Saturday’s one day comp washouts set up mouth-watering NDCA round eight clashes

Narrabri District Cricket Association’s 2024/25 season one day competitions will resume this Saturday following a false start last weekend.

The 40-over campaigns were both scheduled to get back underway with round seven on Saturday, February 15, but the first and second grade games were all washed out following the rain that hit Narrabri on Friday and Saturday.

The most recent one day matches were played on Saturday, December 14, in round six.

The four teams in each grade now have two games to fine-tune things before the two-week finals series get underway on Saturday, March 8.

Round eight this Saturday includes two intriguing first grade fixtures as Wilga Hotel Razorbacks take on RSL at Collins Park while Tatts challenge Tourist Hotel at Leitch Oval.

The top-of-the-table clash at Collins Park is a minor premiership battle as the Razorbacks sit two wins clear in first place.

Defending champions RSL have to win Saturday’s contest to have any chance of claiming a fifth consecutive minor premiership as they attempt to keep their hopes of winning a fifth consecutive double alive.

The Razorbacks are chasing their second minor premiership in club history after they won it during their inaugural season in 2018/19 as the Western Imperial Razorbacks.

A victory on Saturday would see the Wilga Hotel side go three wins clear with one match remaining and wrap up both the minor premiership and automatic grand final qualification.

Even if the Razorbacks do lose, a win in the ninth and final round would be enough to get them over the line, but RSL will still be battling to the end as they can still drop to third given they sit one win ahead of Tourist Hotel.

The benefit of finishing second is automatic grand final qualification if the preliminary final is washed out, so RSL will be all guns blazing in rounds eight and nine.

The other contest is do-or-die for Tatts as they battle to stay alive in the preliminary-final hunt. They are currently two wins behind third-placed Tourist Hotel, so any result other than a Tatts victory on Saturday would see the Tatts team eliminated from contention.

First place is no longer possible for Tourist following last Saturday’s washouts but they are still battling for second spot, and a win in round eight would go a long way towards achieving that, particularly if RSL lose against the Razorbacks.

The comp’s individual honours are also going down to the wire in the last two rounds of the regular season.

RSL’s Cooper Brayshaw currently leads the way with the bat with 157 runs, with Wilga Hotel Razorbacks club president Greg Melton (155) and Cooper’s brother Jake (122) lurking close behind.

Tatts veteran Rod Kirk (90), Wilga skipper Matt Bradshaw (81), Tourist Hotel wicketkeeper Lachlan Woolford (80), Tatts gun Jake Packer (80) and big-hitters Josh Trindall from Tourist Hotel (79) and Cody Kember from RSL (79) are all still in contention.

Wilga Hotel Razorbacks quick Jack Tate is the frontrunner with the ball after taking 16 wickets in five games across rounds one to seven.

Fellow openers Dylan Segundo from Tourist Hotel (11) and Dylan Smith from the Razorbacks (10) are his two biggest threats, while RSL all-rounder Will Ford (9), his skipper Jarrett Tough (8), and Melton (8) could all pip Tate at the line if they produce monumental efforts across the final two rounds.

The NDCA’s second grade minor premiership race will wrap up this Saturday if RSL can get the job done against the SignPrintStitch Colts at Gately Field.

Tourist Hotel, who take on Tatts at Hogan Oval, are currently two wins behind RSL and can finish level with them at best.

A win, tie or washout on Saturday will see RSL secure a third straight minor premiership and their sixth in seven seasons.

Tourist Hotel will secure a top-two spot if they win their game as they sit two wins clear of the third-placed Colts, but it is the battle for third place that is the most exciting heading into the penultimate round as the Colts sit a single point clear of Tatts.

Those two teams do not play each other across the final two rounds, so one of them needs to pull off an upset against one of the top-ranked teams to move the needle.

If they both lose twice, win twice or win once, the Colts will secure third place.

Tatts are a point behind because they forfeited one of their games.