Hamilton cricket sides dominate comp
After three false starts the local club cricket season finally got underway on Saturday, and it was Hamilton teams who flexed their muscle, among some very tight contests.
With October rain seeing the abandonment altogether of the Richard Dodunski Twenty20 competition, it took until the fourth scheduled weekend for cricket to eventuate, with the opening round of the Hec Holland Plate one-day competition.
Each of these limited overs competitions was taking on a new look this season, with Hamilton and Waikato Valley joining forces. The one-day comp features two pools with an equal split from each association, with five round robin games (the first three on artificial pitches) to decide the finalists.
As it transpired, the opening round featured all Hamilton v Waikato Valley contests, and it was the city sides which prevailed in five of the six encounters.
Pool Two featured a couple of real humdingers, with defending champions Old Boys prevailing by one wicket against reigning Waikato Valley one-day champs Otorohanga, at the Otorohanga Domain.
The home side elected to bat, but were in trouble at 15-3, as Old Boys skipper Jono McNeill (4-8 off eight overs) led the charge superbly.
In the end, opener Andrew McLean was the only real contributor, hanging round for 132 balls in making 45. With nine batsmen gone for single figures, Otorohanga were bundled out for 109 in 49.1 overs, leaving Old Boys with what appeared a simple task of a bonus-point victory, should they reach the target inside 40 overs.
However at 95-5 in the 24th over it was still well under control, but leg-spinner Sunil Singh suddenly pulled his side back into the contest, claiming a superb 5-23 off seven overs, as Old Boys were guilty of some silly shots.
Top scorer Kendall Nolan (38), was the eighth man out, then McNeill was out first ball and Old Boys still required four to win with the last pair at the crease. The winning run came six balls later, through young English No 11 Jamie Thomson.
The other tight finish saw Cambridge hold off Star University by four runs at the Leamington Rugby Ground.
A 60-run eighth-wicket partnership between Peter Vorster and Sam Nowland got Cambridge to 252, all out on the final ball of the innings.
In Pool One, there were bonuspoint wins for Fraser-Tech and Hamilton Boys’ High School, over Morrinsville and St Paul’s Collegiate School (Waikato Valley), respectively.