NDCA season to resume with T20 contests this Saturday

Narrabri District Cricket Association’s 2024/25 campaign will resume this Saturday as the T20 competitions continue with round four matches.

The season kicked off with three rounds of T20 clashes in October, the second of which was washed out, before six 40-over rounds were held and the Town v Country Charity Cup match on December 20 took the NDCA into the holiday break.

The T20 comps now resume this weekend and will run until the grand final night on Saturday, February 8, with a bye scheduled on January 25 for the Australia Day long weekend.

The grand finals in both grades will be contested between the teams that finish ranked first and second on the respective ladders.

The big question going into round four of the first grade short format competition is whether or not the Wilga Hotel Razorbacks can call on their 40-over competition form and score their first T20 win.

They are currently two wins clear at the top of the 40-over ladder after five wins from as many matches and a washed-out draw in that competition, but they are anchored to the bottom of the T20 ladder after losing both games they played in October.

They sit only one win behind Tourist and Tatts and two wins behind ladder leaders RSL with three rounds to play, but a loss this weekend will damage their grand final chances.

Tatts will be hoping that the return of the T20 campaign can lead to a turnaround for them following five straight losses in the 40-over comp.

They won their first T20 match back in October but have lost six straight games in all competitions since then, and now with a finals spot in the 40-over comp almost certainly being out of their grasp, they will be focused on qualifying for the T20 decider starting this Saturday.

The second grade sides all played three matches back in October as they utilised synthetic pitches at Cooma Oval for their round two games, and Tourist Hotel currently leads the way after they completed a sweep of the other three clubs in the competition.

A win this weekend would lock in a grand final spot for the Tourist side.

Tatts went through the first three rounds winless and will need to win this weekend to have a chance of finishing in the top two and reaching the decider.

Saturday’s games will all be played at Hogan Oval and Leitch Oval, with the second grade fixtures going ahead in the afternoon followed by first grade matches under lights.

The second grade games from 3pm will see RSL challenge Tourist Hotel at Hogan Oval and the SignPrintStitch Colts take on Tatts at Leitch Oval, then the first grade games from 6.30pm will see RSL meet Tourist Hotel at Hogan Oval and the Wilga Hotel Razorbacks line up against Tatts at Leitch Oval.