'He did a hell of a job for us': Scicluna stars as Tamworth secure home final

The standout performer of their campaign so far, Scicluna set the game up with 82 at the top of the order.

From there they launched to post an imposing 4-258 with George Wilson chipping in with 52, Conrad George 37no and skipper Callum Henry 26no.

Needing to beat Gywdir to lock in a finals spot, Scicluna was then in the wickets as Tamworth dismissed the defending champions for 188.

It would have been less than that if not for a defiant, and inspirational, knock from Gwydir skipper Tom Groth.

The NSW Country stalwart was the final wicket to fall for a superb 109, the sight of the stumps skewed behind him a welcome one for Henry and Tamworth.

"We got there but we made hard work of it," Henry said.

"We started well with the ball, had them 4-32."

"But Grothy played a hell of an innings to be honest."

It was hard work out there with the temperatures hovering in the high 30s.

Backing up from the Twenty20 final on Friday night and then Saturday's scorcher he was visibly struggling by the end but kept digging in and played some vintage shots.

The home side had a few chances to get him earlier but they put him down.

Their catching was, Henry said, probably where the big drop-off was after those early wickets.

Had they taken their chances they probably could have been enjoying a refreshing ale a couple of hours before they were.

It will be something to address for Narrabri next Sunday (February 11). Always pretty well ahead of the game it didn't really hurt them too much but could be the difference between winning and not winning the silverware.

The pleasing thing was the batting, particularly the way the top order fired.

0-67 was a nice change from 3-9, 4-18 and 4-43.

"We had a few injuries from yesterday's games so we had to scramble around," Henry said.

"But we got there and I think our batting did really well considering we weren't full strength."

In their previous two games helping rescue them from a bit of trouble, he said the decision to elevate Scicluna to the top was a "pretty easy" one.

With Harry Lewington a late withdrawal through injury from Saturday, they needed someone to go up.

"I asked him and he said I love opening, so I was like 'there you go'," Henry said.

From what he had seen batting with him at Moree the other week, and against him locally, he thought he certainly had the capability.

"The more balls he faces I think the better," he said.

"I think he'd be disappointed in himself he left a hundred out there but he did a hell of a job for us at the top."

"And Richie (O'Halloran) batted well in a supporting role there."

Scicluna then backed up with 3-20.

"He was pretty tired so he did a hell of a job to get three wickets as well," Henry said.

Brad Redshaw, who was one of the late call-ups, did the early damage and was on a hat-trick on his way to finishing with 3-20.