Tamworth Cricket 2021/22: New recruit Ben Taylor stars as Bective East beat North Tamworth

In his first game for the club, the former Australian under-19s rep finished unbeaten on 23 off 18 balls as they chased down the Redbacks' 6-126 with three balls to spare.

Showing what a handy pick-up he is going to be for the Bulls, Taylor also claimed 2-8 coming on at first change.

"He's just class with bat and ball," skipper Jye Paterson said.

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"He's going to be a big player for us for the rest of the year."

Paterson also chimed with 3-19 as they restricted Norths to what he felt was a "pretty good" score, especially with the short boundary at No.1 Oval.

Opener Lincoln Peters was Taylor's first scalp in Tamworth and the Redacks' top-scorer with 26, with Brendan Rixon and Joey Holt both chipping in with 21.

Paterson said the approach to the chase was to bat their 20 overs out. If they could do that they knew they'd be "there abouts".

Bective made good inroads into the chase early before Norths put the brakes on for a few overs. But a "couple of good overs" got them going again with Abel Carney (30 off 30) and Lachie Barton (17 off 22) peeling off a few boundaries.

"Barto and Abel batted really well through the middle there. They kind of got the rhythm going and then Kingy (Aaron King) and Benny kept it going," Paterson said.

They put on 34 for the fifth wicket with King falling for 13 five runs short of the victory target.

Sam Anderson was Norths' most successful bowler with 2-32.

In the earlier game at No.1, Andrew Baines snared 5-9 to bowl City United to a 23-run win over West Tamworth.

Simon Toyer continued his solid form in his return to first grade hitting 22, while Callum Henry made 20 and Kilian Apen 21 as City posted 8-109 from their 20 overs.

They then rolled Wests for 86 with Richie O'Halloran and Simon Bellamy jagging two each to go with Baines' five.

Across town at Chaffey Park, Old Boys started the new year with a six wicket win over South Tamworth.

Chasing Souths' 7-105, Old Boys lost Zac Craig in the first over, but Simon Norvill (31) and Jack Richards (18) quickly righted the innings. Norvill and skipper Mitch Swain then combined for a 54-run stand, Swain going on to finish unbeaten on 18 as they knocked off the runs with two overs to spare.

Chris Skilton was the best with the ball for Souths with 2-13.

Their top three contributed the bulk of their runs with Mitch Smith making 25, Brock Morley 19 and Tylar Edwards 22.

Hayden Baker picked up where he left off last year, picking up the first three wickets and finishing with 3-18 from his four.

Norvill was also among the wickets picking up Edwards, while Dylan Smith claimed 2-15.

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