Strike League: Victory falls Cyclones’ way after epic finish
Marrara played host to one of the greatest finishers to a T20 game ever on Wednesday night. See the footage of the wild finish including the high ball that went down.
Cricket
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cricket. Followed categories will be added to My News.
DXC Arena hosted what was considered one of the best Strike League games ever on Wednesday night.
Many thought the game was over when Max Bryant whacked 90 runs off 43 balls to lead the Northern Tide to the highest T20 total of the campaign with 8-191.
But a never-say-never attitude from the City Cyclones steered them to a thrilling five-wicket win with WA duo Coby Edmondstone and Lochie Hardy bringing home the chocolates in style as they scored 14 from the last over to triumph.
With Tide leg spinner Lloyd Pope taking the difficult reigns of bowling the final over, Hardy clicked into gear, hitting a huge slog sweep six to leave the Cyclones needing five runs to win from the final three balls.
Hardy then picked up a two to make it three runs off two balls for victory.
Pope stepped up in the end, producing two matchwinnning moments that were missed in the final two balls.
He forced Hardy to run past one but the batter got back in time on the second last ball.
And on the last ball, with Hardy needing three runs to win, Pope lured him to use his feet again, this time hitting it sky high for a catch chance that was misjudged by Jesse Willmott as the Cyclones sprinted back for a euphoric third run.
Edmondstone said their plan was to get the left-handed Hardy on strike for the final over to target the short leg side boundary.
“The biggest one was trying to exploit the short boundary for the left hander on the leg side,” Edmonstone said about his plan with Hardy heading into the last over.
“So I think it was always the plan to get Lochie on strike for as many balls for that last over.
“And as you saw, it paid dividends when he hit that six on the third ball of the over.
“Lochie, he came to party and he was really good.”
Hardy finished the game unbeaten on 33 from 17 balls while Edmonstone struck a brilliant unbeaten 58 from 42 deliveries.
Earlier, it was skipper Sam Heazlett, striking 64 runs from 37 balls to set the platform for the Cyclones while Harrish Kannan was handy with 23 from 12 balls.
It was an impressive run chase as the Cyclones managed to deal with many challenges from the Tide including a top spell from Jacobs who picked up 3-25 including a maiden over.
With both sides entering the match with two straight losses, Edmondstone, who captains PINT in the local Darwin and District cricket competition said the team including coach Darren Berry were “definitely happy” following the run chase.
“It’s been a tough week or two for the Clones but definitely after the game, although we may have not been at our best for the whole game, we were still able to come out with the win, and work together as a team in order to achieve chasing down a pretty big total that was posted by the Tide,” he said.
It was a frenetic game throughout with both teams downing multiple catch chances under the bright lights at Marrara.
In the first innings, Cyclones fast bowler Caelan Maladay took 3-37 from four overs while Will Parker and Hardy picked up two wickets each.
Bryant’s big half century for the Tide, which was 10 runs short of a ton, was the highlight of the first 20 overs while Sam Elder chipped in with a handy 32 runs opening the batting.
Bryant struck 14 boundaries in his innings including six towering maximums.
The 24-year-old, who captains the Tide T20 side, took the 10th over for 25 runs where he hit three sixes and a four.
The win for the Cyclones was their third of the tournament while the Tide fall to a 2-4 record and bottom place on the table.
In the other game, Southern Storm bowled out ladder leaders Desert Blaze for 92 to win by 42 runs at TIO Stadium.
It was the Storm’s third-straight win of the campaign after they began with a 0-3 record.
In the first innings, Storm opening bat Keegan Oates was the shining light, scoring 53 from 47 balls to led his side to 8-134 after 20 overs while Blaze spinner Kyle Brazell gathered a tip-top 4-23.
Blaze openers Angus Lovell (32) and Harshtik Bimbral (20) got their side off to a strong start before Storm spinners Dylan Mullen (4-13), Jason Sangha (3-7) and Isaac Higgins (2-17) pounced with the ball to win the game.
Zac Keogh notches big century amid thinking about his future
Fresh after making a century in Darwin’s Strike League, up-and-coming ACT cricketer Zac Keogh says he is weighing up a move back to Canberra to progress his career, just one season after playing in NSW premier cricket.
