Specialised Civil Services gets the job done in the last round of the Super Slog

Specialised Civil Services entered the sixth and final round of the 2022/23 Narrabri District Cricket Association Coates Hire Namoi T20 Super Slog competition on Friday evening aware that a win would be enough to earn them a spot in the grand final.

The side got the job done as it beat a depleted WTC Group outfit by four wickets at Collins Park.

Specialised Civil Services’ captain Lachlan Woolford won the toss and elected to field as he sent the eight-man WTC Group side into bat.

Woolford’s men knocked over WTC Group for 80 runs in 15.3 overs and then chased down the required total in 17.5 overs.

It was not the most convincing of wins, and when WTC Group’s captain Dylan Smith bowled a triple wicket maiden in the 17th over of the second innings to make the score 6-77, there were a few hearts in mouths over in the Specialised Civil Services camp.

However, the side got the job done, much to the delight of its captain.

“Not too bad,” Woolford said when he was asked how he thought his side played.

“We did leave a few catches in the field. I think we dropped about four easy chances and got punished a bit straight after those chances.

“I think 80 runs should have been low 70s to mid 60s.

“But with that target that they set, we were still fairly confident that if we got through the first five to eight overs with not too many wicket losses we would get there.

“Our run rate was pretty high early on with Gleeso (Guy Gleeson) and Hadley (Sevil) batting well before Jonty Schwager bowled a pretty much magic over. It was his third over (the sixth of the innings) and it was very quick and zipping around.

“With six overs left, we needed 20 runs to win, and it was looking a bit how-you-going, like it could have gone either way.

“And then Dylan bowled his over with three wickets and no runs, and at that stage, everyone started biting their nails.

“But when I got out there (in the 18th over), we only needed four runs to win.”

A quick single to Sevil and two byes in the 18th over saw Specialised Civil Services move to 6-80 and level the scores, and then Woolford hit a four to bring the game to a close.

The skipper finished unbeaten on four and his opener Sevil finished on 31 runs, also not out.

That match-winning innings saw Sevil end the regular season as his side’s leading run-scorer with 77 from five innings.

Sevil’s opening partner Gleeson (16) was the only other Specialised Civil Services player who reached double figures, and the side was assisted by 19 extras.

Smith (3-12 from four overs) was WTC Group’s best with the ball.

In the game’s first innings, opening bowler Jye Manton made the first breakthrough for the Specialised Civil Services men when he bowled WTC Group opening batsman Steve Phelps (4) in the third over.

Fellow opener Travis Tilse then lost Will Ford (8) and Tim Shields (4), and then Tilse himself departed for a team-best 25 runs in the 11th over, which made the score 4-52.

Having only eight players at its disposal meant that WTC Group had just three wickets in hand at that stage, and they were all taken by Specialised Civil Services youngster Dustyn Allen, who finished with a game-best 3-9 from 1.3 overs.

Karl Hatfield (2-29 from four overs) claimed two wickets and finished the regular season as his team’s leading wicket-taker. He took seven scalps across the six rounds, one more than Manton and Eben Botha, who claimed one wicket each in the round six win.

Specialised Civil Services finished second on the ladder and will now go head-to-head with Priag Patriots in the grand final this Saturday.

Those two teams both finished on 30 points following four wins and two losses each, however, the defending champions claimed top spot based on a formula that takes into account the number of runs that teams have scored and conceded and the number of wickets they have taken and lost.

Priag Patriots won their sixth and final game of the regular season on Friday night when they downed J and D Weed Management by 96 runs at Hogan Oval.