Hawera United are well placed

Hawera United appear to be in a strong position to push on towards an outright victory over Woodleigh when the second day of their premier two-day match resumes on Saturday.

Playing at Hawera, the home side have a lead of 127 runs with nine second-innings wickets in hand, with consistent opener Nick Walker unbeaten on 31.

Ideally Hawera United will look to bat the first session and possibly midway into the second before trying to set Woodleigh a target.

Conversely, Woodleigh will be hoping their bowlers are a bit more effective than on day one, and they can make immediate inroads into the home side’s lineup to allow themselves some decent time to chase and take some more points out of the match.

Elsewhere, New Plymouth Old Boys are also in a strong position to get maximum points against Francis Douglas Memorial College at Western Park.

After taking an 142-run first innings lead, thanks to a century from former Taranaki opener Josh Borrell, Old Boys will take what is still a reasonably new ball, with Francis Douglas resuming on 27-0.

The school side will be hoping there is little moisture in the pitch, and they can improve on their first-innings effort of 139 that was never going to be enough to be competitive.

Inglewood’s match with Stratford is evenly poised at Inglewood.

Batting first, Inglewood made 165, with Stratford getting past that target, just, before finishing the day at 177-9.

They will more than likely declare and make sure of any life in the pitch.

New Plymouth Marist United have the upper hand over New Plymouth Boys’ High School at Lynmouth Park in the remaining match after they made 285-1 before declaring last Saturday.

Boys’ High did not find things as easy and ended the day on 78-4, with Daniel Bernet finishing with impressive figures of 3-5.