Back to the drawing board for the Pink Slugs following MA Connolly Cup defeat

Narrabri District Cricket Association’s Pink Slugs will be looking to bounce back when they travel to Moree this Sunday for the fifth round of the 2025/26 season MA Connolly Cup competition after they were trounced on home soil at Leitch Oval on Sunday.

The Pink Slugs welcomed Gunnedah to town for their round four clash, looking to continue a winning start after they cruised past Tamworth by seven wickets in round one and then missed out on games in rounds two and three due to washouts.

Gunnedah were searching for their first victory following two washouts and a defeat, and they managed to secure it as they defeated the hosts by seven wickets.

Nathan Trindall captained Narrabri in round four in the absence of Jack Tate, and he elected to bat first after winning the toss.

His side limped their way to 120 before losing their final wicket in the 34th over, and Gunnedah then chased down the required total in just 27.4 overs, having only lost three wickets.

Narrabri’s innings had plenty of promise about it early on as openers Matt Bradshaw and Jarod Adams put on a 26-run stand, but it was broken in the eighth over when Bradshaw (11) was stumped during an Izaak Merlehan wicket-maiden.

Adams was looking good as he blasted a six in the 12th over to move to 21 runs, but he was caught behind from the following delivery as Sam Doubleday made a mark in his first over of the innings, which also ended with another wicket as he trapped Jake Brayshaw (6) in front.

Hamish Duncan (25*) went on to top-score for the Pink Slugs but was let down by his teammates as he watched on from the other end as eight partners were dismissed.

Only Bailey Keeler (15) and Cody Kember (10) were also able to reach double digits as Gunnedah knocked over the home side for just 120 runs in 33.4 overs.

Doubleday (3-27 from eight overs) and Nick Herring (3-39 from eight overs) combined for six of Gunnedah’s 10 wickets, while Merlehan (2-11 from 5.4 overs) and Adam McGuirk (2-24 from seven overs) chipped in with the other four.

Narrabri knew they needed an early wicket to kick-start the second innings as they set out to defend their total, and Trindall delivered as the skipper bowled Bailey Lennox (8) in the seventh over to make the score 1-23.

Doubleday was Gunnedah’s other opening batsman, and he produced a match-high score of 41 runs to cap off a brilliant man-of-the-match performance, which came to an end in the 16th over when he was caught by Dillon Hutton off the bowling of Kember to make the score 2-67.

That became 3-86 in the 23rd over as Brayshaw knocked over Merlehan (24) caught and bowled during a wicket-maiden, but that was the final wicket for the hosts as McGuirk (29*) and Keaton Walters (17*) guided Gunnedah to a dominant seven-wicket win.

Narrabri must now bounce back on Sunday to boost their grand final hopes when they meet a Moree side that has two wins to their name.

Moree beat Armidale by four wickets at home in round one and prevailed by forfeit against Gwydir on Saturday in round four, either side of two washed-out draws.

With no semi-finals this season and the two top-ranked sides going straight through to the March 1 decider, Sunday’s match is must-win for the Pink Slugs.