NDWCA hosts inaugural Pink Stumps Round as Wahgunyah moves a win clear at the top

Wahgunyah Dreamtime Mirri have charged out into outright first place as the Narrabri District Women’s Cricket Association’s 2023/24 season minor premiership race gets set to go down to the final round.

The NDWCA hosted their inaugural Pink Stumps Round on Saturday as the four teams lined up in their round eight matches.

Wahgunyah Dreamtime Mirri and Wilga Hotel were the winners on the night as Wahgunyah beat Nandewar Motel by eight wickets at Collins Park while Wilga downed GFS Engineering by 13 runs at Hogan Oval.

Wahgunyah and GFS had entered the weekend locked on 34 points at the top of the table while Wilga Hotel were a win behind on 28 points, and the results saw Wahgunyah finish in the outright lead on 41 points while GFS and Wilga ended the night locked on 35 points.

The minor premiership race will now go down to the ninth and final regular season round this Saturday when Wahgunyah challenges GFS Engineering and Wilga Hotel meets Nandewar Motel. All four teams could end up on 42 points if GFS and Wilga both win, but Wahgunyah will secure top spot and automatic grand final qualification if they get the job done.

There was action on and off the field on Saturday night as two large crowds turned out to support the four teams and were treated to music and a pizza truck.

See social photos gallery here: Big crowds support NDWCA’s inaugural Pink Stumps Round | Gallery – The Courier (courier.local.tiemens.com.au)

The event raised $3285 for the local Pink Up Namoi – McGrath Foundation breast cancer charity and the major raffle was drawn on Sunday morning at the Wilga Hotel.

NDWCA chairman Mark Page told The Courier that he was proud of the event’s success and said that there was a fantastic atmosphere across the two fields. He thanked the committee and the players of the four teams for their hard work and dedication and he thanked local businesses and individuals who donated prizes as well as everyone who bought raffle tickets or turned up to support the cricketers.

At Collins Park, the match was over much quicker than usual after the Wahgunyah ladies bowled Nandewar Motel out for 38 runs in 13 over and then chased down the required total in six overs, having lost two wickets.

Nandewar Motel’s captain Michelle O’Connor top-scored with an unbeaten six in the first innings of the contest and she also hit her side’s only boundary.

Emily Hartnett stole the show as she finished with match-best bowling figures of 3-3 from three overs, while teammates Lidia McCauley (3-7 from two overs) and Molly Welsh (3-9 from two overs) also claimed three wickets each and Karen Baker (1-3 from two overs) took the other.

Nandewar Motel’s Zara Foley took two wickets in the first three overs in the second innings, but Hartnett (25*) and Velvet Craigie (7*) guided their side to an eight-wicket win and into outright first place.

At Hogan Oval, Wilga Hotel batted first and they scored 6-104 in 20 overs before restricting GFS Engineering to 4-91 in 20 overs to win by 13.

Emily Flood led the way for Wilga as she smashed a six and four fours on her way to a game-best score of 35 runs. Mereka Gleeson (12*) finished unbeaten and was the side’s next top scorer, while Millie Adams (2-20 from four overs) and Kristie Toomey (1-10 from three overs) combined for three of the six wickets and the other three were runouts.

Wilga Hotel skipper Jacki Ward struck with the first ball of the second innings as she bowled Mia Baker to put her side on the front foot, and then Jesse Ross took two wickets in the fifth over to make the score 3-18.

Grace Farrer (30) and Adams (24*) then put on a brilliant partnership together that was not broken until the final over of the contest when Farrer was run out.

GFS Engineering eventually fell 14 runs short of victory but they remain in the minor premiership hunt as they can finish on top if they get the job done in round nine this Saturday.