RSL win top-of-the-table clash against Tourist Hotel to in first place

Narrabri RSL Cricket Club prevailed in a nail-biter in their top-of-the-table first grade game against Tourist Hotel during round four of Narrabri District Cricket Association’s 2023/24 season at Leitch Oval on Saturday.

The defending champions extended their winning start to the season to four games after prevailing by seven runs in a match that went down to the wire.

RSL’s stand-in skipper Nathan Trindall won the toss in the absence of the injured Jarrett Tough, and he chose to bat before his side scored 170 runs in 42.1 overs.

They then knocked over the chasing Tourist Hotel side for 163 runs in 41.4 overs after Will Ford produced a late match-winning spell to help his team remain undefeated.

The 18-year-old opening batsman had already starred earlier in the game when he top-scored for RSL with 40 runs, and he delivered again in the second innings when Trindall threw him the ball as Tourist Hotel closed in on a win.

The chasing side were cruising at 6-156 after 37 overs and required just 15 runs to win before Ford turned the game on its head in the 38th. It was his second over of the game after his first had gone for four runs, and he took two wickets while conceding just one to make the score 8-157.

Teammate Jason Trindall followed up that over with his third maiden of the match, and then Ford struck again in the 40th with a wicket-maiden to make the score 9-157.

Tourist Hotel managed to score six more runs in the 41st over, and then Jason Paull found himself on strike against Ford to begin the 42nd. The RSL youngster bowled three dot balls and then wrapped up the game with the match-winning wicket Paull skied a shot and second grader Max Hunter, who was on the field as a sub fielder, took the catch as the ladder leaders prevailed by seven runs.

It was a victory that saw RSL move to a maximum 28 points and finish the weekend two wins clear of both Tourist Hotel and fellow round four winners Tatts, who are now both on 16 points.

Tatts beat Western Razorbacks by 65 runs at Collins Park in the other first grade match on Saturday to go level with Tourist, while the Razorbacks are still in fourth position on four points following a winless start.

Ford opened the batting with Jordan Doolan for RSL at Leitch Oval and the duo combined for 45 runs in 12 overs to get their team off to a positive start. However, their promising partnership ended in the 13th over when Doolan (25) was bowled by Hamish Duncan.

RSL entered the 15-over drinks break at 1-62 and the score became 2-62 when Adam Gordon kicked off the second session with a wicket-maiden, during which he trapped Murphy (7) in front leg before.

RSL reached triple figures in the 25th over as an abundance of wides was playing a significant factor as the innings looked to be getting away from the Tourist Hotel men.

However, Mark Page knocked over Ford (40) during the 25th and then went on to take five more wickets to finish with a remarkable 6-25 from nine overs as RSL limped from 2-104 to 9-140.

Trindall (27) fired late to get his side to 170, with his 10th-wicket stand alongside Rod Tomlinson (9*) adding 30 runs to RSL’s total. Their innings finally came to an end one ball into the Dylan Segundo-bowled 43rd over when Trindall was caught by Duncan.

Page was Tourist Hotel’s best with the ball as he took the side’s second six-wicket haul in two weeks after Matt Conroy also claimed six scalps against Tatts in round three. The side’s other four wickets against RSL were shared between Segundo (1-18 from 6.1 overs), Gordon (1-25 from six overs), Smith (1-32 from six overs) and Duncan (1-43 from nine overs).

Nick Tomlinson faced the first ball of the second innings and the opener got Tourist Hotel off to a positive start as he scored three runs straight away.

Trindall followed that up with five dot balls against Duncan, and then Cooper Brayshaw struck immediately with the first ball of the second over when he bowled Tomlinson (3).

Duncan was then joined by Lachlan Woolford and the duo combined for a 43-run partnership to get their team back on track. However, it was broken when Woolford (15) was caught by Murphy during the Trindall-bowled 11th over to make the score 2-46, which became 4-59 during the 15th over as Cody Kember bowled Duncan (20) and then knocked over Smith (4), who was caught behind by RSL keeper Zaac Brayshaw three deliveries later.

Tourist skipper Luke Meppem had said during the lead-up to the game that the key to beating RSL for his side was for the middle order to stand up and score some runs, and Gordon, Segundo and Paull all responded in style.

Gordon and Segundo combined for a 42-run partnership to take their side past 100 before Segundo (17) was caught by Murphy during the Kember-bowled 23rd over as the score became 5-101.

Gordon and Paull then lasted 10 overs together in the middle for a 37-run partnership that was broken in the 33rd over when Gordon was trapped in front by Trindall for a game-best 41 runs.

That made the score 6-138, and then Tourist Hotel finished the 37th over on 6-156 with just 15 runs to get in eight overs and with four wickets in hand.

However, that was when Ford struck and did the damage with a brilliant spell that saw him take 4-5 from 3.4 overs and win the game for RSL.

It was a frustrating loss for Tourist as the 46 wides they bowled during the first innings came back to haunt them and kept RSL in the contest, allowing a late collapse to decide the result.

Ford was the ladder leaders’ best with the ball with his four wickets, Kember (3-32 from nine overs) took three, Trindall (2-27 from nine overs) claimed two and Cooper Brayshaw (1-38 from nine overs) took the other.

Tourist Hotel will return to Leitch Oval for their round five fixture this Saturday as they look to bounce back from their second loss of the season when they go head-to-head with the Western Razorbacks, while RSL will challenge Tatts at Collins Park, eager to extend their winning run in the 2023/24 campaign to five matches.