Tourist Hotel tear apart RSL in the second grade T20 decider

Tourist Hotel Cricket Club produced one of the most dominant T20 grand final performances that the Narrabri District Cricket Association second grade competition has witnessed for many years when they crushed RSL by 80 runs to be crowned champions for the first time since 2018.

Having finished level on 30 points and beaten one another once each during their two meetings in the regular season, Saturday’s decider at Collins Park was a highly-anticipated showdown between two teams that were eager to prove themselves as the best in town.

It was Tourist Hotel who rose to the occasion after dominating the match from start to finish against the defending champions. They batted first after RSL’s skipper Justin Saunders sent them in and they registered a competitive total of 7-142 after 20 overs.

Aaronn Baker opened the batting and spent the entire innings out in the middle as he finished unbeaten on 71. He faced 58 deliveries and smashed seven fours and three sixes.

RSL made 62 runs in reply before losing their final wicket with just two deliveries remaining in the 16th over, and the celebrations began when Tourist club stalwart and former captain Kaleb Mowle bowled Josh Buckthought to bring the match to an end.

The chasing side did well to score as many runs as they did in the end after a devastating Isaiah Cochrane spell took the game away from them inside six overs.

Cochrane produced arguably the best bowling performance in an NDCA decider since Jason Trindall took 5-1 off eight overs for RSL in a win against the Western Razorbacks in the 2018/19 season 40-over final.

The Tourist Hotel opening bowler was thrown the ball for the second over and he bowled four straight from the bridge end, taking 5-10 in the process.

It was Baker who did the bulk of the damage in the first innings as he scored half of his side’s 142 runs to anchor the innings.

Scott Smith (21) and Allan Whitmore (16) were his only two Tourist teammates who reached double figures.

Lucas Duff had a day to remember as the RSL youngster claimed three wickets, one of which saw him produce a brilliant one-handed grab to remove Smith caught and bowled, and he also chipped in with a runout and a runout assist.

Saunders (1-10 from four overs) was the only RSL bowler of the six used to concede less than a run a ball.

RSL’s innings got off to a positive start as Neil Brayshaw and Tyson Gilmore scored seven runs off the Andrew Harvey-bowled first over, but Cochrane then put Tourist Hotel on the front foot with two wickets in four balls in the second over as he bowled Brayshaw (1) and then trapped Bailey Keeler in front LBW for a third-ball duck.

Harvey produced a maiden in the third over and Cochrane delivered another double blow in the fourth when he dismissed Jordan Doolan for an eight-ball duck and Beau Tomlinson for a golden duck. Doolan was caught behind by Baker before Tomlinson fell to a super diving catch from Tim Hayne at first slip off the next ball.

Those wickets made the score 4-12, which became 5-22 in the sixth over when Cochrane struck again as he bowled Gilmore (13) to finish off a demolition of RSL’s top five batsmen.

He ended that over with 5-6 from three overs and went on to produce five dot balls in the eighth over to end up with a grand final-winning spell of 5-10.

Jamarl Zarka had replaced Harvey at the swimming pool end in the fifth over and conceded nine runs before finding his range in the seventh over as he dismissed Lucas Duff (2) and Luke Baker (0) with consecutive deliveries to make the score 7-24.

Mowle took the catch that sent Duff back to the stands, and Hayne’s second catch of the day at first slip saw Baker depart for a golden duck.

Rowan Keeler scored an unbeaten 24 runs from 30 deliveries late in the innings to make the score more respectable for RSL, but Tourist were in no danger of losing the contest following Cochrane’s heroics.

Harvey was brought back into the attack in the 11th over and produced his second maiden of the game as RSL’s Alin Chhantyal was unable to find a run, and the Tourist Hotel quick got his man from the first delivery of the 13th over when he bowled Chhantyal (3).

The major difference on the day between the two sides was fielding, with RSL putting down plenty of catches and Tourist only dropping one. That Tourist drop was in the 15th over when Keeler blasted a shot at the fielding skipper Adam Gordon.  He put down a tough diving effort, however, he recovered the ball quickly and turned it into a runout to dismiss Kyle McIlrick (6).

Buckthought came out to bat at number 11 and was hampered by an ankle injury he had picked up while attempting a catch in the first innings, and he faced five deliveries before he was bowled by Mowle in the 16th over.