.

WTC Group then chased down the required total with three balls to spare as they made 7-72 in 19.3 overs.

Gordon opened the batting again and made a team-best 16 runs, and Hatfield entered at number three and scored 14.

The side were struggling at 7-46 late in the innings before Waldo Botha (9*) and Scott Smith (10*) combined for a 22-run partnership as their team finished on 7-68 after 20 overs.

It was the Nathan Trindall and Tim Hayne show during that innings for WTC Group. Trindall dismissed both openers as the side’s skipper bowled Woolford (0) during a wicket-maiden in the second over, and he then ran out Gordon in the eighth.

Hayne then claimed all of the side’s next five wickets, two of which were secured by Trindall catches, as the all-rounder finished the innings with a remarkable 5-6 from four overs and Trindall ended up with 1-10 from three overs.

The NDCA first grade one day comp leading run-scorer Will Ford opened the batting for WTC Group and made a team-best 37 from 41 balls as he guided his side towards what should have been a comfortable win.

But despite entering the 16th over on 5-60 and only requiring nine runs to win, they went into the final over on 7-64 after Danny Laws and Gareth Lamond bowled wicket-maidens and the just four runs were scored in the 18th and 19th overs.

However, Hayne hit a single off the first ball, Gabe O’Connor scored three off the second ball to tie the score up at 68 apiece, and then Hayne drove the third ball to the boundary to cap off a man-of-the-match performance. He finished unbeaten on six runs and O’Connor was unbeaten on five runs.

Experienced duo Laws (3-13 from four overs) and Lamond (2-8 from four overs) were their side’s best with the ball.

WTC Group were able to double up on Saturday night with a 33-run win against J and D Weed Management.

They got a chance to bat first after Trindall won the toss, and they made 9-140 in 20 overs before knocking over J and D Weed Management for 107 runs in 18.4 overs.

Hayne opened the betting for WTC Group in that match and was the only top-four batsman to reach double figures as he scored a game-high 37 runs from 32 balls in an innings that included four fours and two sixes.

Middle-order duo Dylan Smith (32) and Greg Melton (26) both made crucial contributions while striking at over 100, and then Trindall scored a run-a-ball 16 late in the innings to help his team set a defendable total.

Clay Hoffman (3-20 from four overs) was J and D Weed Management’s best with the ball in that innings, and skipper Luke Meppem (2-10 from two overs) was also impressive.

As was the case in their first game, the J and D Weed Management chase never really got going in the second innings of the match and they fell 33 runs short.

Opening duo Jakeb Nipperess (10) and Tomlinson (15) were the only top-order batsmen to reach double figures, and then middle-order duo Kaleb Mowle (19) and Meppem (26) provided spark late in the innings.

However, it was too little, too late, as the WTC Group men powered on to their second win of the competition.

Anirudh Chiluvuri (3-27 from four overs) was his side’s best with the ball, and his skipper was electric as Trindall finished the match with 2-8 from three overs.

The results of the first four matches see WTC Group and NKT Excavations lead the way at the top on 14 points at the completion round two, with both Specialised Civil Services and J and D Weed Management two wins behind them on two points.

The J and D Weed Management and Specialised Civil Services men have a chance to score their first win of the campaign this Friday night when they go head-to-head at Hogan Oval to kick off the next four matches.

Two more games will be played on Saturday afternoon. Specialised Civil Services will meet NKT Excavations at Hogan Oval as WTC Group take on J and D Weed Management at Leitch Oval.

All sides will have played four games each when the Saturday night fixture between NKT Excavations and WTC Group under lights at Hogan Oval has wrapped up.