Century on debut for schoolboy
Benji Culhane has announced himself on the Hawke Cup cricket stage for all to see with an allimportant century on debut.
Southland opened its 2020-21 Hawke Cup campaign with a first innings victory over Mid Canterbury in the two-day fixture at the weekend.
The youthful Southland team’s victory was set up by two schoolboy talents.
Southland was on shaky ground at 122 for six chasing Mid Canterbury’s first innings total of 276 which it posted on Saturday after winning the toss and choosing to bat.
Culhane, a Southland Boys’ High School pupil, teamed up with Finn Hurley, who hails from Gore but attends Otago Boys’, to put on a remarkable 176-run seventh-wicket stand to push Southland through to first innings points.
When Hurley departed it was job done – his 81 from 75 balls proved vital.
With the result sorted for Southland, Culhane then found time to push his way through to an impressive century.
His knock of 105 came from 147 balls and included 14 boundaries and three sixes.
When Culhane was eventually dismissed both teams agreed to call time given there was no possible chance of outright points for either side.
Culhane joins fellow Southland Boys’ High School product Greg Dawson in posting a century on debut in the Hawke Cup.
Dawson’s debut century came in 2006 as a 16-year-old when he scored 125 against Central Otago at Queens Park, facing 310 balls.
Southland coach Steve Jackson was thrilled with the calmness and determination shown by Culhane and Hurley to get the team home.
He said both found it challenging early in their innings – Culhane took more than 20 deliv
eries to get off the mark. However they quickly started to pounce on any loose bowling that came their way, Jackson said.
While it was the youngsters who starred with the bat yesterday it was Kieran Lloyd who did the damage with the ball on Saturday for Southland.
He racked up a six-wicket haul, his first five-wicket bag at Hawke Cup level.
Lloyd removed both Mid Canterbury openers to reduce them to two for 25 at one stage before Des Kruger took charge of the game.
Kruger struck 112 from 163
balls, and he found support from William Southby who chimed in with 50 as Mid Canterbury went from two for 25 to three for 202.
Part-time spinner Hamish Cooke took the key wicket of Kruger with a caught and bowled before Lloyd took over.
Lloyd took four of the last five Mid Canterbury wickets to fall, reducing them to a first innings total of 279 which at one stage looked like it could push closer to 400.
Jackson said Lloyd’s contribution was massive in the context of the game.
‘‘It was a flat, flat pitch where the bowlers struggled to get anything out of it. So for him to find something and get six wickets was pretty special.’’