Wilga Hotel Razorbacks win the big one for the first time

Wilga Hotel Razorbacks are Narrabri District Cricket Association’s first grade one day premiers for the first time following a six-wicket victory in Saturday’s decider at Collins Park.

The back-to-back minor premiers and 2024/25 campaign grand finalists finally got over the hump when they took down Tatts in the decider as they produced impressive performances in both innings.

They fielded first after their skipper Jack Tate won the toss, and they held Tatts to 106 runs in 40 overs before chasing down the required total in 28.1 overs.

For Tate, the win was a special one, especially given the position the club was in when he joined at the start of the 2024/25 campaign – a chance of folding due to player numbers after a winless season in 2023/24 and just one win in the two seasons prior to that one.

“It was so awesome,” Tate said.

“It’s one of the better experiences I’ve had playing cricket, for sure.

“We’ve had a couple of good years of performances, with the two minor premierships.

“It was extremely disappointing to lose both the one day and T20 grand finals last season. It can be a mental hurdle to get over that, having lost those two games last year, so it was just awesome to get it done.

“They’re a great bunch of guys. They were very welcoming to me when I moved to town last season.

“Everyone is super proud of the club and Wee Waa in general.

“A big part of it was how much the club was struggling a few years ago. They were struggling to get a team on the park. It’s come a long was since then, and I’m so rapt for the guys who had to go through that tough time.

‘“There were a couple of grand final losses for the club before that as well.

“With guys like Greg Melton, Bianca Mace and others on the committee who keep things going, they’ve made captaining the team an easy job for me. They really deserve it.”

The Razorbacks had gotten on top early in Saturday’s decider when Tate dismissed Tatts’ opening batsmen in the first over.

Zack Doring caught Tom Craig for a duck from the second delivery of the match before Tate caught out Jacob Nichols for a golden duck off his own bowling later in the over.

Greg Melton and Jay Hall were the first two bowling replacements and they made their mark with the big wickets of Jake Packer and Tom Groth, respectively, to put Tatts on the ropes at 4-36 in the 18th over.

It was then 4-46 at the halfway mark, and Tatts were able to score 60 more runs in the second half of the innings before losing their last wicket from the final delivery of the innings.

Craig Gleeson (21) and his skipper Josh Campbell (26) were their side’s two highest scorers, and they helped guide the team to a triple-figure total, with Groth (11) the only other Tatts batsman to reach double digits.

All of the Razorbacks’ bowlers were economical, with Tate (2-15 from eight overs), Clay Hoffman (2-18 from eight overs), Melton (2-24 from eight overs) and Dylan Smith (1-14 from eight overs) the standouts.

Tatts managed an early wicket to kick-start the second innings in style when Gleeson took a catch to dismiss Hoffman (5) in the second over, but his replacement Angus Galagher (27) and opener Matt Bradshaw then put on a 69-run partnership that lasted more than 20 overs.

Galagher eventually departed, but Bradshaw soldiered on and scored a match-best 57 runs from 83 balls to help guide the Razorbacks to a six-wicket win.

Smith (14*) was Wilga Hotel’s third batsman to reach double figures.