Tough start to the season
Central Milking and Pumping Stratford Premiers had a tough start to the season when facing a very strong New Plymouth Marist United (NPMU) team in their first competition game on Saturday.
NPMU won the toss and decided to bat first and put a big total of 325/6 off their 50 overs. Stratford bowlers started well but with wickets in hand NPMU accelerated in their last 15 overs. This was lead by Josh Barrett’s 100 off just 55 balls. He was well supported by ex Stratford player Dean Robinson
90, captain Jared Cunningham
46 and Jacob Richards 29 not out.
For Stratford the pick of the bowlers was Nathan Trumper with 1/30 off his 10. Other wicket takers were Grant Commerford
2, and Liam Muggeridge, Finbar Moriarty and Neil Harper each picking up 1.
Stratford made a solid start with an opening partnership of
50 between Paul Lightoller and Liam Muggeride. But when Paul got out for 20, wickets started to fall and Stratford was dismissed for 217 in the 50th over. Liam Muggeridge top scored with 67, Neil Harper also making a valuable contribution on his return to Premier Cricket with 61 and the last wicket to fall. The only other score of note was Grant Commerford’s 20 not out batting at number 11.
For NPMU Kurt Leuthart and Robson Chapman each got three wickets and Jacob Richards and Michael Blanks getting two each. A tough start for Stratford, but also a lot of positives from the game. It will look to improve for next week’s home game against Ha¯ wera.