Razorbacks score clinching victory over Tourist Hotel in final-round thriller

It was a must-win match for the Wilga Hotel Razorbacks at Collins Park on Saturday night and they well and truly rose to the occasion as they secured a grand final berth with a nine-run win against Tourist Hotel.

The Razorbacks entered the sixth and final round of Narrabri District Cricket Association’s 2024/25 season first grade T20 comp one win behind Tourist and required seven points to secure a top-two finish.

They batted first after their skipper Matt Bradshaw won the toss and they occupied the crease for the full 20 overs as they registered 8-103. Tourist also batted out their 20 overs but the Razorbacks restricted them to 6-94.

That result saw the Razorbacks and fellow round six winners Tatts, who defeated RSL by 31 runs at Hogan Oval join Tourist on 21 points to finish the season.

Final standings were determined by net run rate as Wilga Hotel finished second and Tourist and Tatts settled for third and fourth, respectively.

Jack Tate and Greg Melton opened the batting for the Razorbacks at Collins Park on Saturday and they got their side off to a positive start as they combined for a 23-run stand.

That partnership looked promising until Kaleb Mowle struck for Tourist as he dismissed Tate (6) with the final delivery of the fourth over with the assistance of an Andrew Harvey catch.

Mowle bowled four straight overs from the bridge end and claimed a second scalp with the first delivery of the eighth over as he knocked over Melton (21) to make the score 2-35.

His skipper and opening bowling partner Hamish Duncan took a diving catch at mid-wicket to help dismiss the Razorbacks’ club president.

Tourist’s top T20 wicket-taker Chase Harrington replaced Mowle in the 10th over and made a swift impact as he bowled Bradshaw (12) with his fourth delivery.

That made the score 3-50, which then became 4-55 in the 11th over when Ed Pavey knocked over Angus Galagher (1).

Zack Doring brought the game to life with back-to-back sixes to end the 12th over as the Razorbacks stormed out to 4-72, but they were unable to capitalise on that momentum as they scored just 31 runs at the expense of four wickets during the final eight overs.

Doring eventually reached a team-best score of 22 runs before being run out by Harvey in the 15th over, and no other Wilga Hotel batsman registered double digits.

Jason Paull (2-16 from three overs) claimed two of the last three wickets, and Mowle (2-22 from four overs) also finished with two scalps.

Wilga Hotel landed an early punch in the second innings when Aaronn Baker was caught by Galagher for a duck from the third delivery of the Tate-bowled first over, and it became 2-7 in the second over when Melton bowled Tim Hayne for a duck.

Tate struck again in the fifth over when he bowled Lachlan Woolford (3) as Tourist Hotel found themselves struggling at 3-20, and they had only added 18 more by the end of the 10th over as the score was 3-38 at the halfway point of the innings.

Duncan lost two more partners as the score became 5-50 in the 16th over and he was joined by Chris Smith for the sixth-wicket partnership. They put on 30 runs in 2.4 overs to make the score 5-80 after 18, which meant Tourist Hotel required 24 runs from the final two overs of the innings to win and secure their spot in the decider.

They managed nine in the Doring-bowled 19th over to enter the final over requiring 15 to win, and it was Bradshaw who took the ball for the final six deliveries. He held Duncan and Smith to five runs from five balls before bowling Smith (14) with the final delivery if the innings as Tourist ended up 10 runs short on 6-94.

Duncan scored a single from the second last delivery of the innings to finish unbeaten on 50 runs, which saw him end the competition as the top run-scorer and one of just three players to have scored a half-century.

Tate (2-10) ended the night with game-best bowling figures following a super four-over spell that finished with a maiden, and his teammates Doring (1-13 from four overs), Bradshaw (1-15 from three overs), Melton (1-19 from four overs) and Kyne Allen (1-21 from three overs) all claimed a wicket each.

Duncan was awarded the three NDCA best and fairest points for a man-of-the-match performance in a losing side, and the Razorbacks’ Doring and Allen picked up two and one points, respectively.

Wilga Hotel have now turned their attention to this Saturday’s T20 grand final. They will meet RSL at Collins Park from 6.30pm.

Tourist Hotel’s T20 campaign has come to an end and they will take the field next on Saturday, February 15, when the 40-over season resumes.