Entering the 14th and final round of the home-and-away season, Barooga sits second on the ladder, ahead of Nathalia by 2.38 points, with the contest at Barooga Recreation Reserve set to give the victor a psychological edge heading into the finals.
Nathalia had the early win on day one, with the visitors electing to bat after winning the toss, and set off strongly, scoring at just shy of five runs an over to reach 0-19 after four overs, before Hawks skipper Riyaad Henry did what he has so often done this season, finding the breakthrough for his side to remove Scotty Morris (9).
The scoring rate cooled and four overs later it was Henry that struck again, removing James Nugent (1), as Nathalia slumped to 2-33, which soon became 3-52 as Jonathon Oliver (1-46) rattled Emile Haratbar’s (4) stumps, and Nathalia began to look vulnerable.
But skipper Brenton Campbell was joined at the crease by Luke Quinn, and together the pair began to shift the momentum, slowly picking up the run rate until boundaries began to flow consistently, with the 16-over stand producing 91 runs at 5.7 per over, until Quinn was eventually dismissed by Kohen Haddrell to leave Nathalia four down with 143 on the board.
The danger man for Nathalia was Campbell, though, and he continued to bat on, firstly alongside Gus Frostick (8), adding 27 together, before another partnership of 40 alongside Zander Quinn, which came to an end as Campbell holed out, bringing a remarkable innings to a close.
The Nathalia skipper belted 149 runs from 153 deliveries, weathering the early storm before smacking 18 fours and three sixes, as he propelled his side beyond the 200-run mark to keep it in with a chance of victory.
While some resistance came from Zander Quinn in the lower order following Campbell’s dismissal, whacking 39 from 55, it was Henry that brought about a swift end to the Nathalia innings, claiming three of the last four wickets — the other going to Samuel Leigh (2-50) — as the visitors lost 4-25 to be bowled out for 260.
Henry claimed yet another five-wicket haul in the win, finishing with 6-95 and taking his tally to 37 for the season in a remarkable effort.
The early end to Nathalia’s innings meant the Hawks had to face a nasty period of 14 overs before stumps, which was immediately taken advantage of by the visitors, as Hawks opener Murphy Stephens was dismissed in the second over without Barooga putting a run on the board.
It went from bad to worse from the Hawks, as Henry was dismissed by Archie Congues just four overs later, leaving the home side in trouble at 2-14 with eight overs remaining in the day.
Zach Dunn and Crue Lucas managed to steer the Hawks to stumps without any further loss, however, making it unbeaten to the end of play on 17 and 8, respectively, and they will resume the chase on Saturday at 2-33, needing a further 228 runs for victory, while Nathalia will move into second spot if it can claim eight wickets before Barooga does so.
While the winner of this contest will finish the regular season in second spot on the ladder, the blow is more psychological than anything, with the two sides having already guaranteed they will finish second and third. It is just the order that is to be determined, with a semi-final date already locked in.
Elsewhere, Deniliquin and Cobram are also playing off in a preview of a semi-final, with the duo also guaranteed fourth and first spot, respectively.
Playing at Cobram Showgrounds, Deniliquin reached stumps at 7-209 after winning the toss and electing to bat, with an unbeaten 79 from Andrew Hogan the Rhinos’ top score, while Adam De Cicco led the way with the ball for the Tigers, snaring 3-57.
In the final fixture of the round, Katamatite is hosting Tocumwal at Katamatite Recreation Reserve, with the Bloods winning the toss and posting a total of 10-163, led by 75 from the blade of Andrew Lean.
Daniel Parnell snared 4-28 for the Tigers with the ball, while Andrew Arthur claimed 2-16 from eight overs with the ball for Tocumwal, as Katamatite fell to 2-34 in the 16 overs it faced before stumps.
Katunga has had an early end to the season with the final round bye, having finished with a record of 4-7 and splitting the points in another contest.
