FRIDAY NIGHT THRILLER: J and D Weed Management prevails in NDCA Super Slog’s first ever super over

History was made at Hogan Oval on Friday night when a super over was required to decide the winner of a Coates Hire Namoi Super Slog T20 competition game for the first time.

J and D Weed Management downed WTC Group in the second round of Narrabri District Cricket Association’s premier T20 competition after both sides batted the full amount of overs in their respective innings and scored 142 runs each.

J and D Weed Management batted first after its captain Luke Meppem won the toss, and the side posted a score of 2-142 in 20 overs.

In reply, WTC Group finished on 4-142 after putting 12 runs on the board in the 20th over, three of which were scored by Joe Madden from the final delivery to tie the game when a boundary would have won it.

A super over followed, and it was WTC Group that batted first.

Steve Phelps was one of the two batsmen sent in by WTC Group after he had opened and top-scored with 71 runs earlier in the match. Fellow WTC Group big-hitter Matt Conroy started the super over at the non-strikers’ end, while fast bowler Dylan Segundo was thrown the ball for J and D Weed Management by his skipper Meppem.

Segundo got his side off to a flying start with two dot balls before Phelps was able to score a single from ball number three.

Conroy scored three runs from the next two balls as WTC Group moved to a total of four, and then Segundo bowled Phelps with the final delivery of the over.

With just five runs to chase, J and D Weed Management sent its two form batsmen in to get the job done. That included Sid Harvey, who scored a team-high 56 earlier in the night, and Greg Melton, who top-scored for the team with 20 in round one and scored an unbeaten 45 earlier in the night in round two.

WTC Group’s skipper Dylan Smith bowled the super over for his side and started it off with a dot ball before Harvey scored a single.

Melton then scored two runs from the third delivery, which meant J and D Weed Management required just two more runs to win from the final three deliveries.

Melton iced the game in style with a straight drive that raced away for four from the fourth delivery of the over.

Earlier in the night, Nick Tomlinson opened the batting alongside Harvey, and he kicked off the scoring with a boundary from the third ball of the Smith-bowled first over.

The two openers forged a 75-run opening-wicket partnership that was finally broken in the 11th over when Tomlinson (31) was bowled by Cody Kember.

Melton joined Harvey at the crease, and those two combined for a 39-run partnership before Harvey (56) was caught by Jacob Hopman in the 17th over, which started a Smith wicket-maiden.

Harvey scored five fours and a six during his first match of the season after he missed his side’s round one loss while on Country Colts duty for Central North.

The loss of his wicket left J and D Weed Management on 2-114, and the side piled on 28 runs in the final three overs to finish on 2-142.
Melton (45*) scored most of those and finished the night just short of a half-century, having struck four fours and a six during another impressive innings.

Meppem (3*) remained unbeaten at the other end after the final delivery had been bowled, while Kember (1-13 from three overs) and Smith (1-14 from four overs) were WTC Group’s wicket-takers.

The WTC Group side’s chase got off to a bright start as Phelps and Conroy opened the batting and scored at 7.2 runs an over during the first 10 overs as the score became 0-72 at the halfway point of the innings.

However, just like J and D Weed Management’s opening partnership, that was broken in the 11th over when Meppem dismissed Conroy (20), who was caught by Harvey.

Joe Madden entered at number three for WTC Group and he and Phelps put on a 40-run partnership before the opener departed for a game-best score of 71 after being stumped by Kaleb Mowle from the bowling of Meppem.

Phelps smashed five fours and three sixes during his entertaining innings as he bounced back from a round one fifth-ball duck in style.

That wicket made the score 2-113 in the 16th over, which became 4-120 in the 18th when Aden King removed Kember (20), who he caught himself, and then Tim Hayne (0), who was caught by Segundo.

That left Madden at the crease with Smith and they guided WTC Group to 4-130 after 19 overs.

Harvey took the ball for the final over and the 13 runs the chasing side required to win immediately became eight when a wide raced away to the boundary.

Two singles and a dot meant that WTC Group required six to win from the final three deliveries, and that became four when Madden scored a two from the fourth ball of the over.

Harvey followed that up with a dot ball, and the chasing side suddenly needed Madden to hit a four to win the game.

He was unable to do that but achieved the next best result as he scored three runs to finish unbeaten on 21 and also tie the score and send the game into a super over.

That is when Segundo and Melton stood up for J and D Weed Management to help deliver their team’s first win of the season.

The four Super Slog sides now enter the Christmas and New Year break on a win and a loss each after the Priag Patriots scored their first victory of the season on Friday night at Collins Park in round two. That sees all four sides now sit on eight points each after the opening two rounds.

The third round of the competition will be played on Friday, January 6, when the round two winners J and D Weed Management and Priag Patriots go head-to-head at Collins Park, and the round two losers WTC Group and Specialised Civil Services face off at Hogan Oval.