United off to national championships
Manawatu will finally have a team back at the national club cricket championships in Auckland in April.
And it will be United after they beat Hawke’s Bay’s Napier Tech Old Boys by four wickets wickets in the CD club championships final at Fitzherbert Park on Sunday. Since the CD playoffs were introduced in 2013, no Manawatu team has qualified for the national playoffs, and the last time a Manawatu team went was in 2012, which was United.
In those days the club from the province that won the Chapple Cup rep tournament automatically qualified. But in this year’s playoffs, United beat Marlborough’s Wairau by eight wickets in Saturday’s semifinal, then beat a NTOB team on Sunday that had CD players Jesse Ryder and Kieran Noema-barnett.
‘‘We heard about it [on Saturday night] and we thought they were trying to scare us,’’ United captain Hayden Hill said after they got a shock when the two CD players turned up on Sunday.
But the pair didn’t make much
difference as NTOB, who beat Wanganui’s United by three wickets in the other semifinal, chose to bat first first and were all out for 171 in in the 47th over.
Ryder and Noema-barnett both fell victim to United seamer Matt Ball and it was only 79 from NTOB’S Matt Edmondson that made their total competitive.
Medium pacer Nathan Hill took 3-17 against NTOB, while Sonpreet Singh took 3-28, and Cam Harris took two wickets as well.
‘‘We’re stoked to bowl a pretty stacked team team out for 171 on a semi-decent track,’’ Hayden Hill said. ‘‘I think they would have had two CD guys and three or four, or five even, rep players.’’
NTOB’S bowlers made a game of it, but Hill played a steady hand at No 4, scoring an unbeaten 76 to guide them to 173-6 with three overs remaining.
United had a deep batting lineup and Hill shared in crucial partnerships with Mason Hughes (23), Singh (39) and Marcus Emery (22 not out), who usually opens but came in at No 8.
Nathan Hill had the ball on a string in Saturday’s semifinal against Wairau, who batted first and were immediately struggling.
Opening the bowling for United, Scott Macgibbon ( 2-15) knocked the top off Wairau’s innings, getting rid of their two openers, then Hill went to work, taking 6-15 from 7.1 overs as Wairau staggered to 84 all out in 27.1 overs.
Hayden Hill chipped in with 2-12 from six overs of his spin.