Narrabri RSL Cricket Club and Tatts Cricket Club will meet in Narrabri District Cricket Association’s 2023/24 season second grade T20 competition grand final after finishing in the top two spots on the three-team ladder.
The highly-anticipated grand final rematch will be played on Saturday, January 20, almost one year after the defending champions Tatts defeated the former defending champions RSL by 43 runs at Collins Park in 2023.
Those two sides met on Friday night under lights at Hogan Oval when the 2023/24 NDCA campaign resumed after the Christmas and New year break, and RSL got the job done with a five-run victory to lock in their spot in the decider.
RSL then took the field for the final time in the regular season on Saturday afternoon as they challenged Tourist Hotel at Leitch Oval, and they secured the minor premiership with a 39-run victory.
That match was Tourist Hotel’s first game of the short format campaign after both of their fixtures prior to the Christmas and New Year break were washed out and declared draws.
They were then required to back up and play against Tatts under lights at Hogan Oval that night in a match that would decide which team RSL would meet in the final.
Following the results of the first five games, RSL were on top of the table with 25 points, Tourist Hotel were ranked second with nine points and Tatts were sitting last with six points.
However, Tatts managed to get the job done to rise up to second as they downed Tourist Hotel by three runs.
That saw the final points ladder end up with RSL at the top with 25 points following three wins and a washed-out draw, Tatts place second with 13 points following a win, a washed-out draw and two losses, and third-placed Tourist Hotel finish at the bottom with 10 points following two washed-out draws and two losses.
Friday night’s game at Hogan Oval went right down to the wire as RSL and Tatts combined to produce what was a cracking contest.
Second place: Tatts Cricket Club’s second grade T20 side ahead of their match against RSL at Hogan Oval on Friday – back, Rhett Myers, Ryan Steel, Jake Cooper, captain Jesse Packer, Chris Hartnett, Lee Iselin, front, Ben Redfern, Nick Stewart, Rod and Taryn Kirk and Darcy Gleeson.
RSL batted first after skipper Justin Saunders won the toss and they made 99 runs in 17.4 overs before restricting Tatts to 9-94 in 20 overs as the chasing side fell six runs short of victory.
Tatts opening bowler Darcy Gleeson struck early in the first innings as he claimed a wicket with his third ball when he bowled Tyson Gilmore (1), and he then bowled Craig O’Connor (2) in the third over to make the score 2-9.
That brought Gabe O’Connor to the crease, who helped get RSL’s innings on track with a team-best score of 18, while Beau Tomlinson (15), Luke Baker (13) and Matt Tubner (10) also made key contributions.
Gleeson was Tatts’ best with the ball as he finished the innings with 3-29 from four overs. His teammates Rhett Myers (2-9 from 2.4 overs), Jake Cooper (2-20 from three overs) and Jesse Packer (2-25 from four overs) all claimed two wickets each and Chris Hartnett (1-15 from four overs) took the other.
Just as Gleeson had done in the first innings, RSL’s opening bowler took a wicket in the first over and it was a big one too as Baker bowled Tatts danger man Hartnett for a duck.
The chasing side’s other opener was Ryan Steel, who smashed three fours before he was also bowled by Baker for 15.
Tatts’ captain Jesse Packer and his teammate Lee Iselin both top-scored with 18 runs, and Rod Kirk (17) also registered a double-digit score.
Tatts went into the final over on 7-92 and they required eight runs to win, but Saunders threw the ball to club legend Jason Trindall who certainly delivered as he took two wickets and conceded just two runs as he finished with team-best figures of 2-2.
Baker (2-16 from four overs) and Tubner (2-19 from four overs) also took two wickets each, and the other three were shared between Darcy Anderson (1-9 from four overs), Gabe O’Connor (1-11 from three overs), and Rowan Keeler (1-31 from four overs).
RSL had the chance to bat first again in their second game in as many days on Saturday afternoon after Saunders won the toss against Tourist Hotel at Leitch Oval. They batted out the 20 overs and finished on 6-115 before bowling out the chasing side for 76 runs in 18.2 overs to score a 39-run victory and finish the regular season undefeated.
