The lights have gone out during the Port City Leagues Magpies night match against Macquarie Hotel Cricket Club at Oxley Oval.
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A light drizzling of rain did nothing to deter the crowd of spectators who gathered for the May Kelly Cup T20 game on Wednesday, January 15.
The Magpies took the crease to begin the match and quickly amassed an impressive outing of 177 runs.
Magpies captain Adam Broderick said he was happy with the first innings and crowd support.
"The first innings was still played in natural light and we made 177 runs. I was stoked with that," he said. "We had three guys who scored over the 40 runs."
"It was amazing playing under lights again. I told all the guys to wear hats and I'm glad we did because it was bright.
"There were plenty of sixes hit and plenty of runs. My highlight of the night was a high ball hit into the dark which was caught before it landed.
"We'd played enough to constitute a game based on overs and run rate. Our run rate was far superior and we'll play in the final on Australia Day.
"Our next game plan will depend on who we play against and their style of play. We'll just keep sticking to our strengths."
An extra banks of lights has been installed on the towers at Oxley Oval, enabling them to be upgraded from 100 to 300 lux.
Funding for the upgrade was provided in full by the NSW Government through round two of the Stronger Country Communities Fund.
Macquarie cricket captain Craig Roser said the team struggled to pick out the ball during the night and the match was called when the lights started failing in the second innings.
"The majority of the lights went out with about five overs to go. They all started going out one by one," he said.
"We ended up getting beaten on the final decision but we didn't bowl in the right areas, dropped some catches and it just didn't go our way.
"We needed another 100 runs, it just wasn't our night."
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