Walter slams pitch after Otago defeat
OTAGO coach Rob Walter criticised the Molyneux Park pitch following his side’s fivewicket loss to Northern Districts in Alexandra yesterday.
Otago limped through to 99 for seven on what was a tricky surface for batsmen in the Super Smash twenty20 game.
Northern Districts overhauled the target with half its wickets intact and more than two overs remaining.
But this was no slugfest. It was nip and tuck on a dodgy surface Walter said was not up to standard.
‘‘It was not good enough for a T20 game,’’ he said.
‘‘Not to offer an excuse but I think the scores tell the story.
‘‘It was very difficult to score on. There was no pace. The ball was staying low and it was turning.
‘‘The disappointing thing is there was a good crowd which came in to watch a good game of cricket and unfortunately they did not get that.’’
Groundsman Gary Smith could not be reached for com ment. However, the venue has had a troubled past.
It lost its New Zealand Cricket warrant of fitness following the 200809 season and it was withdrawn again in 2011.
Walter said Otago had hosted two ‘‘great fourday games’’ at the venue in good conditions. But for T20 matches, you need wickets with some bounce so batsmen can play shots, otherwise it is not a spectacle.
About 1800 people drifted through the gates and watched as Otago’s batsmen laboured.
The Volts could not find the gaps or the boundary anywhere near often enough to post a seemingly competitive total. That — and the starstudded opposition was bowling rather well.
Fast bowler Scott Kuggeleijn made the first breakthrough. He whizzed one past the swinging bat of inform opener Hamish Rutherford.
The lefthander tried to flick the ball legside but had his off stump disturbed before he could post double figures.
Fellow opener Neil Broom lost the patience battle with Mitchell Santner. He swatted the leftarm spinner to the longon fielder on 22.
Santner is making his way back from a knee injury and his return of one for 16 will have impressed the national selectors if not the crowd hoping to see some big hitting.
There was not much of that from the Volts. Otago hit just one boundary in the final 10 overs and that was from the first ball of the 11th over.
Even Anaru Kitchen, who topscored with 31 from 41, was kept quiet. The hardhitting allrounder does not often struggle for timing.
Every time Otago went searching for a boundary, another wicket fell.
Kuggeleijn finished with two for 11 and Ish Sodhi was excellent with two for 18.
Batting did not get any easier in the second innings. Tim Seifert could not get going but Anton Devcich smoked three boundaries before getting out for a runaball 15.
Brett Hampton’s dismissal was a real worry for the venue. He got out lbw to a ball which barely bounced, leaving his side 35 for three.
If the Volts had scored another 20 or 30 runs to work with, the visiting side might have found itself under pressure.
Instead, Dean Brownlie and Daryl Mitchell (27) were able to take the time they needed to get set and nibble away at the target.
Brownlie (34 not out) hit the winning runs in the 18th over to seal the fivewicket win.
On Saturday, Auckland beat Central Districts by five wickets in front of more than 2000 people at Pukekura Park in New Plymouth.
CD was dismissed for 107 and Martin Guptill smashed 71 not out to lead his side to victory.