Gunnedah had an encouraging start to the Tamworth District Cricket Association (TDCA) first grade season last Saturday, as the team recorded a three-wicket loss to the North Tamworth Redbacks at Wolseley Park.

Making its debut in the TDCA competition, Gunnedah was dismissed for just 81 in 34.1 overs before making North Tamworth work hard in the run chase.

Gunnedah captain Andy Mack said afterwards that “it would have been nice to get an extra 20 or 30 runs” while the batting was “a bit scratchy for the first game of the year”.

“(There were) no negatives to really take away from it,” he said.

Mack said the pitch “didn’t do any tricks as such” and that there were “no demons in it” while there was “a bit of early season rust”.

“We fought right to the end,” he said.

“Sometimes the low scoring games are the most exciting.”

After Mack won the toss and chose to bat, Justin Carter found the boundary twice as the hosts moved to 0-12 from the first ball of the second over. Astonishingly there were no more boundaries in Gunnedah’s innings.

Andrew Johns departed in the third over, before Mack scored only in singles despite playing several attacking strokes.

The total reached 1-43 before the home side crumbled to 4-48 following the dismissals of Mack, Izaak Merlehan and Carter.

A 17-run partnership provided brief respite before spinner Ryan Campbell bagged four successive wickets to leave the hosts 8-71.

Campbell struck with the first, fifth and sixth balls of his second over, with Harry Lewington taking a catch before a caught-and-bowled was followed by a successful lbw appeal.

Peter McCormack was the fourth lbw victim as Jordan Lewington had an appeal upheld, before Franklin Cripps polished off the innings with his second wicket.

Six of the seven Redbacks bowlers shared the wickets, while conceding no more than 3.2 runs per over. After eight runs were scored from his first over, Devon Hamley conceded only nine runs in his subsequent seven overs.

Gunnedah’s total would have been considerably smaller than 81 had North Tamworth not conceded 14 runs in wides.

Andrew Osmond raised Gunnedah’s hopes of an unlikely victory as he bowled two opponents in his first two overs to leave the Redbacks 2-14.

Osmond’s third over cost 14 runs following three quick boundaries to Sanjiv Weerasingham, and the total was nearing 40 when Ben Irwin sustained an injury during his first over.

He shortened his run-up as he continued bowling, and his sixth delivery produced an lbw.

Weerasingham struck Osmond for another four, before the bowler held a great return catch.

Cripps registered the only six of the match when he lofted a Merlehan delivery beyond the picket fence, before the same batter hit the same bowler for four.

Irwin claimed another lbw before Cripps found the boundary again, and the Redbacks were 5-70 before Merlehan reduced them to 7-71.

After opening his account with a boundary, Campbell chipped the next ball to Mack at mid-wicket before Merlehan’s next over yielded the wicket of Cripps who was the seventh player in the contest to be adjudged lbw.

A couple of sliding doors moments occurred as a boundary from an edge was followed by another edged stroke which fell safely.

The Redbacks achieved their target with the fourth ball of the 23rd over.

Gunnedah will return to Wolseley Park this Saturday for the round two clash with South Tamworth, which tallied 8-171 before losing to Old Boys by four wickets last Saturday.

The Gunnedah line-up is expected to have a few changes after last Saturday’s team was well below full strength.

North Tamworth Redbacks 7-82 (Sanjiv Weerasingham 25; Andrew Osmond 3-41, Ben Irwin 2-11, Izaak Merlehan 2-20) defeated Gunnedah 81 (Justin Carter 26; Ryan Campbell 4-12, Franklin Cripps 2-5) by three wickets.

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