DAY THREE
Sun shining on Bay Oval, Bay of Plenty batted on into a third morning with the Hawke Cup record total in sight. Within 10 minutes they stood on the cusp of history as Tony Goodin tickled a two to take their epic total to 701/9 — level with the record 701 some of this same Bay of Plenty team had set to lift the silverware off Hamilton.
However, Ash Vodnala struck the very next ball: Goodin was caught on 46 by a grateful Counties Manukau captain Barry Rhodes.
701 all out. Twice. By the same side. Who would have thought?
Vodnala was one of four bowlers to have bowled more than 30 overs in the marathon innings of 1,192 balls, finishing with 2-138 while Rhodes walked off with 3-97 from his 32.
Counties Manukau was left with 93 overs with which to respond but was bowled out mid-afternoon for 220, captain Rhodes having top-scored with 65. Still trailing Bay of Plenty by 481 runs, the captains shook hands and BOP retained the Hawke Cup on the first innings.
Bay of Plenty will now face Hawke's Bay, the successful Zone 2 challenger, the next three-day defence beginning Friday 10 February back at Bay Oval. The match will be a pointed rematch of the final Hawke Cup challenge of last season, in which Bay of Plenty took the trophy off Hawke's Bay's hands.
DAY TWO
Bay of Plenty is just a dozen runs from making history — again — at stumps on day two of the three-day Hawke Cup challenge in Mount Maunganui.
At 690 for nine, should they bat on tomorrow, 12 more runs will see them overtake the Hawke Cup record total of 701 that they set to take the cup off Hamilton in the 2012/13 summer.
Counties Manukau may meanwhile be experiencing some regrets over having elected to bowl, captain Barry Rhodes having turned to 10 bowlers, including himself, at a hot and, no doubt, sweaty Bay Oval on a sweltering Anniversary weekend.
Yorkshire's white ball captain Alex Lees, who is spending his off-season in Bay of Plenty, reached 223 before he was finally caught off Victor Davies.
223 off 271 balls!!!🔥@YorkshireCCC Alex Lees has achieved the highest individual score for @BayCricket1 in the #HawkeCup 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/oDQSRQL1cW
— Northern Districts (@ndcricket) January 29, 2017
Batting at eight, Donovan Deeble then also reached three figures for the Bay, both centurions on their Hawke Cup debut.
Scorecard
Lees had already broken the Bay of Plenty Hawke Cup individual record on day one when he surpassed Brett Hampton's 194, set in the record innings against Hamilton four years ago. His debut 223 is in the longstanding Hawke Cup's all-time top 10.
The Hawke Cup was first contested in the 1910/11 season.
DAY ONE
Opening day of the Hawke Cup season is always a slurry of nerves and tension. There are no second chances for the holders if they don’t stand up. There are no second chances for the challengers if they don’t get a toe-hold. But it’s fair to say that for incumbent holders Bay of Plenty, opening day of the 2017 Hawke Cup season went all right.
By the end of day one, they were 367 for three, with first drop and import Alex Lees — Yorkshire’s white ball captain, veteran of more than 4000 first-class runs and overwintering in the Bay — unbeaten on 208 from 246 balls at Bay Oval.
Lees had come in during the 21st over of the day after Counties Manukau had won the toss and decided to give themselves a bowl. They probably didn’t enjoy it too much.
Tom MacRury had been the wicket to fall, BOP 75 for one after the opener’s solid start alongside captain and stalwart Pete Drysdale.
By lunch, Lees (19*) and Drysdale (46*) were 104 for one, and by tea they were 218 for one, on a sweltering afternoon that only added to the bowlers of Counties Manukau’s discomfort. Lees had celebrated his half century by breaking out his first six, off Ash Vodnala, before overtaking Drysdale on the scoreboard as he began to knock out his runs at better than run-a-ball pace as he built up to a ton. The first century arrived in style shortly before tea, a boundary off Counties Manukau captain Barry Rhodes.
Rumour has it a town herald was sent out when a wicket finally fell in the first half of the last session. It was Drysdale, ending a mammoth stand of 197 with Lees, who was by now 142*.
It was Rhodes who got the joy, and the floodgates were now unleashed, if you like, with Rhodes making another breakthrough just four overs later — local Knight Joe Carter, going through a dry spell, caught and bowled for just seven.
Rhodes himself was among eight bowlers used, almost everyone but the wicketkeeper as the sweat dripped at the start of a 29-degree long weekend. Karaka allrounder Victor Davies had gone 24 overs, his figures 1-88 after having been the one to get MacRury in the morning session.
Lees would push him for a three to post not only his double ton, off 234 balls, but with the same stroke the BOP 350 in the 92nd over of the day.
Bay of Plenty coach Graeme Aldridge, a longtime ND seam bowling icon, knows all about sweat and toil, and the intensity of Hawke Cup cricket, having played in three Hawke Cup Challenges in 1997, 1998 and 2000. He probably enjoyed watching it for a change.
Lees not only trucked up an unbeaten double ton on day one, but it was a double ton on Bay of Plenty and Hawke Cup debut, and the highest by any Bay of Plenty batsman in Hawke Cup history, beating Brett Hampton's 194 in 2012/13. Chris Atkinson, Donovan Deeble and Iman Singh are also on Bay of Plenty Hawke Cup debut with an overnight position of 367 for three heading into day two.
