GUNNEDAH has begun its War Veterans Cup title defence in emphatic fashion with a comprehensive win over Inverell.
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Aiming to pick up where they left off last season, Gunnedah was in trouble early, losing six wickets for just 60 runs.
Enter James Mack and Brodie Cleal who helped rebuild the innings from numbers eight and 10 respectively.
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Mack had the Inverell bowlers searching for answers on his way to a quick-fire 42.
Meanwhile, Cleal held up his end, finishing with an unbeaten 25 not out in his team's total of 133.
Jake Haines was the visitors' best with the ball, claiming 4-26.
Inverell struggled for momentum during their run chase, losing wickets at regular intervals.
The duo of young fast bowlers, Ash White (2-10) and Oliver Thomas (1-22) helped keep Gunnedah ahead.
From there, experienced campaigner Cameron Milne (5-2) took over, dismissing Inverell for just 42.
Haines put up the only resistance for his side, top scoring with 18.
Gunnedah captain Mitchell Swain praised the efforts of both his young and experienced players.
"I think you have to give a lot of credit for today's [Sunday] win to Brodie Cleal and Jimmy Mack," Swain said.
"Without their partnership, our bowlers wouldn't have had a target to defend.
"Those guys took us from 60 to more than 130, which was just fantastic.
"All up, it's good to get off to a flying start."
Swain said he was also impressed with the performance of his opening bowlers.
"I thought Ollie and Ash got us off to a pretty good start with the ball," he said.
"They both still have some things to work on, but I was really impressed with how they bowled."
Gunnedah will now turn its attention to its next clash against Tamworth on November 10.
"We've still got a lot of things to work on as a team," Swain said.
"We can't afford for our top order to bat like that at this level.
"We were a bit lucky to get away with it on this occasion, but if we want to succeed at this level our top order needs to be a bit better than that."