Hay’s record knock puts CD in control
CENTRAL Districts captain Greg Hay helped rewrite the record books and put his side in a dominant position with a doublehundred against Otago in Alexandra yesterday.
Hay, who resumed day two on 130, posted a careerhigh 226 to eclipse the previous highest score at the ground of 179 scored by Ken Rutherford in the 198889 season.
His marathon nearly ninehour stint at the crease provided the backbone for Central’s 511 for six declared, a team record score at the venue.
The previous best was 456 scored by Northern Districts last season.
Former Otago player Kieran NoemaBarnett made a more than useful contribution with 108, his third firstclass century.
The pair added 205 for the fifth wicket to set another record and pile the pressure on Otago, which was 82 for two at stumps.
It is Central Districts’ highest fifthwicket partnership against Otago, surpassing the previous mark of 168 set by Mark Douglas and Ben Smith at Molyneux Park in 200001.
Hay was eventually undone by parttimer Josh TasmanJones, who captured him lbw.
He tried to pull a delivery away which was a little too full for the purpose. Of course, a good portion of his 26 fours were whacked in that area, so he will be able to live with the dismissal.
NoemaBarnett holed out three overs earlier, much to the relief of 18yearold leftarm spinner Ben Lockrose.
He is on debut and it was a rough introduction. He finished with one for 123 from 25 overs.
Christi Viljoen was frugal, though. He delivered 10 maidens to took none for 41 from 27 overs.
They are the kind of heroic figures which usually go unnoticed because of an absence of an entry in the wickets’ column.
Strike bowlers Jacob Duffy and Nathan Smith grabbed two wickets apiece and conceded fewer than 2.5 run an over, so it was an honest stint by both men.
Otago’s innings began poorly with Brad Wilson shouldering arms and getting trapped lbw for two in the third over.
Was there a hint it was missing off? Possibly, but it did tapper back in and it was too close to leave.
Cam Hawkins did not have much luck with the leave, either. He was bowled by Blair Tickner, who nipped a delivery back in and hit the top of off.
It will be of no consolation to Hawkins, but he got pretty much the perfect ball.
Shawn Hicks (39), who has been out of form, and TasmanJones (29), fought back for the home side with an unbroken stand of 72.
They will need to continue the good work for a lot longer today if Otago is going to wriggle out of its predicament.
There is a good tussle taking place at Eden Park Outer Oval. Auckland is 228 for seven in reply to Canterbury’s first innings total of 220.
At Seddon Park, Wellington is 152 for three in reply to Northern Districts’ tally of 251.
RYAN Duffy has dusted off his cricket gear and made a timely return to the Southland Hawke Cup setup.
Duffy had worked hard over several years to push his way into the Otago Volts.
He played 18 firstclass games, four oneday fixtures and two twenty20 games after making his Volts debut in 2013.
The toporder batsman gained a fulltime contract with the Volts for the 201617 season and scored a century in the last of his firstclass outings in 2016.
However, the following season Otago opted to bring in Rob Nicol from Auckland which meant Duffy was squeezed out of the contracts list.
It prompted the older brother of Otago captain Jacob Duffy to look at life after cricket.
His cricket kit bag has been stored away since.
However, the 27yearold, who has a firstclass average of 30,
has decided to play again.
Southland coach Steve Jackson said manager Murray Fitzgibbon recently touched base with Duffy to see how he was getting on and inquire if there was any interest in returning to cricket.
Jackson said Duffy said he did have ‘‘itchy feet’’ and indicated he would be keen to make himself available again.
Duffy has been whisked into the Southland team to take on Mid Canterbury in the twoday Hawke Cup fixture in Invercargill this weekend.
‘‘He’s going to have a go and see if that spark is still there, and we are going to do everything we can to fuel that,’’ Jackson said.
Duffy has had a season away from playing but Jackson said Southland was in a good position to throw him straight back into it and provide him with the time to find his feet again.
Southland holds the Hawke Cup and, with its first defence not until February, it effectively means it has a twomonth buildup.
Duffy has replaced Venkat Kotte in the Southland setup which last weekend travelled to Alexandra to take on Otago Country. In another change, Jack Mockford comes in for spinner Ben Lockrose.
Lockrose was called into the Otago team for this week’s fourday fixture against the Central Stags in Alexandra.
The yettobenamed Southland 12th man will be released to play club cricket today.
Southland is in search of a much better showing than the firstinnings loss to Otago Country last weekend.
Otago Country racked up 342 batting first before rolling Southland for 138.
Southland was made to follow on and feared much better in its second turn at bat, finishing the match 116 for one to avoid an outright loss.
While Jackson did not feel his team was complacent, he said the performance against Otago Country did provide the team with a wakeup call.
King’s High School was outclassed by a talented Christchurch Boys’ High School lineup at the Gillette Cup finals yesterday.
The Dunedin school was dismissed for 167 and Christchurch Boys’ overhauled the target with more than 20 overs and seven wickets in hand.