AUSTRALIAN COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS - CRICKET
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A heartbreaking final day Twenty20 loss to Queensland has cost NSW Country the chance to take honours at the national championships in Canberra.
Needing a win and ladder-leaders Western Australia to lose in the last round of competition, NSW were dismissed for 141 chasing Queensland's 8-167.
To make matters worse the door was open for them to claim the title after Western Australia lost to South Australia.
NSW and Keira skipper Graeme Batty said it was a disappointing way to finish the tournament.
"Nothing went our way. Western Australia had to lose and they did and we had to win and we didn't," Batty said.
"It was unfortunate that the game we had to win was a Twenty20 because they are usually 50/50 games.
"On a pretty small ground we should have easily chased 160 but we lost a few wickets early and Queensland are a pretty good side.
"They pegged us back in those first 10 overs and because we lost those wickets it didn't help us in the latter overs where we needed eight or nine an over with not many wickets in hand."
At one stage NSW were 5-69 before Tom Groth scored 36 not out to revive their hopes.
But the late hitting was in vain as Groth ran out of partners with 14 balls left.
"We wanted to bat first and put the pressure on but we lost the toss," Batty said.
"It is just one of those things, Twenty20 is like that, it can go either way very quickly."
Batty considered NSW's earlier one-run defeat to Western Australia as the key to missing out on the title.
"When you look at it, it is one over of poor batting cost us the whole title, which is hard to swallow," Batty said.
"It is one those things with this sort of carnival. I have lost them before off just one bad session."