A cracking 121 not out from Narromines’s Doug Potter proved to be the decisive blow in a high scoring Western Plate clash at Victoria Park number two oval on Sunday.
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Narromine will go through to the final after chasing down Dubbo’s total of 265 in convincing fashion.
The day got off to a good start for Narromine sending Dubbo into bat after winning the toss.
Dubbo Captain Angus Norton said he was happy to bat first in good conditions.
“If we had won the toss I would have batted anyway, so we were happy to bat first,” he said.
“I was happy with our batting I thought the score we got was good, if someone had of offered us 200 at the start of the day I would have taken that.
“It would have been good to see a big 50 or a hundred from us, our message is to play positively and enjoy it and that’s what we did, we left nothing out there that’s for sure.”
Potter’s century was a sweet reward for the Newtown batsman who started the season playing in second-grade.
“I struggled at the start of the year,” he said.
“I started off in second grade, but I’m too competitive and got back into first-grade, I got a 60 against Cobar in the last plate game and a 40 against Souths for Newtown on Saturday, so I felt I was building to a big score if I stayed patient and it all came together on Sunday.
“We knew they were light on for bowlers, so we stuck to our plan to build early and then take full toll of the part-timers. Adam Davis’ 66 helped us immensely; we felt if we batted the 50 overs we were a big chance of winning.
“I didn’t want to score a 100 and lose the semi, so it was more about making sure we won the game and then celebrate afterwards, it's always good to win against Dubbo.”.
Norton said Potter’s dominance with the bat was spellbinding.
“Doug Potter is a class batter, he was amazing to watch, I just wish it wasn't against us,” he said.
“We did ourselves no favours with the ball bowling 30 extras, that’s another five overs to bowl plus we dropped a few catches.
“You can’t drop catches and bowl extras at this level and get away with it, especially against a team of Narromine’s class, they’ll punish you, which they did.
“I think our bowlers stuck to our plan mostly, but our execution on the day was a bit off.”
The Dubbo captain said the focus now shifts to the Brewery Shield and encouraging younger players to strive for further representative team selections.
“We still have the Brewery Shield to focus on and hopefully some of our young guy's push for Premier League selection which would be good to see,” he said.
“I was happy with Gilbert Chaseling, his 36 not out was good and he bowled well but without luck.
“Tom barber bowled his 10 overs well, he got 1 for 32 and batted well and Mitch Russo was good in the field.
“We would like to wish Narromine the best of luck in the final, we would like to see them do well.”
Potter said the Narromine squad is a tight bunch and feel confident heading into the final.
“We are all good mates and we are feeling good heading into the final.,” he said.
“It is all we’ve talked about since last seasons loss to the Blue Mountains, our main focus this year has been on winning the plate final.”
Score: Narromine 4-268 defeated Dubbo 265.
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Craig Thomson
I am a media and communications professional with experience across print, digital, social and radio broadcasts. I am currently the Editor of Australian Community Media's Launceston Examiner.
I am a media and communications professional with experience across print, digital, social and radio broadcasts. I am currently the Editor of Australian Community Media's Launceston Examiner.
