“WE’RE NOT DONE YET”: Western Razorbacks thrash RSL to score first win of the season

A desperate and determined Western Razorbacks team has sent a message to the three other Narrabri District Cricket Association first grade sides – that they are not just here to make up the numbers.

The Wee Waa-based club entered round seven on Saturday without a win in the 2021-22 one day campaign following four losses from as many matches after being hampered by availability issues, as well as the loss of several key players from previous seasons.

The Razorbacks met undefeated ladder leaders and defending champs RSL at Collins Park and were clinical from start to finish as they earned one of the most dominant wins of the season thus far after outscoring their opponents with ease by 140 runs.

Razorbacks welcomed their captain Justin Knight back to the lineup after he missed his side’s round six match, and the skipper played a dominant role in the big win.

He won the toss and elected to bat, then opened and scored 21 before he went on to take 2-9 off five overs in the game’s second innings as the Razorbacks defended their total.

His teammates well and truly stepped up around him as well.

The Razorbacks’ top four combined for 182 runs, with Daniel Hamilton scoring a competition-best unbeaten 87, Steve Phelps reaching 45 and Clay Hoffman adding 29.

To put into perspective exactly how outstanding Hamilton’s knock was is the fact that his score in one game is more than Tatts’ leading run-scorer has made in three innings, more than Tourist Hotel’s leading run-scorer has made in two innings, more than the only two players across the first grade competition who have batted six times’ combined individual totals and more than seven of the eight players who have batted five times’ combined individual totals.

Razorbacks opening bowler Josh Trindall then got the job done with the ball as he ripped through RSL’s batting lineup to finish with a season-best haul of 5-14 from 8.5 overs.

Hoffman (2-39 from seven overs) took two wickets, and Phelps (1-6 from three overs) claimed the other as their side made light work of the chasing RSL team, which fell for 70 in 23.5 overs.

Knight said he was proud of his men and told The Courier that they were hungry to play their way into a top-three position and qualify for their fourth consecutive grand final.

“That feels great,” Knight said after the Razorbacks’ win as he and other senior players enjoyed a barbecue dinner at Collins Park.

“It was just good to get a full team, to have 11 players.

“Hopefully this brings a couple of blokes that are on the fence back. The blokes that want to play but don’t want to play.

“I hope it brings a bit more spirit back into our guys and we can finish off the season strong.

“We are definitely the underdogs numbers-wise this season but we’ve made the grand final three years in a row so we know we’ve got the skill there.

“We’ve just got to keep putting that on the paddock now if we want to get to another one.”

Knight commended the entire team for an inspired performance after it suffered a nine-wicket loss just one week earlier, but made particular mention of Hamilton and his patience while building his match-winning innings, as well as Phelps’ class after opening the batting and Trindall’s spectacular performance with the ball.

The Razorbacks remained a win and a point behind the third-placed side, Tourist Hotel, at the bottom of the ladder after the Tourist men defeated the second-placed Tatts at Leitch Oval on Saturday. The Wee Waa-based side forfeiting against Tatts in round three meant that they earned no points that day, whereas when teams field a side but lose they earn one point. That round three result has left the Razorbacks facing an uphill battle to make the top three.

With just three rounds remaining in the regular season, the Razorbacks are two wins and a point behind Tatts and three wins and a point back from first-placed RSL.

That makes every game a must-win one for the Wee Waa-based club from now until the end of the season.

“I just want the boys to keep turning up and keep believing in ourselves,” Knight said.

“We’re at the back end of the season now so we need to finish it off strong.”

In their 140-run win at Collins Park on Saturday, the Western Razorbacks started the match on the front foot as Knight scored 21 runs in five overs to guide his side to 0-32.

He provided some entertainment early in the contest as he smashed his opposing skipper Jarrett Tough for a four from the first ball of the game’s second over before the sides were forced to bring out a new ball when Knight sent the second delivery of that over flying over the fence and into the creek.

However, Tough eventually struck in the sixth over when he claimed the big wicket of Knight (21), who Zaac Brayshaw caught.

That brought Hamilton to the crease for the start of the seventh over, and the left-hander produced a match-winning innings as he stayed at the crease for 38 overs to finish on an unbeaten 87.

He combined for a substantial 78-run partnership with Phelps (45) before the opener was caught by Bernard O’Connor in the Cody Kember-bowled 25th over.

That made the score 2-111, which became 3-187 after Hamilton and Hoffman combined for a 76-run partnership before Hoffman was bowled by Will Ford in the 42nd over.

Ford claimed another scalp in the 43rd when he dismissed Trindall (7), who came out with a license to go wild late in the innings before skying a shot that former teammate Harry Pattison caught.

The Razorbacks eventually finished on 4-210, which is the largest total of the season, after Hamilton (87*) and Shane Robinson (3*) remainded unbeaten.

RSL’s best with the ball was Will Ford (2-30 from eight overs), and the other two wicket-takers were Kember (1-26 from nine overs) and Tough (1-48 from nine overs).

RSL entered its innings fully aware that it would need to get off to a good start to have any chance of catching the largest total of the year, and it did just that as Kember smashed a six and two fours in the second over of the innings to help his side reach 0-20.

However, disaster then struck as the defending champions suffered an epic collapse, during which they lost 5-9 in 5.4 overs.

Trindall charged in with a spring in his step and bowled a wicket-maiden in the third over of the innings, during which he rattled the stumps to dismiss O’Connor (1).

Trindall bowled another maiden in the fifth over, and the pressure then mounted as his skipper celebrated at the other end in the sixth when he dismissed Kember (21), who Phelps caught.

Knight and Trindall then knocked over Jake Thurston, Shane Murphy, and Alistair Wheeler for ducks as the score became 5-29 in the eighth over.

That left Brayshaw and Tough at the crease, who with the help of a few wides guided RSL to 46 runs before Phelps bowled Brayshaw (3) in the 16th over.

Hoffman then produced back-to-back wicket maidens in the 17th and 19th overs to knock over Beau Tomlinson (1) and Tough (8), respectively, which made the score 8-48.

Pattison became Trindall’s fourth victim in the 22nd over as the score became 9-61.

Will Ford (17) provided some late resistance for RSL before he was trapped in front by Trindall in the 24th over as the Razorbacks quick finished with a five-wicket haul to bring the game to a close.

The Razorbacks have now turned their attention to a blockbuster round eight match this Saturday. They will take on Tourist Hotel at Leitch Oval in that game, which they must win to keep their finals hopes alive.

The Razorbacks will move even on points with Tourist if they get the job done but would fall two wins outside the top three with just two more rounds left to play if Tourist wins.

The other round eight match is a top-of-the-table clash between RSL and Tatts at Collins Park.