The Greater Northern Raiders won their first ever Kookaburra Cup with a 76-run victory over Kingborough at Ninja Stadium on Sunday
The landmark milestone comes in the eighth season of the Raiders participation in Men’s CTPL First Grade, nearly four years after a T20 premiership saw the first piece of silverware headed north.
Raiders’ captain-coach Alistair Taylor says the success is the result of hard work put in over the last few years.
“We've had goals of improving our one-day cricket, and we've obviously done that,” he said. “We played a really good game yesterday.”
“And for the North, hopefully it keeps inspiring people who want to play for this cricket team.
“That's the goal for us.
“Winning is a good habit to be in, and people are happy to be around winning teams and people are more likely to jump on board.
“The program is designed for younger players coming through and try and push them up to higher honours and I've always said that.
“But if you are willing to win some premierships along the way, it's going to hold you in good stead.”
A plethora of contributions from the Raiders’ batters gave Taylor’s side a more than handy first innings total of 5-258 after Kingborough won the toss and elected to bowl.
Two players reached a half-century, including Cooper Anthes (60 off 78 balls) and Sam Omahony (55 not out off 36 balls), while Oliver Knowles (46 off 70 balls) and Brayden DeVries (41 off 38 balls) played important roles.
“There were some really good contributions from everyone with the bat,” Taylor said. “Tommy [Dwyer] and Knowlesy got off to a really good start for us.”
“They weren't able to kick on, but it was set up really nicely for Sam [Omahony] and Brayden [DeVries] to play and team up at the end and have a bit of fun.
“And that's the way we've always wanted to play our batting innings.
“It doesn't matter how many runs we're on at the back end, of we've got wickets in hand, we know we can score.
“To get 80 off the last seven overs was exceptional from those boys.”
In the bowling innings, the match became the Ben Hann show, with the left-arm seamer taking 5/15 off 7 overs to disarm the Knights.
Brought on first change, Hann struck early, nicking off Knights’ captain Dylan Hay for 11 with just his second ball.
A few overs later he did the same, dismissing Pat Harnwell to break a promising partnership for Kingborough between Harnwell and Zac Curtain.
Wickets continue to fall in the middle-order after this breakthrough, leaving Curtain at the other end scratching his head.
At 7-179, with Curtain still at the crease, Taylor threw the ball to Hann once again, and he did not disappoint.
Hann got Curtain caught behind with his first ball, before Mitch Backhouse and Jaxon Thorpe fell with his fourth and sixth balls, and the Raiders were crowned premiers.
“He took the big wickets,” Taylor said. “He probably didn't think he was going to play, but he came on and got Dyl Hay out, which is a really key wicket for them.”
“And then towards the back end there, when I threw him the ball, he had a really clean plan what he wanted to execute to Zac Curtain.
“I certainly didn't think he was going to give me that first ball.
“The plan was more to contain, but the fact he executed the ball he wanted to and got the wicket and cleaned them up right at the back end there with that momentum, it was fantastic.
“I couldn't be happier for him.”
Hann was named player of the match as the Kookaburra Cup heads to the north of the state for the first time, capping off an undefeated one-day season for the Raiders.
Kingborough’s attention will now turn to its two-day match against Clarence, which the Knights began indifferently.
Alex Vincent (46 off 111 balls) top-scored for the hosts in the Kookaburra Cup semi-final rematch, but the day was largely dominated by Roos quicks Sam Rainbird (4/51 off 21 overs) and Daniel Meredith (3/40 off 14 overs).
Kingborough managed 212, before Cameron Walter snagged a key wicket late in the day to leave Clarence 1-38 at stumps.
North Hobart opener Keshana Fonseka produced a monstrous innings, falling just short of a double-century as the Demons hold a dominant position over South Hobart-Sandy Bay.
Fonseka peeled off 191 off 241 balls, including 28 fours and a pair of maximums to take his side to 8-358 before declaring with half an hour left in the day.
He was dismissed leg before wicket by Archie Banks-Smith (3/105 off 30 overs) who worked diligently alongside Jordan Cooper (3/95 off 22 overs) for the hosts.
Cooper Stubbs (14 not out off 20 balls) and Caedence Kuepper (1 not out off 41 balls) saw out the day for the Sharks and will resume at the crease on Saturday with a massive chase ahead.
The match between New Town and University at New Town Oval hangs in the balance as the bowlers dominated on day one.
Seamer Fletcher Keeling took 4/20 off 8 overs as the Bucks restricted the reigning premiers to 142 to begin the day and took command of the game.
However, it was Uni leg-spinner Ruwantha Kellapotha who provided the spark for the visitors, taking the key wicket of Jayden Vince on his way to 4/53 off 21 overs.
Josh Hartill (51 not out off 112 balls) remains at the crease for the Bucks, who require 22 runs to win the first innings in a game that is set to go the distance.
Hartill is coming off a century against North Hobart as he continues to thrive at his new club.
North Hobart won the women’s T20 Grand Final at Ninja Stadium against Clarence on Sunday led by teenage sensation Mia Barwick.
Barwick, just 14 years of age, top-scored for the match with 47 not out off 38 balls, before securing the premiership with an excellent spell of 3/11 off 4 overs.
She was supported with the bat by in-form opener Caitlin Mair (45 off 25 balls) and playing-coach Julia Cavanough (44 off 32 balls), with the pair helping North Hobart to 3-168.
In response, Clarence’s chase never truly hit its stride, and the reigning Kookaburra Cup premiers held on to their lead comfortably in the end.
North Hobart skipper Ella Marsh (2/28 off 4 overs) took the key wickets of South African duo Michaela Kirk and Tanja Lee to ensure there was no doubt about the final result.
The 37-run victory marks the Demons fourth premiership in three years, and their first T20 title since the 2023-24 season in which they defeated the Greater Northern Raiders.