CHAMPIONS AGAIN: Tatts Cricket Club prevail in high-scoring first grade T20 decider against Boggabri

Tatts Cricket Club’s first XI are the champions of Narrabri District Cricket Association’s first grade T20 competition for the first time in almost eight years following a 374-run thriller at Collins Park on Saturday night.

The Tatts men took on the Boggabri Colts in the 2025/26 season short-format decider and won by 48 runs after setting the NDCA newcomers 212 to chase.

Tom Craig (53) and Jake Packer (97) guided the champions to 5-211 from their 20 overs before Tatts defended their total as they restricted the Colts to 7-163 in a contest that went the distance.

It was an entertaining match that produced 26 fours and 21 sixes in what would finish as the highest-scoring T20 grand final in Narrabri in well over a decade.

The victory also continued Tatts’ dominance in the local T20 arena. There were no club-based NDCA first grade T20 competitions held from the 2019/20 season until it returned last season following a five-year hiatus, during which the franchise-based Super Slog competition was contested instead.

Tatts had played in four consecutive deciders leading up to the introduction of the Super Slog, three of which they won, and they returned to the big dance in 2026 after RSL beat Wilga Hotel Razorbacks last year to make it four titles out of a possible six since 2016.

The Boggabri boys got off to a red-hot start to Saturday night’s decider at Collins Park as Josh Colling bowled Jacob Nichols for a second-ball duck in the first over.

Packer then joined Craig out in the middle and the experienced duo produced a brilliant 90-run partnership that included 14 boundaries.

Craig brought up his half-century in the ninth over when he blasted a Ben Haire delivery for four to make the score 1-86 as he moved to 53, but he did not score again as he was bowled by Jack Hayes at the end of the 10th over as the scoreboard read 2-93 at the halfway point of the innings. The opener struck seven fours and two sixes during his time at the crease.

Packer was on 34 runs off 20 deliveries at that stage after hitting a six and a single earlier in the 10th over, and he then lifted both his and the team’s run rate across the back half of the innings as he blasted his next 63 runs off 26 deliveries. That left him on 97 runs with more than three overs remaining, but he was denied what would have been one of the most memorable centuries at Collins Park when he was trapped in front LBW by Millar in the 17th over.

He departed having hit seven fours and seven sixes as 70 of his runs came from boundaries.

Craig Gleeson (14) and Jakeb Nipperess (8) were also dismissed late in the innings as they urged Tatts towards 200, and their replacements Brendon Ward (6*) and Hugh Lennon (18*) were able to get them over the line as they guided the side to 5-211.

Nathan Millar (2-36 from four overs) was the lone multiple wicket-taker for Boggabri, and his teammates Colling (1-20 from three overs), Nick Millar (1-41 from four overs) and Hayes (1-38 from three overs) claimed the other three.

Tatts were without their injured skipper Josh Campbell and veteran Rod Kirk for the decider but still had plenty of experience amongst the group, including former skippers Gleeson, Craig, Packer, Ward and Nipperess.

Two of those men combined for the side’s first scalp as Nipperess held onto a catch at deep mid-wicket during the Gleeson-bowled third over to dismiss Jarod Adams (9).

Jay Urquhart had opened with Adams and was on 15 runs from seven deliveries after blasting a six and two fours in the Jonty Schwager-bowled second over, but Schwager bounced back in style as he bowled the Boggabri batsman with the first delivery of the fourth over to make the score 2-27.

Nick and Nathan Millar then put on a 63-run partnership to get their side on the front foot as they were 2-83 at the halfway mark before Nick blasted a six from the first ball of the 11th over. He then scored a single before Nathan (17) was caught by Dillon Hutton as Gleeson struck with another important wicket.

Haire (17) continued to help build momentum as he chipped in with 17 in a 43-run partnership with Nick Millar before being caught by Waldo Botha in the Nipperess-bowled 14th over.

That made the score 4-133 as Boggabri found themselves in a tricky situation needing 79 runs to win from just six overs.

They certainly were still a chance with Millar at the crease, and he gave the chasing side plenty of hope when he dispatched his seventh six of the night from the first ball of the Botha-bowled 15th over.

However, Tatts got back on top when Craig took a catch on the boundary at long on to conclude that over as Millar departed having smashed 75 runs from just 37 deliveries. His entertaining innings saw him register three fours and seven maximums.

Any real hope Boggabri had of winning the contest was then lost when Nipperess knocked over Colling (1) in the 16th over, and the Tatts stand-in skipper, Brodie Heron and Schwager were able to hold the Colts to 7-163 with some impressive bowling across the final five overs.

Nipperess (2-23 from four overs) and Gleeson (2-27 from four overs) both finished the match with two wickets each, and the other three were claimed by Botha (1-9 from one over), Heron (1-23 from four overs) and Schwager (1-27 from four overs).

It was an unfortunate ending to the decider for the Colts men, whose 163-run total would have been enough to win them every premier T20 grand final in Narrabri since 2013.

The two sides have now turned their attention back to the one day competition, which will get back underway on Saturday, January 31. Boggabri will take on RSL at Leitch Oval in the 10th round of the campaign while Tatts sit out with the bye.

The T20 champions will return to the park when they meet Tourist Hotel in round 11 on Saturday, February 7, at Collins Park.