Nightcliff Tigers beat Waratah with final ball in epic one-day grand final
Nightcliff claimed the first piece of major silverware after surviving a Waratah fightback in what will go down as a famous one day final. Read all the latest action from Darwin cricket.
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A run out on the final ball of the match secured Nightcliff the first piece of silverware on offer in the 2024 Darwin A-Grade cricket season.
Waratah needed just two runs to win from the final ball, but Nightcliff held their nerves against their gallant opposition to come away with the one-day trophy at DXC Arena.
The Tigers carved out an 8-238 to 9-237 victory that will be ranked among the top contests played in Darwin one-day cricket final history.
Nightcliff batted first and set the scene for a huge score but at 0-49, and with opener’s Connor Carroll and Douwtjie Hoogenboezem sailing along seemingly untroubled, a mid-wicket fiasco resulted in Hoogenboezem’s demise – run out for 26.
Paul Wasiewicz joined Carroll and the pair carried the score to 1-108 before Wasiewicz was deceived by a ball from Madura Weerasinghe.
James Doherty was dismissed by the same bowler a short time later, but useful contributions from Mansukh Singh (38) and Janu Varatharajan (27) both in combination with Carroll carried the score to a respectable 6-228 after 47 overs.
That score included a marathon 104 from 107 balls faced by Carroll.
Red cap seamers Noah McFadyen and Dave Dubey were brought back into the attack and closed down the batsmen toward the end – both bowlers finishing with two wickets.
At the halfway mark, first year Nightcliff coach Chris Stockdale was reasonably satisfied with the 8-238 scored by his side.
“I reckon the wicket did a bit early on and it was good to get through that power play without losing a wicket,” Stockdale said.
“Although we did have a period when scoring was held in check by some good bowling, we still thought about 220 – 225 was a par total.
“I like one of our top three to get a hundred and pretty much bat through the innings in this form of the game.
“It is normally Douwtjie who fulfills that role, today it was Connor who apart from being involved in that “comical” run out, his innings was otherwise praiseworthy.”
Stockdale said there was quite a bit of pressure heaped on his side going in undefeated, but seven wins from as many games never guaranteed them the win in the final.
“However, a win by us – no matter how or the margin - will be just reward for a season of commitment thus far by all those involved,” he said.
Waratah openers Isaac Conway (50) and Aryan Jain (26) laid a solid foundation in the run chase until Jain became the first of three top-order wickets to fall to leg spinner Charlie Smith.
The Tigers kept up the pressure with the ball taking regular middle order Waratah wickets and at 5-205 after 45 overs with skipper Jagadedwara Koduru and McFadyen at the crease it was anybody’s game.
But with the removal of Koduru by Singh, the scale had tilted toward a Nightcliff victory.
And so it was, needing two runs to win from the final ball, a run out ended the Waratah chase an agonising two runs short of a miraculous win.
Meanwhile, Darwin claimed the B-Grade trophy beating Palmerston by five wickets, with William Andrews top scoring with 72 runs.
Result:
Nightcliff 8-238 (Connor Carroll 104, Mansukh Singh 38; Madura Weerasinghe 2-41, Noah McFadyen 2-42, Dave Dubey 2-59) d Waratah 9-237 (Jagadeswara Koduru 58, Isaac Conway 50, Noah McFadyen 44; Charlie Smith 3-37 (10), Mansukh Singh 3-47 (10)).
Waratah and Nightcliff into one day grand final
Joint competition favourites Waratah and the undefeated Nightcliff played themselves into the Darwin Cricket A-Grade 50-over final after contrasting semi-final victories against Palmerston and Southern District respectively.
At Gardens Oval, Palmerston won the toss and elected to bat but were immediately in disarray when red cap opening bowlers Himesh Silva and Noah McFadyen each took an early wicket, and the visitors were on the back foot from the outset.
The introduction of third seamer Dave Dubey paid dividends almost straight away and his three wickets had the visitors reeling at 7-66 after 22 overs.
Some measure of batting discipline finally took hold and with number eight and nine, Rommel Shahzad and Jasper Darley both scoring 20, the Maroons clawed their way to an unimpressive 124 all out after 35.2 overs.
The Palmerston top order was all at sea against the controlled Waratah seamers, and with Dubey (3-25) and McFadyen (3-41) both operating mainly from the city end at Gardens Oval, the pair bowled in perfect harmony.
By contrast, the Waratah top order batting was disciplined in its approach and with Isaac Conway (51) and the prolific Jagadeswara Koduru (32no) calling the shots, a victory was pretty much assured.
Hailing from the Northern Suburbs District Cricket Club in Brisbane, McFadyen said the plan was to keep it simple and that each of the seamers adopted that approach especially after losing the toss and bowling first.
