Mudgeeraba Nerang claim first piece of Kookaburra Cup silverware since 2010 with T20 final win over Southport Labrador

MUDGEERABA Nerang have claimed their first piece of Kookaburra Cup silverware since 2009-10 with victory in today’s Twenty20 final and captain Dylan McLaughlin is hopeful it will open the door to more first-grade glory.

MUDGEERABA Nerang have claimed their first piece of Kookaburra Cup silverware since 2009-10 with victory in today’s Twenty20 final and captain Dylan McLaughlin is hopeful it will open the door to more first-grade glory.

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Having gone without title success since beating Broadbeach Robina in the two-day final almost 10 years ago, Mudgeeraba ended their long trophy wait with an eight-wicket crushing of Southport Labrador at Bill Pippen Oval.

Sent into the field, the Bushmen kept the powerful Tigers batting line-up to 8-109 from their 20 overs, with Kevin Chapman (3-21), Brad Munro (2-13) and Rhys Finn (2-14) ensuring no Southport batsman could top Simon Belston’s 27.

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Howard Biddle (45 off 41) and Josh Nelson (37 not out off 36) then overcame the early loss of Chapman (19) in the run chase to put on 87 for the second wicket, before the latter and Mitch Daly (1 not out) cruised home in the 16th over with eight wickets to spare.

Having gone unbeaten to the T20 crown and with two wins from as many games in the season proper, McLaughlin said the early signs were positive for a Mudgeeraba outfit expected to feature prominently at the business end of the campaign.

Mudgeeraba Nerang captain Dylan McLaughlin. Picture: David Clark

“I think we’re going pretty well at the moment in the normal comp, which is our focus, but we’ve got to keep working to our plans. There’s a lot of good sides that will beat us if we don’t,” McLaughlin, who skippered the Bushmen to seventh place last season, said.

“We’ve got a pretty good side this year but I don’t think T20so is our strong suit. We don’t have too many guys that like to hit the ball that hard but obviously it’s worked for us and we’ve done pretty well.

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“It’s been a while (since we won something) and quite a few of those guys, like Mitch and Nels, were part of that winning team. This is only a stepping stone, this is not our aim for the season.

“The regular season is very much our aim.”

While both sides were coming off four-straight wins in the preliminary games, McLaughlin hailed Mudgeeraba’s attack for strangling the life out of the Tigers.

“I think our bowling was exceptional to keep them to 109 on a very fast outfield and very flat pitch. It made it a lot easier to bat for us,” McLaughlin said.

“We bowled to our plans and were able to keep taking wickets so they never had a chance to get on top of us. It made it tough for them to accelerate.”

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SCOREBOARD — KOOKABURRA CUP T20 FINAL

Southport Labrador 8-109 (Simon Belston 27, Paul Johnston 20 not out; Kevin Chapman 3-21, Brad Munro 2-13) def. by Mudgeeraba Nerang 2-110 (Howard Biddle 45, Josh Nelson 37 not out; Michael Alexander 1-7, Paul Johnston 1-15) at Bill Pippen Oval