Tourist Hotel first XI take confidence into the preliminary final after securing second place

Tourist Hotel Cricket Club’s first XI ended the regular season on a huge high at Leitch Oval on Saturday when they scored a convincing five-wicket victory against Tatts in round 12 of Narrabri District Cricket Association’s 2023/24 campaign first grade one day competition.

Tatts batted first after their skipper Jakeb Nipperess won the toss and they made 109 runs before losing their final wicket in the 33rd over, which the Tourist men chased down in 30.2 overs with five wickets in hand.

The two sides entered the weekend locked on 50 points on the ladder, which meant that the winner would earn second place. The duo were already guaranteed to face one another in the preliminary final this Saturday, but Tourist Hotel now have the upper hand for automatic grand final qualification if the match is washed out. They also have the momentum as the round 12 win was their third over Tatts in the four games they have played against each other this season.

Tourist finished the regular season on 57 points following seven wins, four losses and a washed-out draw, two wins behind minor premiers RSL (69), who scored nine wins, lost twice and also had one washed-out draw.

RSL, who will meet the winner of this Saturday’s preliminary final in the grand final on Saturday, March 16, missed out on a game in the final round of the regular season after the Western Razorbacks forfeited their match.

Tatts finished the regular season ranked third on 51 points following six wins, five losses and a washed-out draw, and the Razorbacks ended up winless in last place with 11 points following seven on-field losses, four forfeit losses and a washed-out draw.

The Tourist men started Saturday’s round 12 contest on the front foot and it was Hamish Duncan who did the damage as the opening bowler knocked over Tatts’ skipper Nipperess and his replacement Hugh Lennon for ducks in the fourth over to make the score 2-10, which became 3-29 in the 11th over when he dismissed Ed Currall (5) with the assistance of a catch taken by wicketkeeper Lachlan Woolford.

Craig Gleeson became the third Tatts batsman to depart for a duck when he was trapped in front LBW during the Mark Page-bowled 13th over as Tatts slumped to 4-44.

The side’s leading run-scorer Tom Craig had entered at four and was joined by Karl Hatfield at number six after Gleeson departed, and the duo combined for their side’s best partnership of the day as they put on 31 runs together to get Tatts back on track. However, Tourist Hotel regained the ascendency when Page bowled Craig for a game-high score of 42 in the 20th over to make the score 5-74.

Matt Conroy, who had opened the bowling for his side earlier in the contest, was reintroduced into attack in the 22nd over and struck with the third ball of what was his third over when he dismissed Hatfield (13) with the assistance of a Nick Tomlinson catch as Tatts’ innings continued to stutter at 6-81.

Conroy (3-16 from 7.2 overs) and Meppem (2-28 from eight overs) then cleaned up the Tatts tail cheaply as Bill Wood (3), Ryan Steel (8), Saad Badahur (0), Brock Schwager (6) and Jonty Schwager (6*) combined for just 23 runs off the bat as Tatts finished all out on 109 runs in 32.2 overs.

Duncan was Tourist Hotel’s best with the ball with 3-12 from five overs, and Mark Page took 2-19 from his nine overs to go with the five wickets that Conroy and Meppem combined for.

Tomlinson opened the batting with Aaronn Baker for the chasing side and Baker made his intentions clear as he struck three boundaries early in the innings to move to 13 runs. However, he did not contribute any more to the total before beings trapped in front by Wood in the sixth over as the score became 1-21.

Josh Trindall entered at number three in his return from injury and he showed no signs of rust as he blasted three boundaries and reached 16 runs quickly before he was also trapped in front by Wood in the eighth over.

That made the score 2-41, and the chasing side then entered the 15-over drinks break at 2-63 as Tomlinson and Duncan formed a solid partnership in the middle. They were only able to add four more to the total after the break before Tomlinson was caught by Gleeson during the Brock Schwager-bowled 17th over for a team-best score of 24.

Duncan was then joined by Jason Paull and they combined for a 27-run partnership before Duncan (22) was dismissed by Nipperess in the 27th over as Jonty Schwager held onto the catch that made the score 4-94.

Woolford replaced him and scored six runs before being caught by Brock Schwager in the Craig-bowled 28th over, but Tourist Hotel had reached 101 runs by that point, and any hope of a miracle Tatts victory disappeared quickly as Paull (11*) and Page (2*) guided their side to a five-wicket win, with the chasing side making 5-110 in 30.2 overs.

Wood (2-33 from six overs) was Tatts’ only multiple wicket-taker, and Brock Schwager (1-7 from four overs), Craig (1-10 from five overs) and Nipperess (1-14 from 4.2 overs) all claimed a wicket each.

Duncan was awarded the three NDCA best and fairest points for his standout efforts in both innings as he cemented himself as the favourite to win that award, while Craig picked up two and Conroy earned one.

This Saturday’s preliminary final between Tatts and Tourist Hotel will be played at Collins Park from 12.30pm.