NDWCA comp gets underway with two entertaining games

The third Narrabri District Women’s Cricket Association competition got underway last week with matches on Friday and Saturday at Hogan Oval.

The two-time defending champions Wahgunyah Dreamtime Mirri kicked off the campaign with a dominant victory as they beat GFS Engineering by eight wickets on Friday night, and the 2023/24 season runners-up Wilga Hotel then got up by 16 runs against Nandewar Motel on Saturday night.

NDWCA president Mark Page was away on the first night but was there for the second match and said that from all reports, the two games were high-quality contests that started off the new season in style.

Once again, the NDWCA comp will operate using the T20 format during season 2024/25, and a maximum of eight balls can be bowled during each over regardless of wides and no balls.

The pitch length has been extended from 18 metres to 19 metres, which Page said was due to the increase in quality across the first two seasons and the non-official competition that was played prior to those.

Friday night’s contest got off to an explosive start when Karen Baker took the ball for the first over of the match and produced a wicket with her first delivery as she bowled Bec Armstrong for a golden duck.

Molly Welsh bowled the third over and dismissed Lucy Suttor (1) before Brogan Morris was thrown the ball for the fourth over and bowled out Ash Eveleigh (1) to make the score 3-10.

Millie Adams arrived at the crease at number four for GFS and helped get their innings back on track as she registered an unbeaten 21 runs to top-score for the team.

They eventually batted out the 20 overs and finished on 9-65.

Baker ended up as the Wahgunyah side’s best with the ball as she claimed 4-6 from four overs. She took three of those wickets in her fourth and final over, which was the 18th of the innings, and was on a hat-trick when she bowled her final delivery of the game.

Welsh (2-15 from four overs), Amy McCauley (1-4 from one over), Menzie Baker (1-9 from two overs), and Morris (1-16 from four overs) took the other five wickets.

Adams opened the bowling for GFS Engineering in the second innings and conceded just one run off her first over before Elford struck in the second as she bowled Welsh, who departed for five runs just one ball after hitting a boundary.

Elford then made the score 2-20 in the fourth over when she bowled the other Wahgunyah opener, Morris, for four runs.

Those two wickets left Paula Trindall and Velvet Craigie at the crease, who put on a 52-run partnership to guide Wahgunyah to an eight-wicket victory after 12.4 overs.

Elford finished the match with 2-19 from three overs and her teammate Adams ended up conceding just eight runs from three overs, which included a maiden, no extras and a total of 13 dot balls from 18 deliveries.

On Saturday night, Wilga Hotel was the first team to bat and their openers Zoe Tomlinson and Taryn Kirk put on a 40-run partnership, which lasted a ball short of 10 overs before Candice Stang claimed Nandewar’s first wicket as she knocked over Tomlinson (13) with the assistance of a Jade Williams catch.

Sam Lubke-Wood took the next two wickets in the 15th over as Wilga’s top scorers Kirk (39) and Alex Conroy (13) departed, and Bec Cope claimed the final two wickets in the 19th over as the Wilga Hotel ladies batted out the 20 overs to end up with 5-102.

Lubke-Wood (2-30 from four overs)and Cope (2-6 from two overs) were Nandewar Motel’s best with the ball and Stang took 1-29 from four overs.

Williams had an impressive start to the season as she opened the bowling and produced 19 dot balls to end up with 0-11 off her four overs, and she also took two catches.

She then registered the largest score of the entire first round in the second innings when she entered at number six and smashed eight fours before finishing unbeaten on 43 runs.

The next highest-scoring player for Nandewar was Cope (6) as they fell 17 runs short of the required total.

Wilga’s opening bowlers Tomlinson and Bridget Murphy both claimed a wicket in their first overs of the game and finished with six between them as Murphy took a match-best 4-19 from four overs and Tomlinson took 2-15 from four overs.

Conroy (2-10 from four overs) was also impressive with the ball, and the other Wilga wicket was taken by Kirk (1-6 from one over).

The first four players’ player awards were claimed in round one. They are sponsored by Chef B Woodfired Pizza this season, and each winner receives two free pizzas.

The players’ player prize is awarded to those who excel during the game and show sportsmanship, teamwork and leadership.

The round one players’ players were Menzie Baker (Wahgunyah), Anna Currall (Wilga Hotel), Jade Williams (Nandewar Motel), and Millie Adams (GFS Engineering).

Round two games this week will see Wahgunyah meet Nandewar Motel at Hogan Oval on Friday night and GFS Engineering challenge Wilga Hotel at Collins Park on Saturday night.

Saturday night’s game will be moved to Hogan Ova if the men’s day/nighter finishes early enough.