Priag Patriots claim second consecutive Namoi T20 Super Slog premiership

Priag Patriots are champions of Narrabri District Cricket Association’s Coates Hire Namoi T20 Super Slog competition once again after winning the grand final of the 2022/23 season against Specialised Civil Services at Collins Park on Saturday night.

The Patriots entered this season as the defending champions and earned a spot in the grand final after finishing on top of the four-team ladder.

They then won their second decider in three seasons of the franchise T20 competition after scoring a comfortable 33-run victory.

The Priag men batted first after their skipper Cooper Brayshaw won the toss, and the side made 6-125 in 20 overs. Specialised Civil Services reached 92 runs in reply before losing their 10th and final wicket with just three deliveries to spare in the match.

Brayshaw, who was a member of Priag’s 2020/21 premiership-winning side and captained the franchise for the first time this season, told The Courier that he was proud of his team and said it was a special feeling to raise the trophy on Saturday night.

“The feeling of winning a grand final on my first time captaining is special,” he said.

“You don’t think you can do it, you question yourself and your calls, not having as much experience as other captains, but for it to pay off, it felt incredible.

“I had to pinch myself to make it feel like I wasn’t in a dream.

“Everyone was ready to go. I had been speaking to all the boys beforehand and I let them know what their job was.

“I wanted us to stick to the plan no matter what, and to see all those boys respect that and respect my calls goes a long way, so I thank them for that throughout the whole season.

“The way we played in the grand final, it couldn’t have been better.

“The season was fun. I had a blast, and so did all the boys.

“It’s always good getting to play with other guys outside your club cricket. It gets a vibe going around and makes it better for when 45-over cricket comes back around.

“I could not have been anymore prouder of my boys, not one bit, they were perfect.”

Jakeb Nipperess was named the man-of-the-match after he opened the batting for the Priag Patriots and scored a game-best 35 runs. He also took a sensational sliding catch in the game’s second innings to remove Specialised Civil Services’ captain Lachlan Woolford.

Hamish Duncan opened the batting alongside Nipperess for Priag and he scored 11 runs before being caught by Sam Bullen in the Guy Gleeson-bowled fourth over, making the score 1-17.

Nipperess was on two runs at that stage, and he was joined by Bernard O’Connor in the middle. The duo put on a 58-run partnership that lasted almost eight overs before O’Connor (28) departed in the Danny Laws-bowled 11th over. O’Connor smashed Laws for two fours and a six in that over, but Laws had the final say when O’Connor skied a shot and was caught by Jordan Doolan.

That made the score 2-75, which became 3-91 in the 14th over when Nipperess (35) was bowled by Eben Botha during an impressive wicket maiden.

Josh Trindall (2) was bowled by Eben’s brother Waldo Botha during the following over, which brought Clay Hoffman to the crease to partner Brayshaw.

They put on a 29-run partnership before Brayshaw (23) was bowled by Bullen in the final over of the innings with just one ball remaining.

Nathan Trindall then entered the middle to face the final delivery of the innings, and in an attempt to go aerial, he was caught by Karl Hatfield for a golden duck.

That wicket saw the Patriots finish their innings on 6-125.

Bullen (2-7 from two overs) was his side’s best with the ball and slowed the run rate down at the back end of the game. Eben Botha (1-12 from two overs), Waldo Botha (1-27 from three overs), Gleeson (1-20 from three overs) and Laws (1-20 from one over) all took one wicket each.

The Patriots came out firing in the second innings as opening bowlers Nathan Trindall and Josh Trindall produced some superb fast bowling and combined for four wickets in the first four overs.

Nathan Trindall took two wickets in the first over as he bowled Gleeson for a second ball duck with the fifth ball of the innings and then knocked over Specialised Civil Services danger man Hatfield for a golden duck after the first drop batsman was caught behind by O’Connor.

That made the score 2-2 after one over, and the scoreboard later read 2-11 after three overs.

Josh Trindall then made his mark on the game when he bowled a double wicket maiden in the fourth over to make the score 4-11 and put the Priag Patriots in a commanding position. He removed Jordan Doolan (4), who was caught by Joel Hogan at mid off, and then Eben Botha, who he bowled for a second ball duck.

Brayshaw opted to roll with that momentum and decided to bowl his two openers out, as opposed to saving them for an over or two each at the death.

That turned out to be the correct call as Josh Trindall made the score 5-25 after eight overs when he bowled Hadley Sevil (3) with the final ball of his spell.

Specialised Civil Services had a slim chance of producing what would have been a miraculous win as Jye Manton (14) and Chris Smith (33) produced handy contributions in the middle order.

However, Manton was run out after he suffered a cramp and Smith was bowled by Hoffman as the chasing side’s hopes evaporated.

It did manage to take the game all the way to the 20th over, though, which kept the crowd entertained.

Duncan bowled the final over of the contest, and it was fitting that he took the game-winning wicket after he was arguably the player of the tournament this season. He bowled Laws (3) with three balls to spare in the match and then the Priag Patriots’ celebrations began.

Josh Trindall (3-14 from four overs) and Hoffman (3-16 from four overs) finished the match with three wickets each in their side’s grand final win. Nathan Trindall (2-9 from four overs) took two wickets and was his side’s best in terms of economical bowling, and Duncan finished with 1-25 from 3.3 overs.