Otago A completes strong showing

OTAGO A capped off a successful week with a sevenwicket win against Canterbury A in the final of a triseries tournament in Lincoln.

Pace bowler Warren Barnes took four for 30 to help restrict Canterbury to 157 for nine, while wicketkeeperbatsman Max Chu led the chase with an undefeated 64 from 51.

It was a fitting end for Otago, which dominated a series also including Auckland A.

The team won five of its six roundrobin games.

Coach Adam Miles said everybody made a valuable contribution at some stage during the week.

Josh TasmanJones scored a superb hundred during the oneday section of the tournament, and Mitch Renwick and Fraser Colson consistently scored runs.

Spinner Ben Lockrose was another standout. He took 14 wickets in seven games, while South Africanborn seamer Travis Muller picked up 10 scalps.

‘‘The guys all pitched in and got time at the crease or had a fair share of bowling. It was a wellbalanced week in terms of individual performance,’’ Miles said.

Most of the Otago A team has had experience at domestic level, and it showed.

‘‘That paid off in this environment. Ideally you want guys performing across all of the pathway teams because it means they are developing and moving their game forward.’’

Otago A’s next assignment is a threeday match against Southland next weekend. It will also play Canterbury Country in a twoday game in February, followed by some intrasquad 50over games at the end of February and start of March.

‘‘If you take the wins and losses out of it, I feel like we have a group that is growing and we’re giving Rob [Walter, Otago coach] a few selection headaches.’’

In a men’s Super Smash twenty20 game at Hagley Oval yesterday, the Knights beat the Canterbury Kings by two wickets.

The Kings, asked to bat first, made 193 off their 20 overs, with Chad Bowes striking 67 from 46 balls.

Scott Kuggeleijn hit a six for the Knights, at eight down, to win with two balls to spare. Knights allrounder Brett Hampton made 55, his first twenty20 fifty.