Narrabri District Cricket Association’s representative side may have gone down in Sunday’s MA Connolly Cup final, but they can still hold their heads high following what has been a successful 2025/26 campaign.
The Pink Slugs travelled to challenge Tamworth at Riverside Sporting Field Number One in a first-versus-second final, with the minor premiers earning the hosting rights for finishing on top of the table.
Tamworth batted first after winning the toss and made 146 in 29.2 overs. That would have only been enough to beat Narrabri in one of their regular-season matches prior to the final, but a lacklustre batting performance in the big dance saw the Pink Slugs fall well short of the required total as they were bowled out for 63 in just 10 overs.
The MA Connolly Cup grand final appearance ended a successful campaign for the NDCA men, who also qualified for the War Veterans Cup semi-finals and the NSW Country Plate knockout competition.
They also lost those respective games earlier in the season, but will be looking to go bigger and better when the 2026/27 campaign rolls around, having laid a platform to do so this year.
Narrabri struck early in Sunday’s decider and it was Dylan Segundo who secured the visitors’ first wicket. Having conceded 13 runs from his first seven deliveries of the contest, Segundo found his rhythm as he knocked over Lachlan Mason (9) caught behind as Narrabri’s gloveman Kaleb Mowle took the catch, and the quick then produced 10 consecutive dot balls as Tamworth found themselves on 1-32 after six overs.
The Pink Slugs’ skipper Jack Tate replaced Nathan Trindall in the ninth over and dealt the Tamworth men their next blow in the 11th when he took a crucial catch off his own bowling to dismiss Hayden Evans for a team-best 35 runs during a wicket-maiden.
Archie McMaster (30), Samuel Davis (16) and Adam Jones (25) all made starts to put the hosts in a formidable position at 4-127 in the 22nd over, but a Jake Brayshaw wicket turned the innings on its head as Narrabri ripped through the Tamworth middle and lower order to take 6-19 in 7.4 overs to bowl Tamworth out for 146.
Clay Hoffman (3-12 from five overs) and Brayshaw (3-26 from 5.2 overs) were Narrabri’s best with the ball as they combined for six wickets, while Tate (2-25 from six overs) chipped in with two, and Segundo (1-24 from four overs) and Hamish Duncan (1-31 from five overs) took one each.
The Pink Slugs suffered an early setback in the second innings as Matt Bradshaw was bowled by Oliver Stubbs for a second-ball duck in the third over, but his opening batting partner Nick Tomlinson made an early impact as he scored 24 runs to get the chasing side to 1-39 at the 10-over mark.
Tomlinson was eventually caught from the second ball of the 10th over, but his replacement started on the front foot as Brayshaw found the boundary to get off the mark from the first ball he faced.
Brayshaw then struck another four in the 13th over to move to 11 runs before he was bowled two balls later, which kick-started a disastrous collapse for the Pink Slugs as they lost 8-9 in 5.3 overs, with Charley Pickens (5-13 from five overs) and Aidan Walker (4-18 from four overs) tearing through the chasing side to help secure an 83-run victory for Tamworth.
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