NDCA’s one day competitions to begin this Saturday

Narrabri District Cricket Association’s 2024/25 season is now three weeks old, which means the one day comps will get underway this Saturday.

Both grades will be 40 overs this season with the games starting from 1pm.

This Saturday’s round one action will see RSL and Tourist Hotel meet in a first grade grand final rematch from 1pm before Tatts and the Wilga Razorbacks go head-to-head in a day/nighter at Hogan Oval from 3.30pm.

Second grade defending champions RSL will line up against Tourist Hotel at Gately Field, and SignPrintStitch Colts will play their first 40-over game when they challenge Tatts at Leitch Oval. Both second grade contests will get underway at 1pm.

The first three weeks of the season were set aside for T20 matches, and those fixtures got the campaign off to a fast start.

RSL currently leads the way in the first grade competition following two wins from as many matches, which were won either side of the washed-out weekend in round two.

The RSL men took on Tatts at Hogan Oval on Friday night in round three and prevailed by 41 runs in a game that went the distance. They batted first after skipper Jarrett Tough won the toss and they made 3-161 in their 20 overs before holding Tatts to 5-160.

Max Hunter picked up three NDCA best and fairest points in that match after top-scoring with an unbeaten 54 as he produced his maiden first grade half century.

Hunter entered in the fifth over at first drop after opener Jordan Doolan (14) departed. Assisted by Brayshaw brothers Jake (32) and Cooper (42), Hunter helped RSL charge into triple digits and eventually reach 3-161.

Cody Kember (3*) also finished unbeaten, and Tatts’ skipper Jakeb Nipperess and his teammates Dylan Brown and Brodie Heron all took a wicket each.

Tatts’ opening batsmen Karl Hatfield and Nipperess then put on a 57-run partnership to get their innings off to a positive start, but it was broken as Jake Brayshaw bowled Nipperess (24) in the 11th over. The spinner then knocked over Brendon Ward LBW for a golden duck, but Ed Currall survived the hat-trick ball and eventually finished unbeaten with 22.

Hatfield (34) and Saad Kahn (26) were their side’s best with the bat but were unable to get Tatts over the line as they fell 42 runs short of victory.

Jake Brayshaw produced game-best figures of 2-22 from four overs in that innings, and the other wickets were claimed by Rowan Keeler, Nathan Trindall and a Hunter runout.

The other first grade match was a nail-biter that went down to the wire as Tourist Hotel defeated the Wilga Razorbacks by a wicket on Saturday night at Hogan Oval.

Wilga batted first and limped to 69 runs in 15.3 overs after losing openers Zack Doring and Ben Sevil for ducks in the first two overs.

Angus Galagher (20) top-scored for Wilga and his skipper Matt Bradshaw (16) was his only teammate to reach double figures.

Danny Laws (3-23 from four overs) was Tourist’s best with the ball, while Dylan Segundo (2-12 from four overs), Chase Harrington (2-14 from 2.3 overs) and skipper Hamish Duncan (1-7 from two overs) all took wickets. The other two came via Laws and Isaiah Cochrane runouts.

Wilga debutant Jack Tate opened the bowling in the second innings and got his side off to a positive start when he bowled Tim Hayne (5). Tate also knocked over the other Tourist opener when he caught and bowled Duncan (14) in the seventh over to make the score 2-30.

Razorbacks club president Greg Melton (4-9 from four overs) then produced the spell of the season to rip through the Tourist middle order and he was assisted by wickets from Doring (2-5 from 2.1 overs) and Bradshaw (1-26 from three overs) as they put the chasing side on the ropes at 9-58.

However, Kaleb Mowle (5*) and Laws (6*) guided their side to victory with a 13-run partnership, with the result secured in the 18th over when Mowle struck a boundary.

Incredibly, the Tourist Hotel side only combined for 20 scoring shots in that innings and more than half of them (12) were fours.

Those results saw RSL finish the weekend in outright first position with 18 points, while Tourist Hotel and Tatts are a win behind them with 12. The winless Razorbacks are fourth with six points.

In second grade, Tourist Hotel lead the way following three straight wins to start the season. They made 8-115 in their 20 overs at Collins Park on Saturday and then held the SignPrintStitch Colts to 9-44 to score a 71-run victory.

After losing an early wicket, Tourist opener Lucas Hogan (41) and first drop Tim Hayne (43) put on a 55-run partnership that was the catalyst for a defendable total. That duo were the only two Tourist Hotel players to reach double figures on the day.

Blair Lennox (2-2 from one over) and Fletcher Whan (2-10 from three overs) were their side’s best with the ball.

In reply, the Colts could only reach 44 runs as they fell 72 short of victory.

George Barton top-scored with 15 and Mick Dowdell was unbeaten with 13* after entering at number 11. Tom Webster (11*) also finished unbeaten.

All of Tourist Hotel’s bowlers were economical on the day, with Jamarl Zarka (2-1 from two overs), Andrew Wallace (2-7 from four overs), and Will Hayne (2-7 from two overs) all leading the way.

In the other second grade match, RSL defeated Tatts by 52 runs at Leitch Oval. The defending champions batted first and made 8-120 in their 20 overs before knocking over Tatts for 68 runs in 18.5 overs.

Gabe O’Connor starred for RSL with an unbeaten 54 runs after entering at number four in the third oval, while Kyle McIlrick (21), Bailey Keeler (12) and Lucas Duff (11) also managed to reach double digits.

Saad Kahn (3-14 from four overs), Jake Cooper (3-31 from four overs) and skipper Jesse Packer (2-17 from four overs) were Tatts’ wicket-takers.

The chasing side’s top four batsmen were Robert Packer (10), Ryan Steel (11), Ed Currall (18) and Kahn (12) who all made starts and combined for 51 runs off the bat.

However, the rest of the team could only add 13 combined runs and RSL bowled tight to only give away four extras as they knocked over Tatts for 68.

RSL skipper Justin Saunders led by example and produced tremendous figures of 4-7 from four overs. His spell included 18 dot balls and began with a wicket maiden.

O’Connor then backed up his classy efforts earlier in the day with the bat to produce a wicket-maiden and end the game with figures of 2-2 from 1.5 overs.

The round three results left Tourist Hotel in first place with 21 points following three wins from as many matches. RSL (15), Colts (9) and Tatts (3) are ranked second to fourth.