Wilga Hotel continue unbeaten run and extend lead at the top

Wilga Hotel will enter the Christmas and New Year break on top of the Narrabri District Women’s Cricket Association’s 2024/25 season ladder following an 80-run victory that saw them establish a two-win lead in first place.

The Wilga Hotel ladies took on GFS Engineering at Hogan Oval in round five on Friday night and batted first after winning the toss.

They dominated the game from start to finish as they made 3-126 in their 20 overs before restricting GFS to 8-46 after 20 overs in the second innings.

The win saw them move to 32 points and they ended the weekend 12 clear of Wahgunyah Dreamtime Mirri and Nandewar Motel, who met at Collins Park under the new and improved lighting on Saturday night.

Nandewar Motel entered round five just one win behind Wilga Hotel, but that gap was stretched to two as the Nandewar ladies lost by seven wickets against the defending champions.

Wahgunyah’s win saw them not only go level with Nandewar but also keep their minor premiership hopes alive, but it was bad news for the winless GFS Engineering who are now two wins outside the top three with just four rounds remaining.

Wilga Hotel’s innings got off to an ideal start at Hogan Oval on Friday as openers Taryn Kirk and Emily Flood put on the second-highest partnership and the largest opening-wicket stand of the season. They combined for 70 runs, which was two runs short of the 72 that Nandewar’s Grace Farrer and Jade Williams put on together in round two.

Kirk (26) was bowled out by Millie Adams in the 11th over and Flood (35) was bowled by Mia Baker in the 12th over, but their teammates Sally Hunter (19), Mereka Gleeson (19*) and Zoe Tomlinson (10*) kept the momentum going and helped their side register the largest team total of the season so far as they finished on 3-126.

Wilga then controlled the second innings despite not taking a wicket in the first 10 overs. They held GFS to 24 runs across the first 10 overs before Jackie Ward bowled Alecia Tubner for a team-best 10 runs.

The Wilga ladies took seven more wickets before the innings came to an end and they restricted the chasing side to 46 runs to win the match by 80.

Ward starred with the ball as the Wilga captain took 4-8 from four overs, which included a double-wicket-maiden.

Saturday night’s game at Collins Park saw Nandewar Motel bat first after winning the toss, and they made 6-76 in their 20 overs.

Opener Tori Geraghty (11) was their only player to reach double digits, while leading run-scorer Grace Farrer (4*) and Bec Cope (8*) were unbeaten after both entered late in the innings.

Wahgunyah’s skipper Angie Knox (2-8 from three overs) was her side’s best with the ball, and Karen Baker (2-21 from three overs), Velvet Craigie (1-7 from three overs) and Menzie Baker (1-13 from three overs) took the other four scalps.

Knox then stared with the bat as well during the second innings as she opened and scored a match-best unbeaten 34 runs to help guide her side score a seven-wicket victory.

Fellow opener Molly Welsh (15) was the side’s next top scorer before she was run out by Kristie Toomey.

Craigie (3) and Menzie Baker (6) were the only other batters to depart before Lidia McCauley partnered Knox and scored an unbeaten five runs to help steer Wahgunyah to the victory with two overs to spare.

Cope (1-9 from two overs) was Nandewar’s only wicket-taker, with the other two wickets coming from runouts.

There is one more round left to play in 2024 before the season breaks for the Christmas and New Year period. GFS Engineering and Nandewar Morel will both be looking to bounce back from their losses when they meet at Hogan Oval on Friday night to kick off round six before Wahgunyah and Wilga Hotel go head-to-head at Collins Park on Saturday night.

One of those two fixtures could potentially be relocated to Leitch Oval to be played under the new lights at that venue, but that is still yet to be confirmed.