“My preference is playing red ball cricket because there is more time to work strategies, but white ball games are here to stay and I’m happy to play those forms of cricket as well,” McFadyen said.
“Basically, I like to keep it simple and today I bowled seven overs in my first spell and while I am taking wickets or deceiving batsmen, I’m happy to keep bowling even in these Darwin conditions.
“We had a good season at Norths in Brisbane and won the two-day and one-day finals and got knocked out in the T20 final so to play in another final series with Waratah is excellent.
“Today we were going to bat first if we won the toss but that didn’t work and while bowling first wasn’t ideal, the plan was simple – keep the ball up and bowl in good areas and fortunately, each of the bowlers followed that theme and got results.”
In the other semi undefeated Nightcliff had a tougher task against a feisty Southern Districts at Nightcliff Oval but finally managed to shake off the determined rural men and won by two wickets.
Batting first, Districts managed 8-200 from 50 overs with Dean Fry (64) and Tim Garner (47) being the mainstays.
Andrew Richards, Douwtjie Hoogenboezem and Mansukh Singh shared the bowling honours with two wickets each.
Districts had early cheer with Matt Hammond weaving some magic with the ball, and the Tigers lost their first two wickets without a run on the board.
But a 133-run fourth wicket partnership between Hoogenboezem and Singh got the home side back on track.
Semi Final Results:
Nightcliff 8-202 (Mansukh Singh 97, Douwtjie Hoogenboezem 66; Matt Hammond 4-29, Dylan Mullen 2-35) d Southern Districts 10-200 (Dean Fry 64, Tim Garner 47; Mansukh Singh 2-14, Andrew Richards 2-37 (10), Douwtjie Hoogenboezem 2-42 (10)).
Waratah 2-126 (Isaac Conway 51, Jagadeswara Koduru 32no) d Palmerston 10-124 (Rommel Shahzad 20, Jasper Darley 20; Dave Dubey 3-25, Noah McFadyen 3-41, Himesh Silva 2-15).
Districts into one day finals
Southern Districts has laid claim to a place in next weekend’s Darwin A-Grade one-day cricket finals series following a grinding victory against Darwin in the match played at Kahlin Oval.
Equal on points going into the game, Districts eventually overcame the dogged Eagles and ran out 32-run victors.
Choosing to bat after winning the toss, Districts started disastrously when Dylan Mullen was trapped in front by Aidan Brasher with only one run on the board.
But fellow opener Nic Broes and number three Dean Fry settled in until elegant left-hander Broes holed out in the deep off the bowling of Ronak Bedi with the score at 2-52.
Another two quick wickets including a needless runout and the visitors slumped to 4-75.
But when cool captain Tim Garner joined Jackson Isakka, the pair steadied the ship and piled on 120 for the fifth wicket until Garner was dismissed for 53
At 5-195 Districts was headed for a solid score but a succession of wickets to Smit Raval (4-36, 9.2 overs) held them and once Isakka (82) fell, there was little further resistance and the rural team was bowled out for a moderate 255 from 49.2 overs.
Darwin openers Jordan Rossi and Atharv Deshpande began positively and had added 82 for the first wicket before Deshpande (46) played an undisciplined shot and was cleverly caught and bowled by left arm medium pacer Lachlan Bangs.
A positive partnership between Rossi and Mitchell Jamieson followed and at 2-151 the Eagles were back on the path to victory.
However, when Rossi (75) was dismissed, the characteristic Darwin middle-order batting deficiencies arose, and they slipped to 5-166. Jamieson (53) added some spine to the batting.
Bangs (4-48) and Chris McEvoy (3-43) ploughed their way through the rest and the Eagles fell short at 10-223 (48 overs) which gifted Districts with a finals spot next weekend.
Delighted with the result was veteran Croc captain Tim Garner who is eagerly awaiting another finals tilt in Top End cricket.
“We all realised that a win meant we play finals next week, so it was an important result for us today,” said Garner.
“Some of our top order made poor decisions when batting today, and credit to Darwin, they took their chances when they were offered but both Jackson (Isakka) and I quickly realised that consolidation was required, and I’d like to think we achieved that.
“My own form so far this season has been fair, and we get to play another finals campaign and really, that is what we play for, and personally, I never get tired of playing finals.
“We’ve won the past three red-ball competitions so playing white-ball deciders will be a challenge especially without many of our usual recruits but I’m confident our local contingent of players will be up to the task.”
In other matches, inspirational Waratah skipper Jagadeswara Koduru (113) led his side to a massive 3-310 after its 50 over allocation against Tracy Village at the Village Green.
The Villagers managed 9-172 from its 50 overs with Guntaas Brar (41no) topping the batting list.
Two wicket each to Himesh Silva (2-16), Archie McCormick (2-43), and Noah McFadyen (2-53) iced the red-cap cake, and they will go into next weekend’s finals full of confidence.
