Narrabri District Cricket Association’s pursuit of the 2025/26 season MA Connolly Cup crown received a major boost on Sunday when the Pink Slugs travelled to Moree and demolished the hosts by 185 runs in round five.
In what was a must-win match for the Narrabri men following a round four home loss against Gunnedah a week earlier, they batted first at Ron Harborne Oval and blasted 262 runs for the loss of just seven wickets as they batted out the full 40 overs.
They then rolled Moree for 77 runs in 20.3 overs to score their second win of the campaign, their first since an opening round victory against Tamworth which was followed by two washouts and the loss to Gunnedah.
The result saw the NDCA side join Moree at the top of the table with 12 points with just two rounds to go. Moree will sit out with a bye in round six when Narrabri host Inverell on Sunday, February 8, before the Pink Slugs have the bye in round seven a week later while Moree play away against Tamworth.
Those games will likely determine which team finishes on top of the table and hosts the grand final, while a loss for either side could see them miss out on the decider, with Gwydir, Tamworth and Gunnedah all just one win behind them with two matches still to play, meaning they are all still a chance of finishing in the top two.
Armidale and Inverell sit sixth and seventh, respectively, with six points each.
Narrabri’s opening batsmen got the visitors off to a positive start in Moree in the round five clash as Greg Melton (43) and Matt Bradshaw (19) continued their impressive 2025/26 season form.
Jake Brayshaw (5) fell cheaply at number three before Hamish Duncan (35) arrived at number four to help guide the Pink Slugs past 100 in the 19th over.
The visitors were 3-109 at the halfway point of the innings, and they well and truly lifted the run rate across the next 20 overs as Jakeb Nipperess struck 68 runs from 63 deliveries and skipper Jack Tate blasted an unbeaten 47 runs from 28 deliveries. That duo smashed a combined 13 boundaries.
Tate eventually ended up finishing three runs short of a half century after the final ball of the innings had been bowled, but he did the job his side required from him as Narrabri finished up with 7-262.
The visitors then made light work of a 10-man batting lineup in the second innings as they only required 20.3 overs to bowl Moree out for 77 runs.
Tate (2-25 from seven overs) and Duncan (4-9 from 4.5 overs) both opened the bowling and combined for six wickets, and the other three were claimed by Nathan Trindall (3-11 from 3.3 overs).
Moree’s skipper Alf Newman was his side’s best with the bat with 20 runs.
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