Narrabri Blue skipper Nick Smart was a very happy man on Sunday afternoon after his side demolished Narrabri Gold in an MA Connolly Cup Namoi Conference derby match at Collins Park.
Smart tonned up for a fourth time as senior representative Narrabri player, starring in Narrabri Blue’s 111-run win with a match-best 134.
The 25-year-old scored eight fours and sent the ball flying over the fence four times.
It was an innings reminiscent of his match-winning knock of 102 back on February 18, 2018, in a War Veterans Cup grand final victory against Inverell at the same venue.
However, this time it would be against some of his former War Vets teammates including Narrabri Gold skipper Chris Sargent and opening batsman Lachlan Cameron who are also his club teammates at Civeo.
Narrabri Blue made 7-246 in its 45 overs on Sunday after a rain delay held up play for about 35 minutes and shorted each innings by five overs.
The chasing side then fell for just 135 in 35.3 overs as Narrabri Blue claimed a 111-run win.
Cameron opened the batting for Narrabri Gold and scored a team-best 33 in his side’s chase, and was backed up by first drop Cooper Brayshaw (29). However, when Cameron departed the score became 2-52 and the wickets began to tumble.
Brayshaw lost four more partners during his patient knock, before he fell in the 31st over which made the score 7-114.
From that point on it was a matter of when, not if, Narrabri Blue would secure the victory.
Narrabri Blue opening bowlers Ryan O’Neill (1-23 from nine overs) and Jordyn Mowle (3-37 from nine overs) were impressive, as was fellow paceman Nathan Trindall (2-10 from five overs). That trio combined to rip apart Narrabri Gold’s top and middle order.
Spinners Jade Lees (3-37 from 8.3 overs) and Luke Meppem (1-16 from three overs) then made light work of the tail.
Smart told The Courier that he was impressed with all areas of his team’s performance, especially his three quicks.
“I’m pretty happy with the way we played all game,” Smart said.
“It was a big team effort.
“We’ve been trying to create a good team environment and team culture. At the moment everyone is getting around each other and we play as mates and as a unit.
“[Matt] Conroy’s 30-odd was brilliant. It was good batting and it took one of the other team’s danger bowlers out of the game completely, belted him over the fence a few times and it meant I wasn’t forced to attack at the other end so I could just poke around, so that was a good partnership for us.
“I always wanted 230-plus because I knew Lachie (Cameron) could fire at any time and if he was on we’d need every single bit of that, so getting to 247 was great.
“Then our quicks had it on a string. Ryan (O’Neill) was hooping it around at one end and Jordy (Mowle) was decking it away and in at the other, I can’t imagine it would have been that easy to face. It was one of the best bowling spells or partnerships I’ve seen in a long time.
“Nathan (Trindall) was great and Leesy (Jade Lees) and Mep (Luke Meppem) were very good too.
“In the field our ground fielding was phenomenal. Young guys like Bernard (O’Connor) and Tim (Shields) were outstanding, they both impressed me. Nathan (Trindall) was a standout too, he’s one of the best fielders in our comp.”
In the 31st over of Narrabri Blue’s innings, Smart was given a lifeline when he was dropped on 92 after skying a shot to cover. He then entered the 35-over drinks break on 99.
However there was no case of the nervous 90s; at both of those stages he was unaware that he was so close to the milestone score.
“I honestly didn’t even know I was on 92 when I got dropped I thought I was on 80-odd,” he said.
“I didn’t know I was on 99 at drinks either, I was just trying to attack the bowlers. I wasn’t thinking about my own score really I just wanted to help get the team to a big total.”
It took the him just one ball to bring up his century after the break and he would add 34 more before being bowled by Dylan Smith in the 43rd over of the 45-over innings.
Top order batsmen Conroy (32) and Shane Murphy (13) both chipped in to get their side off to a flying start, then Riley Jenkins (10*) and Lees (9*) remained unbeaten at the end of the first innings.
Narrabri Blue’s victory helped keep its finals hopes alive following two losses in its first three games.
The side is now within a win of first-placed Narrabri Gold, which has one game left to play, and also one win back from second-placed Gunnedah which still has two matches left.
In a rescheduled round four game, Gunnedah will play against Tamworth on Sunday, January 17 next year.
Then, in round five games, both Narrabri teams will play away from home on Sunday, January 31, when Narrabri Blue takes on Quirindi and Narrabri Gold meets Gunnedah.
The results of all of those games will determine which teams finish in the top two of the Namoi Conference and advance to the semi-finals.
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