The 18-year-old scored a match-winning century of 121 from 117 deliveries to lead the Southern Storm to a second-straight win at DXC Arena on Sunday.
Keogh would raise his chances of clinching an elusive Second XI debut if he was to return to ACT Premier Cricket where he played in season 2021-22 with Weston Creek Molonglo.
With the top order bat representing Randwick Petersham in NSW Premier Cricket, just like any other cricketer playing outside of the ACT, he would have to take one of three spots available in the Second XI team.
But playing in the ACT competition opens the door to more positions in the side which coaches are believed to be keen on exploring with the youngster.
Keogh grew up at Pambula Beach, a NSW town about a three hour drive south-east of the ACT and moved to Canberra in 2019.
Keogh said he had “a decision coming up” of where he would play this year.
The right hander, who hit 16 boundaries including three maximums in his hundred, said playing in the Top End helped set up his summer season.
“We have got opportunities to train as much as we would like and being surrounded by some pretty elite players is also really good,” he said.
“You can also see what there doing and trying to learn a bit off them.”
He said scoring runs against some of the top calibre in the competition had giving him more belief in his game.
“Scoring runs in men’s cricket is a different game so the more I can do that the better.”
Keogh’s century led his Storm to posting a solid total of 6-332 before they went on to a convincing 94-run victory after keeping the City Cyclones to 9-238 after 50 overs.
In the other game, Desert Blaze picked up its fourth straight win after defending 9-269 at Gardens Oval against a defeated Norther Tide side who were bowled out for 143.
Strike League Round 2: Brodie Symons, Isaac Higgins, Param Uppal bowl Desert Blaze, Southern Storm to victory in T20s
Fresh after taking a five-for on Sunday, Desert Blaze all-rounder Brodie Symons has backed up his matchwinning effort with another stellar performance, claiming three wickets and two run-outs to lead his side to victory.
With the City Cyclones chasing 166 in Wednesday’s Round 2 match, Symons dismissed both openers upfront before getting two run-outs and finishing the encounter with the matchwinning wicket.
In the last over of the game, Symons contributed with a clean run-out before claiming the 10th wicket of the innings to defend 14 runs and claim a 13-run win for the Blaze.
On the third last ball, with the Cyclones needing 14 to win, Symons found the bottom edge of a swinging Sam Keogh to win the game.
Before the Blaze picked up their third-straight win to go to the top of the Strike League table, it was Kyle Brazell (60 off 52 deliveries), Jack Wood (51 off 21 deliveries) and Josh Kann (33 off 25 deliveries) who set the game up in the first innings.
The batters managed to produce a decent total of 5-166 at DXC Arena as Cyclones off-spinner Rielly Mark (2-13 off four overs) proved difficult to get under way.
In the run chase, alongside Symons’ top effort was offie Jarrod Freeman who took three wickets including the big wicket of Jayden Goodwin.
The Tasmanian also claimed important wickets at the end to finish with figures of 3-20 off four overs.
Symons, who plays for Southern Districts in the local competition, was pleased with the result saying the side were coming along well after a less-than-ideal loss in their first match.
“The team is starting to click, everyone is playing their role well which was a focus of ours on Wednesday,” Symons said.
“Everyone’s happy with how they’re going and everyone is getting involved, they’re all backing themselves in and trusting their ability.
“It’s been nice to get a few wickets and help the team out as well, they’re coming out alright at the moment and they’re helping us win games which I’m happy about.
“Jarrod’s been really good, he’s really smart in the way he bowls and his field placements, he’s been massive for us.”
Playing in his third Top End season Symons said he would recommend playing in Darwin during the southern states’ winter to any cricketer looking to ply their trade.
“I couldn’t recommend Darwin more to anyone within Australia,” he said.
“It’s a great cricket platform, it’s the only tournament being run in the country at this time of year and there’s obviously great weather.
“The consistency in the weather means we don’t see any washouts compared to Melbourne where we have four seasons in one day.
“And the grounds and facilities we have access to are great.”
In the other game at TIO Stadium, a top bowling display from Isaac Higgins (3-14 off 3.4 overs) and Param Uppal (3-21 off four overs) led the Southern Storm to defend 142 for their first win of the tournament.
