Determination yields draw
Wanganui stick to their guns and dig in for draw against more experienced opponents
The English professional and the teenaged bowler from Collegiate stood their ground against Central Districts Stags-level talent and didn’t flinch as a brave fightback from Air Chathams Wanganui saved the draw and avoided an innings hammering at Nelson Park on Sunday.
Facing a Pay Excellence Hawke’s Bay team with all their regulars, more game time preparation and harnessing the horrible late afternoon conditions on Saturday, it was a familiar script for Wanganui to be almost out the door after they collapsed for 84 chasing the home side’s 302-7 declared.
On and off the field twice due to the wet conditions before the first lunch session on Saturday, Wanganui’s young bowling attack, including three schoolboy spinners, struggled to pin down Bayley Wiggins (70 from 69 balls) and skipper Jacob Smith (61) during a 110-run opening stand in 20 overs.
However, a fightback from captaincoach Charlie Hartley, Akash Gill and Ross Kinnerley reduced the home side to 162-4.
Thus entered Angus Schaw, who relishes playing Wanganui, and immediately set about re-anchoring the innings.
By the time Chris Sharrock had Schaw’s stumps for 61, Hawke’s Bay were 242-5 and right back on target to reach the magic 300 mark and get Furlong Cup batting bonus points, which they got in 73 overs through several contributions from their lower middle order.
Hawke’s Bay promptly declared and despite Wanganui’s repeated appeals against the dark conditions, manager Andrew Lock said the time already lost and Wanganui’s slow over rate in the first innings meant the umpires were insistent on trying to see out the day’s play.
“There’s no way we should have been out there.”
Struggling to read the flight of the deliveries, with diminishing depth perception, Wanganui tried to be defensive but all departed forsingle figures – from debutant Sam Sheriff to Thomas Walshe, Dominic Lock, Hartley, Gill and former captain Simon Badger.
From a woeful 35-6, Kinnerley (11) tried to hang on and then, in the weekend’s first display of courage, Ben Kelt (24) wouldn’t back down as he hit three boundaries in prompt order and then knuckled down to face 10 overs in near darkness.
But the damage was done as John McIlraith and Sharrock also went for single figures, with Kelt the last to fall on Sunday morning and leave Hawke’s Bay discussing how they were going to spend the midafternoon as they took easy first innings points and enforced the follow-on.
Schaw (3-12), spin bowler Jayden Lennox (2-22) and the pacemen Ben Stoyanoff (2-10) and Todd Watson (2-12) carved up a share of the pie.
“It’s constant pressure from those bowlers,” said Lock.
“It’s not like, ‘oh, he’s gone now, almost a rest’. The next guy comes on.”
Required to bat the entire day with a 218-run deficit, Wanganui lost Sherriff first ball, but then fought for every inch as Walshe (35) and Dominic Lock (31) saw off 26 overs, before Schaw (3-61) continued his excellent match.
McIlraith and Kelt were both promoted but couldn’t survive, as Gill (27) was the next to drop anchor for nearly 10 overs of deliveries, joined by Kinnerley (56), who not only defended but gave it back to Hawke’s Bay, hitting nine boundaries and a six.
Badger (13 from 64 balls) tried to replicate his match-saving innings from last summer, but then paceman Liam Dudding (2-23) got Kinnerley, had Sharrock caught behind for a duck, and his bowling partner Stoyanoff (5-42) accounted for Gill and Badger.
And so with around an hour left in the day and 29 more runs needed to make Hawke’s Bay pad up again, Hartley strode out to join the youngster Angus Dinwiddie for seemed to be the last rites.
Andrew Lock said the 25-year-old skipper chose to go out last, and while Hawke’s Bay brought a fielder in close for the spinners and had extra slips for the pace bowlers, they eased up on the pressure.
“[Hartley had] never seen any of these guys bat, so a perfect opportunity to see what they can do and then come in and support who’s left.
“I think [Hawke’s Bay] just expected these young guys were going to get out. Suddenly, their demeanour changed, they were getting angry at themselves.”
Dinwiddie and Hartley didn’t just survive, they fought back, hitting 10 boundaries between them in a brave 47-run partnership which chewed up nearly 13 overs.
When Dinwiddie (35) finally gave up a catch to give Stoyanoff his fivefor, Wanganui were implausibly 18 runs ahead and all but saved, with Hawke’s Bay inquiring about getting at least four overs with the bat.
“We didn’t know either, it comes down to the umpires. We asked them and they said ‘one’,” said Lock.
Sharrock, who showed he could bowl to a plan during the first innings, was given the task of sending down six deliveries that Wiggins and the promoted Schaw couldn’t smash to the boundary.
Sharrock delivered, conceding just a single and a bye while getting Wiggins to sky a catch to Dinwiddie.
“They were clearly disappointed they didn’t get to 19, because they back themselves,” said Lock.
“We weren’t going for wickets, but we were going for dot balls. It was a great way to finish for these young guys.”
Despite the scoreboard still being sobering reading, Lock was insistent that the determination of Sunday was the true mark of the team’s ability, and could have happened on Saturday in better conditions.
“Good fight from Angus and Charlie at the end,” he said.
“But we had that throughout the innings, it just didn’t come from them.
“Against a quality bowling attack, my gosh, they were all CD bowlers.
“For a young squad, it’s hugely impressive they just stuck with it.”
It will be a change of pace this weekend as the 50-over Chapple Cup tournament has been scheduled after the first Furlong Cup round, with Wanganui taking on another challenge first up in Taranaki on Friday.
In the other Furlong Cup games, Wairarapa picked up where they left off last season with a comfortable first innings points win over Horowhenua, while Manawatu rode an excellent first innings bowling effort to get the points against Taranaki.
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