Wilga Razorbacks continue their winning start to the one day comp

The Wilga Hotel Razorbacks head into Narrabri District Cricket Association’s bye weekend undefeated and on top of the table in the first grade one day competition after completing a clean sweep of the rest of the teams when they downed Tourist Hotel by 32 runs at Hogan Oval on Saturday.

The Razorbacks batted first after their skipper Matt Bradshaw won his third straight toss, and they made 171 runs in 35.1 overs before bowling out the chasing side for 139 runs in 28.5 overs.

The win was their third on the trot following dominant victories against Tatts in round one and the defending champions RSL in round two, and they are currently sitting six points clear of the RSL men in first place

There is no local senior cricket this Saturday, which means Wilga Hotel will stay on top until at least Saturday, November 30 when they meet Tatts at Hogan Oval in round four.

The round three win against Tourist Hotel on Saturday was inspired by Jack Tate as the in-form all-rounder continued his brilliant debut NDCA season by taking his first five-wicket haul as he claimed 5-30 from eight overs to finish the weekend as the leading 40-over wicket-taker with 10 scalps.

The Razorbacks lost an early wicket themselves in the first innings when Greg Melton (6) was caught behind by Lachlan Woolford in the Jason Paul-bowled fourth over.

Angus Galagher replaced him and made 21 in a 42-run partnership with opener Ryan Howarth before he was caught off the bowling of Mark Page in the 12th over.

That made the score 2-54, which became 3-55 during the next over when Tate (1) was caught behind by Woolford as Ed Pavey claimed his first wicket of the match.

The next partnership was the Wilga side’s largest of the day as Bradshaw and Howarth put on 48 together, and it was broken in the 22nd over when Page knocked over Bradshaw (26).

The skipper was replaced by Ben Sevil and the new man in got off the mark with a boundary before being bowled by Page with his next delivery.

Josh Schwager then joined Howarth and scored 17 runs in a 30-run partnership before being bowled by Kaleb Mowle in the 26th over, which made the score 6-137.

Howarth eventually made a team-best 55 runs, and Dylan Smith (16) also made a handy contribution as they guided their side to 171 in 35.1 overs.

It was Matt Conroy who brought the innings to an end with his first wicket of the season, while Page (3-31 from eight overs) was Tourist Hotel’s best with the ball.

Tourist Hotel’s inning got off to a poor start when Tate bowled Nick Tomlinson (1) in the second over, and the chasing side found themselves in serious trouble at 5-39 in the 10th over after Smith and Tate ripped through the top order.

Former Razorback Josh Trindall entered at number seven for Tourist and gave them hope as he blasted 10 fours and two sixes on his way to a game-best unbeaten 63 runs.

However, none of the tail end could hang around with him long enough to give him a chance to guide Tourist Hotel to victory, and the innings came to an end in the 28th over as Melton bowled Segundo (7) to secure a 32-run victory for the Wilga men.

Five of the six Razorbacks bowlers took wickets in that innings. Tate (5-30 from eight overs) led the way and was awarded the three NDCA best and fairest points, while the other five scalps were shared between Zack Doring (2-27 from eight overs), Melton (1-5 from 0.5 overs), Schwager (1-18 from two overs) and Smith (1-32 from eight overs).

Trindall (2) and Howarth (1) were awarded the other best and fairest points for their batting efforts.