Wilga Hotel Razorbacks keep T20 grand final hopes alive with win against Tatts

The Wilga Hotel Razorbacks kept their T20 grand final hopes alive when they scored their first win of the Narrabri District Cricket Association first grade short format competition on Saturday night.

The Razorbacks took on Tatts at Leitch Oval in round four where they were desperately searching for victory following two losses either side of their round two washout last year.

Tatts won the toss and their skipper Jakeb Nipperess elected to bowl, and while that decision worked well for Jarrett Tough and his RSL teammates in their nine-wicket win over Tourist Hotel, the Tatts men were unable to chase down the total set by the Razorbacks.

Matt Bradshaw’s team batted out their 20 overs and made 5-130 before knocking over Tatts for 92 in 19 overs.

The 38-run win saw them join Tatts and Tourist Hotel on 13 points with two rounds left to play. They have all won once and lost twice to go with their round two washed-out draws, and they trail the undefeated RSL (25 points) by two wins.

Jack Tate’s impressive debut season in Narrabri continued in the round four clash as the Razorback opened the batting and smashed a game-best 39 runs off just 34 deliveries. Tate’s entertaining innings included six boundaries as he helped guide his side to a defendable total.

His opening batting partner Patrick Hubbard (7) fell in the seventh over when he was stumped by Rod Kirk off the bowling of Tom Cameron, which made the score 1-44.

The Razorbacks were still just one wicket down at the halfway mark of the innings and were cruising at 1-62 as they gave themselves a platform to go on and reach a large total. They managed to do so after scoring 4-68 in the final 10 overs to end up on 5-130.

Josh Campbell did the bulk of the damage for Tatts as he knocked over Tate in the 11th over and then claimed the wickets of Bradshaw (11) and Nathan Hamblin (10) in the 13th and 15th overs.

Teammate Jonty Schwager bowled Will McGrath-Moran for a duck in the 17th over, but Ben Sevil (25*) and Zack Doring (12*) stayed unbeaten as they guided Wilga to a defendable total. Like Hamblin, Sevil got off the mark with a six and his innings included a four.

Campbell ended the contest with a match-best 3-12 from three overs to become the T20 competition’s leading wicket-taker with seven scalps.

Schwager (1-18 from three overs) and Cameron (1-19 from three overs) claimed Tatts’ other two.

Tatts lost an early wicket when Hugh Lennon (1) was caught by Sevil in the Tate-bowled third over, but starts from Karl Hatfield (16), Nipperess (14) and Kirk (14) helped the chasing side reach 3-60 after 10 overs.

Wilga’s Guy Percy had struck with the first ball of the seventh over to dismiss Nipperess with the assistance of a Sevil catch, and he then claimed his second scalp with the first ball of the 11th over to dismiss Kirk, who was caught by Hamblin. Those two wickets were taken either side of Tate running out Hatfield, and they made the score 4-60 with 9.5 overs remaining.

Tatts were well and truly still in the game at that point but they could only manage 31 more runs before losing their final wicket in the 19th over.

It was a night of firsts for the Wilga Hotel Razorbacks as George Barton claimed his first runout for the club as the SignPrintStitch Colts youngster stepped in to be their 12th man, while McGrath-Moran and Hubbard took their first wickets for the club and Mark Rottger claimed his maiden first grade wicket.

Percy also took a third wicket to end up with team-best figures of 3-13 from three overs, which earned him the three NDCA best and fairest points. Sevil (2) and Tate (1) also picked up points following their efforts with the bat in the first innings.

Hubbard ended up with 2-3 from two overs, and Rottger (1-5 from one over), Tate (1-15 from three overs) and McGrath-Moran (1-23 from four overs) claimed one scalp each.

Hatfield, Nipperess and Kirk were the only three Tatts batsmen to reach double figures.

Tatts will be looking to bounce back from that defeat when they challenge fellow round four losers Tourist Hotel at Leitch Oval this Saturday in round five, while the Razorbacks will go in search of a second straight win when they meet RSL at Hogan Oval.