Specialised Civil Services claims three-run T20 grand final victory

The top two ranked Narrabri District Cricket Association Coates Hire Namoi Super Slog T20 teams – Specialised Civil Services and Carla Baxter Real Estate – went head-to-head in the grand final on Saturday evening.

In the match played at Collins Park it was the Specialised Civil Services men who were victorious.

The top-ranked side after six rounds won the toss and skipper Craig Gleeson elected to bat.

Specialised Civil Services lost just five wickets in that first innings and scored 115 runs, setting Carla Baxter Real Estate 116 to win.

The chasing side lost nine wickets in its pursuit of victory and needed six runs from the final delivery, but could only score two as it fell just short.

Specialised Civil Services skipper Gleeson opened the batting with the competition’s leading run scorer Nick Smart and the pair got the side off to a positive start.

The pair put on a 25-run partnership in the first four overs, 19 of which came from the bat of Smart.

He was lucky to still be in the middle at that point though, dropped twice from the bowling of Tim Shields.

With the first delivery of the fifth over Shields finally got his man when Smart (19) was caught by Carla Baxter Real Estate skipper Tom Craig.

Luke Meppem partnered Gleeson in the middle and the pair put on a 24-run partnership which was broken in the ninth over when Gleeson (20) was caught by Zack Doring from the bowling of Jock Small.

Next in was Daniel Kahl who put on a 29-run partnership with Meppem before Meppem (18) was bowled by Jarrett Tough in the 15th over.

At the three-quarter mark of the innings the score was 3-82, then in the final five overs Specialised Civil Services added 33 more runs at the expense of just two wickets.

One of those was in the 17th over when Daniel Hamilton (4) was run out by Justin Knight, then the last was in the 19th over when Kahl (20) was caught by Craig from the bowling of Hamish Duncan.

Chris Sargent (9*) and Daniel Hughes (10*) remained unbeaten after the final ball had been bowled.

Carla Baxter Real Estate’s best with the ball was its youngest player Shields who finished with an economical 1-13 from four overs.

The second innings began with a bang, the bang being the sound of the ball smashing the stumps.

Luke Morgan opened the batting for Carla Baxter Real Estate and Jonty Schwager took the ball for Specialised Civil Services.

Schwager charged in and bowled his Tatts teammate for a golden duck to make the score 1-0 after one ball.

That brought Cody Kember to the crease who joined the team’s other opener Cooper Brayshaw.

Kember smashed six fours and a six on his way to a game-best 56 runs.

He lost four partners during his time at the crease as Brayshaw (8), Knight (3), Doring (1) and Craig (12) all went cheaply.

Specialised Civil Services finally got its man when Kember was dismissed in the Eben Botha-bowled 17th over, caught six runs after reaching 50.

That wicket was a massive blow for the chasing and left Small and Tough at the crease, but Small (4) was bowled by Meppem in the 18th over which made the score 7-88 with two overs to go.

The 19th over was bowled by Sargent and Carla Baxter Real Estate’s newest batsman Matt Conroy took advantage of the slower bowling, smashing the first ball of the over for six.

However, Sargent replied instantly when he knocked over Conroy (6) with the next ball which made the score 8-95. At the end of that over the score was 8-102 which meant that Carla Baxter Real Estate required 14 runs to win from the final over.

Schwager took the ball for the final six deliveries and conceded eight runs from the first five, which included the dismissal of Duncan (7) who was run out by Sargent.

Tough faced the final delivery of the innings and needed six to win, however could only manage two which saw Carla Baxter Real Estate fall just four runs short of victory in what was a thrilling finish to the match.

Five of the six bowlers used by Specialised Civil Services claimed at least one wicket.

Smart took a team-best 2-13 from four overs. Eben Botha (2-17 from three overs) was the other multiple wicket taker while Meppem (1-17 from four overs), Sargent (1-20 from four overs) and Schwager (1-28 from four overs) took a wicket each.