A stirling innings from Dylan McLachlan has guided Queensland to its first National Indigenous Cricket Championships men's division title in more than a decade.
In a final over thriller at Mackay's Great Barrier Reef arena on Monday, Queensland overcame New South Wales with seven wickets and two balls to spare.
Their triumph was largely due to McLachlan's captain's knock, the 26-year-old anchoring Queensland's successful chase of New South Wales' 6/122.
Arriving in the first innings after the early loss of Bradley Radford (1 from 4), McLachlan's composed innings on a deteriorating pitch saw Queensland stay in touch with the required run rate throughout the chase.
After putting on 20 with opener Cruz Baker (15 from 11) and following the direct hit run out of Darcy Graham (8 from 10), the game was in the balance with Queensland 3/52 in the eighth over.
However McLachlan found a partner in Cody Filewood (27 from 33), the pair combining in a 54-run fourth wicket partnership to see Queensland come within 20 with two overs left in the chase.
Despite Filewood retiring hurt in the 18th over after appearing to strain a quadricep McLachlan held his nerve in the tense final overs, finding the boundary twice in the pivotal 19th over before bringing up the historic victory with an elegant lofted cover drive with two balls to spare.
The Kamilaroi man finished unbeaten on 73 from 60 balls, his crafty knock leading to scenes of jubilation from the Queensland team as he brought up the winning runs.
Following the match, Queensland Indigenous Advisory Committee co-chair and Queensland National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cricket Advisory Committee (NATSICAC) representative Jason Smith told National Indigenous Times seeing Queensland win was a "very emotional" experience.
Smith coached Queensland's men's side on the state's inaugural tour to Alice Springs in 2004 and has been involved in Indigenous cricket in the state ever since.
"When you travel the journey that I've traveled… which is pretty much from day dot, I carry a lot of history and always want to leave some sort of legacy," he said.
"And every time I see these young, young men and young women succeeding, it's it's always very special for me to sit back and watch that happen."
Smith said seeing host and win the first iteration of the National Indigenous Cricket Championships held outside of Alice Springs made the experience "even more special" and capped a "wonderful week of cricket".
"To gather for the first time on their home turf is really special because it also relates back to 2004 when we travelled over for the first time and won the men's championships over there," he said.
"And the fact we've got two sides into the final, the female side and the male side, was a great achievement from Queensland Cricket's perspective."
Earlier in the match, New South Wales posted 6/122 with veteran opener Pat Rosser top scoring with 50 (47).
Runs also came from the bat of Ethan Fitzpatrick (22 from 22) and Ben Patterson (17 from 16), with tight overs from Noah Vojinov, Jacob Turner and Cody Filewood restricting New South Wales late in their innings following the loss of set batters.
New South Wales were unable to find the boundary in the final five overs of their innings, with a combined effort from Queensland's attack restricting the tournament favourites to a modest total.
Vojinov (2/20) was the pick of Queensland's attack, with Banjo Seaniger (1/17) also delivering four tidy overs.
Queensland's victory over New South Wales marked their first tournament title since defeating the same opposition in the then Imparja Cup in 2013.
