By Elliot Stevenson,
Lindisfarne has stayed unbeaten in 2026-27 with an impressive five-wicket victory over North Hobart at Anzac Park on Saturday.
The Lightning restricted their opponents to 8-202 off 50 overs, before a commanding century from Keegan Oates ensured there was little doubt in the result.
Oates hit 15 boundaries on his way to 101 off 107 balls, including playing a key role in a 124-run opening partnership with Prasanna Ketheeshwaran (54 off 73 balls).
Lindisfarne coach Matt Wilkie commended the opening pair’s performance, particularly Oates for his triple-figure knock.
“To start off with, not necessarily has to be a fast run rate, but just some stability where the guys can come in with a bit of a base set already and attack or adapt from there is really important,” he said.
“[Oates] has had some really good success playing the way he did on the weekend.
“It was good to see him return to some form this year with the pace.
“He's probably felt like he has underperformed a little bit. But he's a very good player and he showed that again on the weekend.”
The Lightning victory was set up by a strong team bowling performance, with contributions from Tom Hogan (2-20 off 8 overs) and Sebastian Brown (2-43 off 10 overs).
Wilkie acknowledged it was “nice to have a variety of contributors” in their second win in as many weeks but knows there’s a long way to go in the season.
“Obviously it's still early and I think we probably did a similar thing last year in we know the finals are probably where it counts the most,” he said. “A good win on Saturday as well.”
“I think [the bowlers] just started really well.
“The guys tightened up a bit from probably a little bit of rust the game before and that was much, much tighter and as a bowling group. It was very impressive.”
The run-out of North Hobart playing-coach Sam Truloff can be looked at as a turning point in the game, a mix-up with Lewis Drury opening the door for a key wicket for the Lightning.
Wilkie was pleased with his side’s fielding performance, despite an interrupted pre-season not allowing them to field frequently.
“I think the guys have started, started really well and obviously due to weather and facilities, we didn't get a whole heap of fielding into pre-season,” he said.
“It’s pleasing that a lot of the boys – especially the guys that have been away in Darwin playing have hit the ground running and we've crammed a fair bit in late.
“The fielding and the energy around the group has been really pleasing as well.”
Nivethan Radhakrishnan’s powerful 102 off 96 balls led Kingborough’s victory over the Greater Northern Raiders at the Twin Ovals.
It marks Radhakrishnan’s first white-ball century for Kingborough since moving from Sydney in 2021.
His major role helped the Knights to 6-272, a target that the Raiders could not chase down despite a half-century from Brayden DeVries (55 off 94 balls).
The result means Kingborough moves to 2-0, while reigning Kookaburra Cup premiers the Greater Northern Raiders lose their first game of the season.
The absence of Clarence’s biggest stars in Ben McDermott and Lawrence Neil-Smith did nothing to slow the Roos ongoing form at Kangaroo Bay Oval.
Harry Allanby’s 5-48 off 10 overs tore through the Northern Magpies, with only young gun Tarkyn Jones (53 off 99 balls) and all-rounder Jyles Horne (40 off 72 balls) providing resistance.
With 198 to chase, Clarence captain Justin Galeotti was in full gear, playing his way to a 142-ball century, including the winning run with 11 balls remaining.
Michael Jones also played his part, hitting 43 off 50 balls in the middle-order for the unbeaten Roos.
In the women’s competition, North Hobart bounced back from its round one loss to Kingborough with a dominant six-wicket victory over Clarence at Kangaroo Bay Oval on Sunday.
Clarence managed 9-185 off its 50 overs, with Mackenzie Stewart (4-31 off 10 overs) the pick of the bowlers for the Demons.
A 124-run opening stand from Melodie Armstrong (65 off 75 balls) and Josie Rose (70 off 50 balls) gave North Hobart a strong start in its chase, before both were ran out.
But the damage had already been done, and the visitors cruised home to win with 21 overs remaining.
A terrific bowling display from Kingborough against the Greater Northern Raiders, led by opener Asha Ratcliffe’s 5-15 off 7.4 overs, gave the Knights their second win of the 2026-27 season.
Ratcliffe partnered with Amy Gordon (3-10 off 7 overs) to bowl the Raiders out for 96, before Imogen Hill (31 off 57 balls) and Alice Kelly (30 off 29 balls) guided the visitors to victory with six wickets remaining.
Ratcliffe now leads the wicket tally in the CTPL with seven, averaging 7 with the ball across two games.