RSL strikes first against Tourist Hotel as new NDCA season begins

Narrabri RSL Cricket Club’s first grade side hit the ground running when the Narrabri District Cricket Association’s 2024/25 season got underway on Saturday.

The winners of the past four red-ball one day campaigns showed that they have what it takes to adapt to the new all-white ball cricket adopted for this season when they demolished Tourist Hotel by nine wickets at Collins Park in the opening round of the first grade T20 competition.

Tourist Hotel set RSL 100 to chase after winning the toss and making 7-99 in 20 overs, which the defending one day champs were able to achieve comfortably.

Jake Brayshaw opened the batting for the chasing side and notched up a game-high score of 57 runs to guide RSL to the big win. He only lost one partner before his team hunted down the required total in the 18th over of the second innings.

Hamish Duncan and Aaronn Baker opened the batting for Tourist Hotel in the first innings of the contest and they were on a roll when Duncan’s third boundary of the game in the fifth over saw them reach 26 runs. He then hit a single to put Baker on strike for the last delivery of Nathan Trindall’s third over, and the stand-in skipper made the breakthrough for RSL as he dismissed Baker with the assistance of a catch from his dad Jason to make the score 1-27.

Trindall was then replaced by Cody Kember for the seventh over and he also made his mark on the match as he bowled Lachlan Woolford with his fifth delivery before knocking over Josh Trindall caught and bowled in the ninth over as the score became 3-43.

Nick Tomlinson joined Duncan in the middle and the duo put on 26 runs together before Duncan was caught by Jason Trindall in the Brayshaw-bowled 14th over as he departed for a team-high score of 34 from 32 balls with his side on 69.

Jason Trindall took the ball for the 16th over and the gun veteran showed he can still mix it with his younger opponents when he took the wicket of Tomlinson (29), who was caught by Brayshaw.

Will Ford then knocked over Chase Harrington and Ed Pavey for golden ducks in the 17th over and was on a hat-trick, but Tourist Hotel’s Jason Paull survived the hat-trick ball with a trademark defensive shot.

Paull finished unbeaten with four runs and Luke Meppem ended up not out with eight runs after the final ball had been bowled.

Ford (2-4 from two overs) was RSL’s best with the ball and Kember (2-17 from four overs) also claimed two wickets, while Jason Trindall (1-7 from two overs), Brayshaw (1-16 from four overs) and Nathan Trindall (1-22 from four overs) all took one each.

Brayshaw and Jordan Doolan were sent out to open the batting for RSL and they both got off the mark with boundaries as the chasing side found themselves on 0-8 after two overs.

Danny Laws then made the breakthrough for Tourist Hotel with the first ball of the third over when he took the wicket of Doolan, who was caught by Tomlinson for four runs off seven deliveries.

That saw Ford join Brayshaw in the middle and the duo combined for a 91-run partnership to guide RSL to a nine-wicket win as they chased down the required total in 17.3 overs.

Brayshaw brought up the first half-century of the first grade campaign in the 14th over and went on to make 57 runs from as many balls, while Ford ended up unbeaten with 34 runs from 41 deliveries. Brayshaw scored seven fours during his time at the crease and Ford hit a six and three fours.

RSL will line up at Hogan Oval this Saturday evening as they take on the Wilga Hotel Razorbacks in a round two clash under lights.

The Razorbacks were beaten by four wickets at Hogan Oval in round one on Saturday by Tatts, who the Tourist Hotel men will now face this weekend at Collins Park.