Defending champions Narrabri downed in a 420-run MA Connolly Cup thriller at Gwydir Oval

Narrabri District Cricket Association’s representative first XI put up a brave fight but fell agonisingly short when a 420-run thriller was said and done in round two of the 2022/23 MA Connolly Cup campaign on Sunday.

The Pink Slugs finally began their championship defence when they travelled to Bingara where they took on the Tom Groth-captained Gwydir in what was the two sides’ first game of the competition after all round one matches were washed out.

Groth won the toss and elected to bat on Gwydir Oval’s synthetic pitch, and his team spent all 50 overs in the middle as they posted an impressive score of 6-216. Groth himself did the bulk of the damage with an unbeaten 74 after arriving at the crease in the 22nd over.

The visitors did everything they could to claw their way towards the required total but eventually lost their final wicket in the 44th over while on 204 as they fell just 13 runs short of what would have been a remarkable victory.

The chasing innings began on the front foot as Narrabri set itself up at 1-53 after 12 overs.

However, a mini collapse saw the visitors lose 4-23 during the next seven overs as they slumped to 5-76 after 19.

Opener Nick Tomlinson (20) and the side’s number three batsman Shane Murphy (30) both made starts and were looking good before being removed by Gwydir’s James Mack, who finished the match with game-best figures of 5-35 from nine overs.

Despite Narrabri losing its top five batsmen before the 20-over mark, the side’s chances of winning were certainly not over as the middle and lower order combined to put up a resilient fight.

Matt Conroy entered at number six and scored a team-best 36 runs, while Dylan Segundo (20) and Jakeb Nipperess (22) also made handy contributions.

Nathan Trindall showed his talent with the bat late in the innings as he fought to bring home the victory in his first match as captain of the Pink Slugs. He entered at number nine and scored 34 runs, and he entertained as he smashed four sixes during that innings.

He was joined by his father Jason Trindall at the crease for the final-wicket partnership following the dismissal of Kaleb Mowle (12), who was bowled in the 43rd over.

Narrabri needed 13 runs to win when Mowle had arrived back in the grandstand, but Gwydir survived a serious scare when Chris Oxford bowled Nathan Trindall (34) with the first ball of the 44th over as the hosts claimed a 12-run victory.

Earlier in the day in the game’s first innings, Segundo marked his first representative match for the Pink Slugs since 2016 with the team’s first wicket of the campaign. He removed Gwydir opener Luke Smith (9) in the fourth over with the assistance of Trindall, who held onto a catch in the slips.

Mowle took the next three wickets for the visitors as Hamish Duncan claimed a catch in the 22nd over to remove Trevor Langa and make the score 2-75, Conroy held onto a one-handed catch in the 26th over to remove Dylan Butler (28) and make the score 3-87, and Segundo then caught Dougal Cameron (8) in the 32nd over to make the score 4-105.

Cooper Brayshaw earned the Pink Slugs’ final two wickets when he bowled Mack (19) in the 40th over to make the score 5-151 and then ran out Feneti Masuvakalo (9) in the 46th over, which made the score 6-179.

Mowle finished with team-best figures of 3-36 from 10 overs for the visitors.

The Pink Slugs’ next match in the MA Connolly Cup competition will be played on Sunday, November 20, when they take on Inverell at Collins Park in round three.

That match will be the first on home soil for the Narrabri men since February 27, when they dominantly defeated Quirindi by eight wickets in the 2021/22 campaign grand final.

Narrabri will need to win again at Collins Park to keep its chances of defending that title alive.