Open Boys Cricket

Our Open Boys cricket team competed in the South West T20 gala day on the 23rd February. The first match was against Leeton HS and our boys were sent in to bat. Young guns Nick Perram and Archer Quinn opened the batting and set about dispatching Leeton’s bowlers to all parts of the ground. Both batsmen were confident in defence, pushed the singles to keep the run rate ticking over and hit three boundaries each. With the score on 74, Archer eventually succumbed while trying to increase the run rate, falling for a well made 27. Ross Durnan joined Nick as they moved the score past 100 before Nick was dismissed in the final over for 34. Baxter Smith came in and made 6 off four balls, with Ross unbeaten on 18 as NHS posted 2-116 off their 20 overs.

NHS then went out to bowl and Ross and Archer each took a wicket in their first overs to have Leeton at 2-3. Good tight bowling and some great catches saw regular wickets falling with only two LHS batsmen reaching double figures. Jaxon Curry, Emmett Smith and Baxter each took a wicket, with Archer and Huxley Coelli taking catches before an eventful last over. Archer took a caught and bowled with the third last ball of the innings, before a ripping Jobe Litchfield catch made it two in two balls and put Archer on a hattrick. Unfortunately a catch went down to deny Archer the hattrick, but it was still a comprehensive win by 60 runs.

This put us in the grand final on the day against Yanco Ag HS who had defeated RAP by four wickets. Yanco won the toss and chose to bat, and again Ross and Archer took control early to have Yanco at 2-4. Unfortunately a number of dropped catches halted momentum as Yanco put on 63 for the third wicket. Ross came back on to get the breakthrough as four quick wickets had the game in the balance, before Yanco eventually made 7-116. Ross finished with 3-14, Archer took 2-23 while Emmett and Jobe took a wicket each. Jobe, Archer, Huxley and Jed Scott all took catches.

The NHS batting order didn’t quite fire the same in the afternoon sun, as there were some tired bodies on the field. Jobe was the only Narrandera batsman to get a good start, making 17 which included a four and a six, while Emmett and Archer were both not out at the conclusion of the innings as NHS managed 6-74.

Second place on the day was a great performance by a Narrandera team largely made up of Year 7, 8 and 9 students against bigger schools with lots of Year 10 and 11 boys playing. The future is looking bright for Narrandera cricket.

Mr Kroek