NDCA’s Coates Hire Namoi Super Slog T20 regular season wraps up with round five and six matches

Narrabri District Cricket Association’s 2023/24 season Coates Hire Namoi Super Slog T20 competition regular season came to an end following one match on Friday night and three more on Saturday.

The ladder standings from after the completion of the first four rounds prior to the Christmas and New Year break remained unchanged after all teams scored one win and suffered one loss across the final two rounds.

WTC Group entered rounds five and six having already locked in a spot in this Saturday’s decider, although their opponent was still undecided.

NKT Excavations were in the box seat as they sat two wins clear of J and D Weed Management, but an NKT Excavations loss and a J and W Weed Management win on Saturday afternoon would have seen those sides meet one another under lights that night battling it out for a spot in the final. However, an NKT victory in their first fixture of the day saw them join WTC Group in the decider.

Friday night’s match saw ladder leaders WTC Group and last-placed side Specialised Civil Services meet under lights at Hogan Oval where the WTC Group men were determined to extend their undefeated streak to five while the Specialised Civil Services men were attempting to win for the first time this season.

It was WTC Group that got the job done with a comfortable 54-run win. They batted first after winning the toss and managed 9-115 in 20 overs before bowling out their opposition for 61 in 14 overs.

WTC Group returned to Hogan Oval on Saturday afternoon where they met NKT Excavations in round six.

That was WTC Group’s last match of the regular season and they were unable to finish it off undefeated as they were beaten by two wickets. They batted first after winning the toss again and made 6-96 in 20 overs, but that was not enough as NKT Excavations chased down the required total in 18 overs, having lost eight wickets, to join WTC Group in this Saturday’s decider.

The other round six game played on Saturday afternoon saw Specialised Civil Services score their first win of the campaign in what was their final game as they downed J and D Weed Management quite comfortably by nine wickets at Leitch Oval.

J and D Weed Management batted first after winning the toss and were rolled for just 50 runs in 15.2 overs. Specialised Civil Services reached the required total in 10.1 overs, just one wicket down, to make their only win of the season a crushing one.

J and D Weed Management’s grand final hopes evaporated following that loss but they were determined to end the season on a high as they backed up to play that night at Hogan Oval.

They were able to do so as they downed NKT Excavations by 21 runs after being sent into bat and making 103 in 16.4 overs before bowling out the opposition for 82 in 18 overs.

Those four results meant that WTC Group secured top spot on the ladder with 36 points following five wins and a loss, NKT Excavations are second with 30 points after four wins and two losses, J and D Weed Management finished third with 18 points after two wins and four losses, and Specialised Civil Services finished fourth with 12 points following a win and five losses.

Friday night’s contest saw WTC Group bat first after skipper Nathan Trindall won the toss, and he led by example with a brilliant half-century that helped guide his side to a triple-digit score to make things difficult for Specialised Civil Services.

Their innings started slowly and they were struggling at 4-43 after 10 overs before Trindall got off the mark with a six the next over and began to lift the run rate.

He lost three partners after entering at number six, and none of the first seven WTC Group partnerships were able to contribute 20 runs. The next two did though as the in-form skipper put on 21 with Rowan Keeler (2) and 23 with Wahid Islam.

Trindall (51) departed in the Jye Manton-bowled 19th over when he was caught by Waldo Botha after lighting up Hogan Oval with six fours and two sixes, with 17 of his 51 runs being scored during the 18th over.

Islam (7*) and Anirudh Chiluvuri (4*) were unbeaten after the final delivery had been bowled as WTC Group finished on 9-115.

Karl Hatfield was superb with the ball for Specialised Civil Services as he finished with a game-best 4-15 from four overs. He took a wicket in each of those four overs, one of which was a wicket-maiden.

The chasing side came out firing and were 0-15 after two overs before Dylan Smith turned the innings on its head with two wickets in the third to dismiss Specialised Civil Services openers Bernard O’Connor (4) and Adam Gordon (9) and make the score 2-18.

Trindall struck with the first ball of the fourth over when he trapped the opposing skipper Lachlan Woolford (1) in front LBW, and the final seven wickets were taken across the next 10 overs as the chasing side were all out on just 61 at the end of the 14th over.

Darcy Gleeson (11*) was their top scorer and finished unbeaten, while Hatfield (10) was the only other SCS batsman to reach double figures in that innings.

All four WTC Group bowlers took wickets, with Trindall the pick of the bunch as he finished with 3-9 from three overs to cap off his man-of-the-match performance. Smith finished with 2-12 from three overs, Darcy Anderson ended with 2-20 from four overs and Will Ford finished with 1-17 from four overs. Trindall and Keeler both chipped in with a runout each.

Specialised Civil Services came out fired up on Saturday afternoon when they went in search of their first win of the campaign in their final outing as they met J and D Weed Management at Leitch Oval.