The Storm pair, who play cricket locally for Nightcliff and Waratahs respectively, bowled economically and took wickets at crucial stages of the game to lead their side to victory.
It was a thrilling finish to the game with both sides gaining momentum at various stages but it was the Storm in the end who were able to defend their total of 7-142 to win by 10 runs.
Local talent Zayden Lewis from Tracy Village threatened to win the game with his impressive 22 from 17 balls in his first game of the tournament for the Tide.
Tide skipper Max Bryant (39 off 37 balls) and Ryan King (21 off 20 balls) were also handy in the run chase.
In the first innings, Tide all-rounder Cooper Connolly was the pick of the bowlers taking 4-19 from four overs while Jacob Dickman (26) and Josh Brown (20) were the top contributors as most batters chipped in for the Storm.
Fremantle young gun Douwtjie Hoogenboezem produces exceptional One-Day century to win Strike League Round 2 game for Northern Tide
A blistering hundred from Western Australian youngster Douwtjie Hoogenboezem has powered Northern Tide to an emphatic run chase in Round 2 of the Strike league.
The 19-year-old’s huge efforts handed City Cyclones their first loss of the tournament and put a shadow over an opponent's stunning knock.
Hoogenboezem struck an unbeaten 150 off 117 balls to guide the Tide past the Cyclones’ total of 300, six wickets down with 14 balls to spare.
The WA Fremantle premier cricketer’s top knock opening the batting featured 22 boundaries including four sixes at Cazalys Arena as Jayden Goodwin’s century of 115 off 139 balls earlier in the game was beaten for top score.
Rookie contracted batsman Goodwin, who is also from WA, struck 13 boundaries in his innings to set a total of 6-300 for the Cyclones which seemed more than enough on a Cazalys pitch that had lower totals scored on it last time.
But Hoogenboezem’s contribution alongside Sam Elder (47) and Max Bryant (37) was enough to see the Tide over the line for their second win of the Strike League campaign.
Tide batting all-rounder Ryan King, who took the big wicket of Cyclones skipper Sam Heazlett (24) in the first innings, said it was an “unbelievable” knock from Hoogenboezem on a “relatively flat” pitch.
“He started pretty cautiously and bought time a bit through the middle overs there as we were losing wickets relatively cheaply,” King said.
“Chasing 300, we were in a bit of strife at 4-100 but from then on and from Coops’ mouth too, he really hasn’t seen him bat like that too often, he usually takes his time a little bit.
“But gee, he was too good, he played his shots, manipulated the field pretty well.
“It was just one of those innings, one of those sort of one off innings … one of those innings you need as a top order bat to chase that kind of score.
“And the partnership he built with Sammy Elder was perfect — Sammy played a good supporting role in what Douwtjie was doing.”
The pair, who both play for local cricket clubs in the Darwin and District competition, managed to put on a matchwinning partnership of 126, taking the score from 4-136 when Elder came in to 5-262.
Notably, Harrish Kannan struck 50 from 66 balls in the first innings for the Cyclones batting at number four.
In the other one-day game, fast bowler Brodie Symons steered his side to a convincing six-wicket win over Southern Storm, taking 5-43 from 8.1 overs.
The Victorian premier all-rounder from Frankston Peninsula dismissed four of the Storm’s top six batters to get his side off to a flying start as the opposition were 7-65 before Param Uppal (66), Joel Curtis (46) and Toby Gray (20) managed to counter attack brilliantly at the end of the innings and get their side to a respectable total of 191.
But the Blaze were led by skipper Angus Lovell (86*) and Tom Jackson (73) in the run chase to comfortably get over the line with 14.3 overs to spare and six wickets in hand.
The win puts the Blaze on top of the ladder on net run rate while Cyclones and Tide also have 2-1 win-loss records and sit in second and third respectively after the first three games of the tournament.
Female Interstate Player Program to bolster Top End cricket
The 2025 women’s Darwin and Districts Cricket Competition will feature a refreshed format, focusing on player development and increased participation. Read more here.
Success and scandal: The highs and lows of NT sport in 2024
Whether it was premiership glory or success on the national stage Territory sport enjoyed a huge year in 2024. Here are some of the biggest stories from the year that was.