And Palmerston got over the solid 4-266 scored by PINT with relative ease.
In reply, the Maroons racked up 4-270 from 36.4 overs with Aidan Firman (130 - 87 balls, 13 fours and 8 sixes) and Caleb Montague (92) adding 194 for the second wicket.
Round 7 Results:
Southern Districts 10-255 (Jackson Isakka 82, Tim Garner 53; Smit Raval 4-36, Aidan Brasher 2-47) d Darwin 10-223 (Jordan Rossi 75, Mitchell Jamieson 53; Lachlan Bangs 4-48, Chris McEvoy 3-44, Tim Garner 2-28).
Waratah 3-310 (Jagadeswara Koduru 113, Aryan Jain 87) d Tracy Village 9-172 (Guntaas Brar 41no; Himesh Silva 2-16, Archie McCormick 2-43, Noah McFadyen 2-53).
Palmerston 4-270 (Aidan Firman 130, Caleb Montague 92; Mitch Doolan 2-77) d Pint 4-266 (Mitch Doolan 133, Connor Poulton 69; Matthew Scoble 2-46, Hamish Martin 2-52).
Bye: Nightcliff.
Waratah spin offensive force Darwin collapse in Round 6
Waratah bounced into the top four of the Darwin A-Grade Cricket ladder following a nine-wicket victory over Darwin in the Round 6 match played at Gardens Oval.
The visitors won the toss and chose to bat, but lost their first wicket (Jacob Dickman) with only one run on the board.
Some consolidation followed and at 4-124 – Daniel Kerber 54, Mitchell Jamieson 27 and Atharv Deshpande 26 – the batting had recovered from that early set back.
However, the Eagle middle-order again failed to find any touch in the face of Himesh Silva (4-15, 8 overs) and Udara Weerasinghe (3-27, 9.2 overs) and they were bowled out for a modest 149 (42.2 overs).
In reply, Darwin had an early moment of cheer when seamer Dylan McMahon knocked over opener Aryan Jain (5), but fellow opener Isaac Conway (69no) and skipper Jagadeswara Koduru (75no) carried their team through without losing a further wicket from just 38 overs.
The man who set up the victory was veteran medium pacer Himesh Silva who admits to being a reluctant member of the team with work obligations and a lack of fitness being the major concerns.
Nonetheless, Silva’s exploits were admirable and his economical bowling which included the wicket of last round century maker Jacob Dickman underscored his declaration that he is a week-to-week proposition.
“It was a good result for us. We knew the wicket was flat so after losing the toss, we set out to keep them under 250 and to roll them for 149 was absolutely fantastic,” Silva said.
“I got the early wicket of Dickman – I bowled a couple of inswingers to him and then an outswinger which deceived him, and it went on to hit the stumps.
“We bowled well as a collective today and while it was my turn, everyone did their job against a good batting side and kept up the pressure which worked in our favour.
“I don’t mind if I don’t play anymore, and I come down to support others at training sessions and match days when I can – so I will just play the one-dayers but can’t commit fully when the two-day competition starts.”
In other matches, Nightcliff maintained its unbeaten record in this competition with opener Mansukh Singh scoring 195 (146 balls, 23 fours and 6 sixes) of the 5-327 from its 50 over allocation.
The Tiger total proved beyond Tracy Village who managed only 9-192 in reply with opener Ansh Tiwary scoring 83 of those runs.
The Tigers used six bowlers and while each took a wicket, Nick Fleming, Andrew Richards and Connor Carroll captured two each.
And Palmerston won the close encounter – a one-run victory over Southern Districts in the game played at Cazalys Oval.
Batting first, Palmy scored a healthy 9-256 (Caleb Montague 69, Harshtik Bimbral 52) while Patrick Nagel (3-47) filed the best return with the ball for Districts.
In response, the rural team finished an agonising one run short at 10-255.
Jackson Isakka topped the list with 89 and while all the top order contributed, no others managed to break free of the disciplined Maroon bowling array where Alex Bleakley (4-67, 10 overs) and Hamish Martin (3-48, 10 overs) were outstanding.
Round 6 Results:
Waratah 1-150 (Jagadeswara Koduru 75no, Isaac Conway 69no) d Darwin 10-149 (Daniel Kerber 54; Himesh Silva 4-15, Udara Weerasinghe 3-27).
Palmerston 9-256 (Caleb Montague 69, Harshtik Bimbral 52; Patrick Nagel 3-47) d Southern Districts 10-255 (Jackson Isakka 89; Alex Bleakley 4-67, Hamish Martin 3-48).
Nightcliff 5-327 (Mansukh Singh 195; Arjun Sehrawat 2-45) d Tracy Village 9-192 (Ansh Tiwary 83; Nick Fleming 2-19, Andrew Richards 2-31).
Bye: PINT
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