J and D Weed Management batted first after their skipper Luke Meppem won the toss, and the score was 2-18 after six overs as the Specialised Civil Services opening bowlers Jye Manton and Waldo Botha both took 1-9 from their three-over spells.

The batting side were two wickets down still as they reached 30 runs, however, they suffered an almighty collapse as Specialised Civil Services claimed 4-3 to make the score 6-33 after 12 overs. They managed 17 more runs before losing their final wicket in the 16th over as they finished all out for 50.

Only top-order duo Jakeb Nipperess (13) and Kaleb Mowle (13) reached double figures for J and D Weed Management, while Bernard O’Connor (3-2 from two overs) was Specialised Civil Services’ best with the ball.

Gordon (2-3 from three overs) and Hatfield (2-12 from three overs) took four each, and the other three were shared between Josh Dowton (1-7 from 1.2 overs) and Manton and Botha (both 1-9 from three overs).

Specialised Civil Services cruised to victory in the second innings of the game as O’Connor (26) guided them to a nine-wicket victory. His opening partner was Gordon (11), who was stumped by Mowle in the Meppem-bowled eighth over. That brought Gunnedah batsman Cameron Waugh (6*) to the crease and he helped O’Connor get the side home to their first and only win of the campaign.

The other round six game played on Saturday afternoon was contested at Hogan Oval where WTC Group batted first against NKT Excavations after Trindall won the toss.

NKT Excavations claimed an early breakthrough when Cody Kember bowled Angus Galagher (1) in the second over, and that brought Ford to the crease who anchored the innings with a match-high score of 40 runs. His entertaining innings included five fours and two sixes as he became the competition’s leading run-scorer with 112.

He was assisted by Islam (13), Smith (13) and Matt Bradshaw (10) as the WTC side batted out the 20 overs and finished on 6-96.

Jarrett Tough (3-19 from four overs) was NKT Excavation’s best with the ball, and his teammate Les Bonney (1-4 from four overs) produced one of the best spells of the season that included an impressive 20 dot balls.

Cody Kember (1-5 from two overs) also took a wicket and Jake Brayshaw chipped in with a run out.

The chasing side’s top three all reached double figures, but Aaronn Baker (16), Jake Brayshaw (10) and Matt Conroy (10) were all able to go on and convert their starts into bigger scores.

Conroy’s 10 runs were significant, though, as they saw him join Ford at the top of the competition’s leading run-scorers tally with a game to play.

NKT Excavations’ skipper Cooper Brayshaw entered at number four and smashed a team-best 35 runs before his innings, which included five fours and a six, was cut short in the Trindall bowled 15th over.

The WTC Group skipper trapped Jake Thurston (0) in front that same over as the score became 7-89. That meant Trindall’s men needed three wickets to win before Brayshaw’s men could score eight more runs, but they were only able to take one more before the chasing team reached the 97-run total in the 18th over when Brinley Davis (1*) hit the winning run, with Max Hunter also unbeaten on seven.

Smith, who claimed 3-11 from four overs, including a wicket-maiden, was the standout with the ball for the WTC Group outfit in that innings and his captain Trindall took 2-25 to finish at the top of the leading wicket-takers tally with 13.

NKT Excavations and J and D Weed Management then met one another in the final game of the 2023/24 Super Slog regular season under lights at Hogan Oval that night, with first place on the ladder up for grabs for the NKT Excavations team if they were able to win the contest and join WTC Group on 36 points. Runs scored and conceded and wickets taken and lost would have decided the top-ranked team if that was the case, however, it did not come down to that as J and D Weed Management bowed out of the competition with a win.

They batted first after Brayshaw won the toss and elected to field, and made 103 runs before bowling their opposition out for 82.

J and D Weed Management were on a roll at 3-91 during the 14th over and should have gone on with it to score a massive total, however, they were undone by an epic collapse that saw them lose 6-1.

The final partnership contributed 11 runs as the Weed Whackers reached 103.

Jordyn Mowle starred in a cameo for the side with a game-best score of 43 runs after entering at number five, after top order duo Kaleb Mowle (13) and Hugh Lennon (17) made starts earlier in the innings.

But the highlight of the innings was a brilliant Cooper Brayshaw triple-wicket-maiden on his way to game-best figures of 4-28 from 3.4 overs. He was on a hat-trick during the 15th over of the innings, as was his teammate Les Bonney during the 16th before he finished the game with 3-12 from three overs.

Opening batsman Cody Kember (13) and number 11 batsman Jake Brayshaw (15*) were the only two NKT Excavations players to reach double figures in the game’s second innings as NKT Excavations fell 22 runs short of victory.

Kaleb Mowle (3-8 from 2.2 overs) was J and D Weed Management’s top wicket-taker in that innings, and opening bowler Dylan Segundo (2-7 from four overs) produced a brilliant effort that included two maidens.