Kaipaki club’s Gold beats Eastlink Black
Lee and Desai get Gold off to great start
On a sunny Saturday afternoon at the Kaipaki Oval, Kaipaki Cricket Club Gold beat Hamilton-based Eastlink Cricket Club Black. Kaipaki captain Rob Heke won the toss and sent Eastlink Black in to bat.
Kaipaki Gold charged into the field wearing their black armbands in honour of the late Kaipaki legend Elwyn Bradley, who died on November 13.
Kaipaki Gold opened the bowling with captain Heke and vice-captain Dylan Jeffries.
After numerous early chances going down for both bowlers, it was captain Heke who got the first breakthrough for Gold.
Heke continued to bowl a tight spell that troubled the Eastlink batsmen, finishing with 2-23 off six overs.
Then came the first change for either end and what a change this was — from the tennis court end Mac Gilkison, and from the scoreboard end Simon White.
The spell these two men bowled was simply exceptional, bowling aggressive yet tight lines that the Eastlink batsmen had no answer for.
White finished with figures of 2-12 off seven overs and Gilkison finished with 2-9 off five.
At the end of the Eastlink innings, it was Kaipaki leg-spinner Mark Dutton and seamer Sam Musty who mopped up at the tail, restricting Eastlink to 158/9 from their 35 overs.
After lunch, it was Kaipaki Gold’s turn to bat. Kaipaki opened with the ever-reliable Lance Lee and the destructive Dharmik Desai.
These two got Gold off to a great start before Desai was caught in the deep for 19 off 17 balls.
Enter Hiki Toroa who was noticeably nervous walking out as he was staring down the barrel of a third consecutive duck.
Fortunately, Toroa got the monkey off his back and scored 10 runs before he was dismissed.
After the middle partners of David Jury (10 off 15) and Musty (0 off 7) failed to struggle the scorers much, Lee tried to up the run rate, but unfortunately fell short of a welldeserved 50, making 45 off 50 balls. Then on walked White.
With Eastlink thinking they were back into the contest, it was White who took the game away from them.
White blasted a ferocious 46 notout off 25 balls including three 6s and
six 4s.
Supporting White through his destructive innings was Jeffries making
a run per ball with 18 not-out.
A win for Kaipaki Gold and a win for Elwyn Bradley.
Player of the day: Simon White. Eastlink Black 158/9 (35 overs) Kaipaki Gold 159/5 (24.2 overs)