Karaka look to deny Manukau outright
Karaka are out to deny Manukau maximum points in their Counties Manukau club cricket match on Saturday.
They trail the defending champions by 148 and staring at an outright loss heading into the final day of their two day match at War Memorial Park, Manurewa.
Club spokesman Michael Schofield said it’s a loss Karaka can ill afford at this stage of the competition.
‘‘We’ve got to deny them an outright. I don’t know how much long Manukau will bat for on Saturday but I do know that we’re going to have to bat all day to stop them getting maximum points.
‘‘We have to or else we will lose the lead and be playing catch up over the last two rounds of the championship.
‘‘I’m confident we can. We have a strong batting line-up, although you wouldn’t have believed it with our dismissal for 92 in the first innings last Saturday.’’
Manukau will resume on 240-7 in reply to Karaka’s first innings of 92 all out.
The first day highlights included Sandeep Patel’s knock of 114 and the bowling of he and Gurshan Singh. Patel finished with 2-7 and Singh 3-23.
Luke Williamson, 31, and Victor Davies 24 were Karaka’s best bats while Michael Schofield was the pick of the Karaka bowlers with 4-50.
Second placed PukekoheMetro are best positioned to snatch the lead in the compe- tition.
They rolled Papakura for 30 in their first innings and have them on the ropes at 84-4 in their second innings. They have a 95 run lead on their neighbourhood rivals after scoring 209 in their first innings
Jono Keen 53, Barry Rhodes 49 and Matt Baxter 40 provided the batting highlights in PukekoheMetro’s innings.
Corey Hunter 5-8 and Reid Somani 5-10 were their best bowlers.
United and Waiuku are locked in a battle that is too close to call.
United are 185-7 in their second innings, an overall lead of 171. Both sides were dismissed cheaply in their first innings. United fell for 76 and Waiuku 90 SCOREBOARD Karaka 92 (Luke Williamson 31, Victor Davies 24, Gursharn Singh 3-23, Sandeep Patel 2-7) trail Manukau 240-7 (Sandeep Patel 114, JJ Mills 22. Michael Schofield 4-50)
United 76 (Harley Bayliss 18, Josh Burgess 18. Blair Lovett 6-14, Cameron Brown 3-12) and 185-7( Josh Burgess 77 n/o, Harley Bayliss 63. Zac Robinson 3-28) met Waiuku 90 (Haseeb Ashraf 22, Terence Brookes 3-29, Chris Farnelll 2-11)
Pukekohe-Metro 209 (Jono Keen 53, Barry Rhodes 49, Matt Baxter 40. Jayden Morris 5-49) lead Papakura 30 (Jayden Morris 14, Corey Hunter 5-8, Reid Somani 5-10) and 81-4.
Points (after three rounds): Karaka 48, Pukekohe-Metro 42, Manukau 38, Papakura 32, Waiuku 13, United 10.