Marlborough claim rare Newman Shield
Handing over the Newman Shield probably wasn’t on Sunday’s list of things to do for Joe O’Connor.
Still, the Nelson Griffins’s cricket captain had no choice.
With left-arm spinner Rikki Bovey leading the assault, Marlborough’s representative bowling attack routed a flimsy looking Nelson batting lineup to claim a rare 51-run Newman Shield one-day victory at Nelson’s Saxton Oval.
Marlborough comfortably defended their meagre 150-run total to eventually dismiss Nelson for just 99 runs in the 34th over of their run-chase.
The match was played on the same pitch that had produced four centuries in the recent Plunket Shield fixture between Central Districts and Otago. But it was the bowlers’ turn to dominate on Sunday, with Marlborough’s attack easing to a long overdue victory against their arch rivals.
Earlier, Nelson’s bowlers would have justifiably felt that they’d done enough to set up a win after taking only 45.1 overs to dismantle Marlborough’s innings.
Again it was Rikki Bovey who led Marlborough’s charge in a clear man-of-thematch performance, opening the batting to top-score with 40 runs off 73 balls.
It turned out to be the day’s best individual score by either team, with Marlborough’s No 4 batsman Matthew Stretch (27) and Harry MacDonald (34), batting at No 8, offering the best support in a similarly barren Marlborough innings.
Nelson seamer Abidine Sakande bowled with lively pace to finish with 3-8 off his 6.1 overs, while the Nelson College duo of seamer Tom Zohrab (2-29) and left-arm spinner Felix Murray (3-19) showed plenty of control through the middle stages to severely restrict Marlborough’s scoring.
Adam Leonard also distinguished himself in the field, holding two smart catches at point and delivering a superb side-on throw to run out Landon Neal.
Ultimately though, 150 runs was more than enough against a Nelson side hamstrung by injury and unavailability of several of their leading batsmen.
Yet there was enough run-scoring potential in Nelson’s talented stable of allrounders to suggest that a 151-run target was well within their reach.
But despite a loose start, Marlborough’s bowlers quickly took control. The pressure was unrelenting from both ends as initially seamers Tarin Mason and Ben Blackman, then spinners Alex Kennedy and Bovey put a collective choke-hold on Nelson’s innings.
Marlborough’s responsive field provided excellent back up as the wickets started to fall.
While Marlborough’s batsmen could manage only 11 boundaries between them, their bowlers restricted Nelson to just eight in total.
No 3 batsman Zohrab would eventually top-score with 21 runs off a painstaking 51 balls, including two boundaries, with 15 extras, including 10 wides, the next best offering on Nelson’s scoresheet.
The pressure eventually got too much for Nelson’s increasingly tentative batsmen as Bovey began to dine out on their discomfort.
He ended the match with impressive figures of 5-13 off just 4.2 overs, also fittingly claiming Nelson’s final wicket to spark Marlborough’s well-deserved celebrations.
Mason finished with 2-19 off his seven overs, offspinner Kennedy conceding only 17 runs off his seven wicketless overs, and seamer Sam Boyce providing some excellent late support with 2-10 off his six overs.
Nelson will get the opportunity to reclaim the trophy in Blenheim later in the season but their immediate focus is on next weekend’s two-day away fixture against Canterbury Country.