RSL did lose one of their opening batsmen early in the innings when Chris Smith knocked over Gilmore (2) in the second over, but the side’s other opener Karan Veer Dhiman (25) and number three batsman Max Hunter (14) steered the ship well before Gabe O’Connor entered at number five and registered an unbeaten 22 runs, while Tubner (9*) also remained not out at the end of the innings.
Isaiah Cochrane (2-17 from four overs) was Tourist Hotel’s best with the ball and their only bowler to take more than one wicket in the innings, and he also held onto a catch as well.
RSL struck with an early wicket when Tourist Hotel opener John Lawler (2) was run out in the first over, and the chasing side then found themselves struggling at 7-30 over eight overs as RSL opening bowlers Veer Dhiman (4-20 from four overs) and Baker (2-10 from four overs) combined for six wickets to rip through Tourist Hotel’s top and middle order.
Lower order duo Harry Pattison (24) and Alan Whitmore (21*) rallied with a 44-run partnership to help their side get back on track, but the partnership was broken in the 18th over when Jake Thurston bowled Pattison for a game-best score of 24.
He then bowled Jarmarl Zarka (0) later in that over, and the game then came to an end during the 19th when Tomlinson ran out Josh Dowton (0) as Tourist Hotel finished all out on 76 runs.
Tourist Hotel were forced to chase again when they backed up for their second game of the day as they met Tatts at Hogan Oval under lights after Packer won the toss and elected to bat.
Tatts’ two openers looked in good knick early in the innings as Steel got off the mark with a six and Hartnett got off the mark with a four. However, they both departed quickly after Steel (6) was bowled by Smith in the second over and Hartnett (12) was bowled by Tourist Hotel skipper Kaleb Mowle in the third over.
Kirk entered at number four when Hartnett departed and produced a match-winning knock as he remained unbeaten on 75 runs after the final ball of the innings had been bowled.
His partners combined for just 12 runs, but Kirk was able to shoulder the responsibility as he guided Tatts to 8-126.
There was more individual brilliance on show during the innings as Mowle produced the most impressive effort with the ball so far this season. Tourist Hotel’s skipper ended with 5-15 from his four overs, which included a hat-trick in a four-wicket maiden during the 19th over as he sent Tatts crashing from 4-118 to 8-118.
Kirk managed to score eight runs in the final over of the innings, which proved to be crucial as Tourist Hotel fell just four runs short of the required total.
Pattison was the chasing side’s best with the bat again after he entered at number four and scored a team-best 23 runs.
John Lawlor (11) was the only other top-five batsman to reach a double-digit total, but middle order batsmen Mowle (18) and Alan Whitmore (19) also made contributions before they departed.
Cochrane and Andrew Wallace were at the crease for the final over and it was Darcy Gleeson who was thrown the ball to bowl it for Tatts as Tourist Hotel required 15 runs to win.
Tatts conceded 11 runs from the first five deliveries and the chasing side then needed a four from the final ball of the game, but Gleeson produced a dot ball as his side held on to win by three runs and book their spot in the January 20 decider.
The second grade sides will have this weekend off, but several players from the three teams will be in action for rounds five and six of the NDCA’s 2023/24 season Coates Hire Namoi Super Slog T20 competition.
Narrabri’s premier T20 campaign will resume on Friday night when the ladder leaders WTC Group challenge the bottom-ranked side Specialised Civil Services at Hogan Oval.
Both of those teams will be in action on Saturday afternoon when WTC Group meet the second-placed outfit NKT Excavations at Hogan Oval and Specialised Civil Services go head-to-head with the third-placed team J and D Weed Management at Leitch Oval.
NKT Excavations and J and D Weed Management will then back up and play against one another under lights at Hogan Oval on Saturday night to wrap up the regular season.
Minor premiers: Narrabri RSL Cricket Club’s second grade T20 side ahead of their match against Tatts at Hogan Oval on Friday – back, Darcy Anderson, captain Justin Saunders, Matt Tubner, Luke Baker, Beau Tomlinson, Alistair Wheeler, Craig O’Connor, front, Jason Trindall, Gabe O’Connor, Rowan Keeler, Kyle McIlrick, and Tyson Gilmore.
