Run blitz set Old Boys' Marist up for win
Napier Old Boys Marist are the Twenty20 cricket champions of Hawke’s Bay after a dominant 45-run win over Central Hawke’s Bay in the Murray McKearney Memorial Cup final.
Friday evening offered a rare chance for Central to host a premier club final in their own backyard with the Hawke’s Bay Cricket Association allowing the top seeds to play the match at the Forest Gate Domain in Ongaonga.
Marist batted first and, for a time, it looked like it was going to be another day for Central’s bowlers, the competition’s stingiest attack over the round robin fixtures.
Napier openers Vance Morris and Bronson Meehan had to dig in early, scoring just seven runs off the first four overs before Morris (three runs off 13 balls) was caught off the bowling of Rhythm Sharma in the fifth over, bringing veteran Mathew Sinclair to the crease.
The innings turned for Marist right there; boundaries in that over and the next four fired the run rate up well beyond five an over.
Central brought James Mackie into the bowling attack in the 11th over and he and Brent Tate stemmed the flow of boundaries.
Mackie also picked up the wicket of Sinclair (20 off 22), but Marist were able to keep the score ticking over with singles.
Once new batsman Nihal Shilar got himself set, he and Meehan were able to tee off from the 16th over and take the game away from Central.
Both players made unbeaten half-centuries (Meehan 68 off 58, Shilar a rapid 57 off 27) as they slammed 64 runs off the final five overs of the innings to set a total of 150.
Central’s chase had an almost immediate setback with opening bowler Sunil Kumar picking up Campbell Ingram’s wicket with his second ball.
Things never got much better for the hosts, with Scott Schaw (24 off 26), Jacob Smith (29 off 34) and Shaun Newland (20 off 20) the only batsmen to pick up more than six runs.
Patrick Muldowney took the final three wickets to finish with Marist’s best bowling figures (3/10 off 1.5 overs).
But it was an all-around effort for Napier, with each of the six other bowlers claiming at least one wicket as they dismissed Central for 105 with one ball left in the innings.