North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Sweeping wins for North Shore clubs
Two North Shore cricket clubs, East Coast Bays and Takapuna, continued their quest for the Hedley Howarth Top Four trophy over the weekend.
East Coast Bays upset Parnell at Shore Road to keep the league leaders in touch with the rest of the pack.
Despite a fighting century from opener Ben Rainger, the home side were unable to overcome East Coast Bay’s first innings total, falling 39 runs short.
Parnell’s skipper Dave Goddard showed some fight in the middle order but when he went, Tyrone Carter returned to clean up the tail with 3/49 and a welldeserved first innings result for East Coast Bays.
In the other Hedley Howarth match, Takapuna’s Will O’Donnell scored one of two Takapuna centuries in their first innings victory over Papatoetoe.
Set a challenging 238, Takapuna lost early wickets but batting at three, O’Donnell was the backbone to the chase, scoring 24 fours and two sixes in his 188.
With a 130-run lead, Takapuna then sent the opposition back in but eventually ran out of time to push for an outright result.
Two North Shore teams were also competing in the Tom Hellaby Minor Championship over the weekend.
Birkenhead hosted Waitakere at War Memorial Park where the visitors had easily claimed first inning points.
After Waitakere’s Ronnie Hira took 5/28 in Birkenhead’s first dig, the visitors would have fancied their chances of doing it all again in the second innings.
Waitakere batted for just three overs in their second innings, pumping 33 runs before inserting Birkenhead once more.
Birkenhead’s top order showed some grit and determination coupled with sensational shotmaking to chase down the required 222 in under 40 overs.
In the other match, North Shore claimed an outright victory over Eden Roskill at Devonport Domain.
The Shore started the day at 138/5, with Akash Choudhary backing up his six wickets by scoring a run-a-ball 89 with the blade to ensure the home side a 117-run lead before declaring.
Eden Roskill lost wickets at regular intervals, Matt Selby the surprise package with the ball taking 5/56 in 14 overs.
The visitors were eventually dismissed for 153 in their second dig.