MACKAY (Queensland, Australia): Western Australia ended the winning streak of PNG Barramundis to enter the final while defending champions Queensland suffered their third defeat and got pushed to the brink of elimination in Round 6 on the fifth day of the 2026 edition of the National Indigenous Cricket Championships (NICC) here on Saturday.
In the first match of the day, New South Wales beat Tasmania by 1 wicket. Batting first, Tasmania scored a dull 142 for 5 in their allotted 20 overs. Opener Jack Pearce, Brayden Devries and Toby Hutton scored 26 apiece. Pearce scored 26 off 23 balls (2 x 4), DeVries faced 34 balls (1 x 4) for a leisurely 26, while Hutton added some excitement as he hit 2 sixes as he reached 26 off 22 deliveries. The New South Wales bowlers bowled 14 wide deliveries. In reply, New South Wales reached their target of 143 with 4 balls to spare, losing 9 wickets along the way. New South Wales were rattled early on in the innings as they lost 2 wickets with the score on 12, as opener Pat Roger exited after adding 11 and Jack Hartigan went back with a duck after facing only 3 balls. It was the middle order that put the innings back on track as Ethan Fitzpatrick (44 off 28 balls, 7 x 4) joined opener Brynley Richards (27 off 31 balls, 2 x 4, 1 x 6) to add 55 runs for the 5th wicket. Richards was dismissed when the score was 77, while Fitzpatrick exited just 10 runs later. New South Wales were in jitters as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals even as Blake Smith then smashed 40 off 20 balls (2 x 4, 2 x 6) to keep the scoreboard moving. For Tasmania, Toby and Brandon Kooper snared 3 wickets each. In spite of the tight bowling by the Tasmania bowlers who bowled only 3 wide balls, New South Wales clawed their way to victory in the last over.
Western Australia caused an upset as it handed PNG Barramundis their first defeat in the tournament. Western Australia beat PNG Barramundis by 3 wickets. Batting first, PNG Barramundis scored a listless 130 for 8 as their batsmen failed to make a mark. Assadollah Vala top scored with 34 off 32 balls (3 x 4). PNG Barramundis never found their footing after losing 2 wickets with the score on 9. In reply, Western Australia got the jitters in spite of some lose bowling by PNG Barramundis, suffering an early setback and losing wickets at regular intervals, but hung on to reach the target on the last ball of their innings as they scored 132 for 7. Opener Bevan Bennel top scored with 29 off 25 balls (1 4, 2 x 6), but the other batsmen failed to impress. Among the PNG Barramundis bowlers, Kabua Morea proved the costliest, giving away 36 runs in 4 overs to claim only 1 wicket for an economy rate of 9.00. Alei Nao gave away 3 runs in 4 overs, getting only 1 wicket.
In another match, Northern Territory snatched a narrow win by 3 runs in a cliff-hanger against South Australia. Batting first, Northern Territory scored a choppy 122 for 6 in 20 overs. They lost opener Sam Richards (8 runs off 13 balls, 1 x 4) early at 15 and the other opener Benjamin Stares at 30 (13 off 20 balls, 1 x 4). However, number 3 batsman Daniel Fett stood his ground, remaining unbeaten as he added 58 off 48 balls (4 x 4). He added 56 for the 3rd wicket with Rhys French (23 off 27 balls, 1 x 6) as they lent direction to the innings, while the middle order failed to impress with 3 batsmen adding only 7 runs. In reply, South Australia crawled to 119 for 3 in 20 overs, narrowly missing their targets in spite of some spirited batting by their number 3 batsman Ayden McGregor-Baptista (57 off 56, 6 x 4). South Australia were rattled when they lost opener Tyler Latham (4 off 5, 1 x 4) when the score was on 7. Tyree Burgoyne (31 off 44 balls, 1 x 4) and McGregor-Baptista then added 99 runs for the 2nd wicket and their team seemed to be coasting to an easy win. McGregor-Baptista was dismissed with the score at 106 and Burgoyne just 1 run later. The equation had become tough at this stage as 15 runs were needed off 15 balls, but the efforts by the middle order proved short as the match ended in a nail-biting finish.
In the last match of Round 6, defending champions Queensland lost to Victoria by 3 wickets and got pushed to the brink of extinction. Batting first, Queensland scored 121 for 9 in a pathetic display that saw the top order fail miserably as they lost 6 wickets for 54 runs beore lower end batsmen Jacob Turner (32 off 25 balls, 3 x 4, 2 x 6) and Jamison Allan (34 not out off 27 balls, 4 x 4) regained some respect. Victoria scored an unhurried 122 for 7 in 18.2 overs. Opener Kane Hawkins hit 4 sixes as he scored 30 off 22 balls.
The final match will be played on Sunday in one-day limited overs format.
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