Tigers Roar To Back-to-Back Titles

Nightcliff has pulled off one of the most remarkable DDCC One-Day title victories of all time.
 
Following a narrow two-wicket win over Southern Districts on Saturday to progress to the Casuarina All Sports Club One Day Grand Final 24 hours later, the Tigers played off in another thriller to claim a second straight 50-over premiership.
 
And it was Waratah at the end of defeat in the white ball decider for a consecutive season on Sunday.
 
Connor Carroll was the star of the show, restricting the Warriors to six runs in the last over to lead the Tigers to a stunning one-run win and an unbeaten 8-0 record after the one-day campaign.

 
The allrounder had the dangerous Noah McFadyen (44) caught on the third ball of the final over after the first two deliveries went for singles.
 
The Warriors needed four runs to win off the final delivery or three runs to send the game to a super over.

A run out from deep-square leg fielder James Doherty assisted by wicketkeeper Oscar Jacques-Ball was the winning moment as the Warriors finished a run short of the Tigers score on 9-237 after the final ball.
 
“I was actually very confident going through the whole innings and then in the second last over Manu (Mansukh Singh) got hit for a six and then I got pretty nervous after that,” Douwtjie Hoogenboezem said who was stand-in Tigers captain for Michael Kudra.
 
“But I had full faith in Connor and the boys, and had really clear plans with him and I think we set a pretty good field and to his credit he executed and the boys backed him up in the field.”
 
Tigers leg spinner Charles Smith (3-37) and off spinner Mansukh Singh (3-47) were also crucial in the victory as Warriors skipper Jagadesh Koduru (58) and Isaac Conway (50) threatened to complete the run chase.  
 
Earlier, the Tigers set a competitive score 8-238 with Carroll starring with a top-scoring 104. Next best was Singh (38) and Paul Wasiewicz (30).

Carroll struck 10 boundaries, including a maximum, in his 107-ball knock, helping the Tigers post a defendable score.
 
McFadyen (2-42), Madura Weerasinghe Silva (2-41) and Dave Dubey (2-59) all took a pair of wickets each while Koduru had Janu Varatharajan run-out for 27.
 
Hoogenboezem said the premiership win lifted his side’s credentials.
 
“I think to do it in back-to-back years, it kind of solidifies us with the one-day stuff,” he said.
 
“We’ve played well all year, we played well all year last year, but it doesn’t mean it guarantees us anything but that’s what great teams do, great teams win everything when it comes down to those pressure situations.
 
“To Waratah’s credit, they've played really, really well all year and yesterday was no different.”
 
The opener also praised his fellow opening partner Carroll for his Grand Final century.
 
“He's been knocking the door down the whole year, the amount he has improved and amount of work he has put in over the last two or three years is unreal,” he said.
 
The pair had an unusual moment in the first innings when Hoogenboezem was run out for 26 (1-50) after colliding with Carroll and falling to the ground.
 
Hoogenboezem also hailed the efforts of spinners Smith and Singh.
 
“He (Smith) just does what he does to be honest, he works so hard at his leggies and he is so skilful with it,”
 
“And I think the more cricket he plays, the smarter he is getting with his field settings and with his ‘what ball to bowl at what time’.
 
“Credit to him, he has been awesome all year and was awesome all year last year.
 
“And with Manu, bowling wise, I don’t think coming up here (from Sydney) he expected to be bowling too much but he has improved his offies a lot and he is so handy.”
 
Hoogenboezem also said the experience Chris Stockdale had brought to Nightcliff Oval was unreal.
 
“He is a bit different to Mick Hancock but the way he has gone about things this year is awesome,” he said.
 
“He provides such a great depth of knowledge, the experience that he has got is great."
 
The Tigers had pace bowler Zac Honeybrook missing from the game alongside captain Kudra, adding to the narrative of their big win.
 
Warriors captain Koduru, who top-scored for his side with 58, said the close loss was a tough one for them to take.

 
“It still hurts a bit, that one is a tough one to follow,” he said.
 
“The only thing we can do now is look forward to the second half of the season with the red ball.”
 
The grand final came after a comfortable eight-wicket semi-final win on Saturday for the Warriors over Palmerston.
 
And for the Tigers, they snuck through a narrow two-wicket win thanks to a four on the second last ball from No.10 Andrew Richards.
 
The DDCC two-day competition will get underway next Saturday.