DAY THREE
Bay of Plenty maintained their grip on the silverware, thanks once more to having the steely services of Yorkshire captain Alex Lees at first drop as he helped propel them to 470 all out on the last day. It proved enough to secure a draw and thus a narrow win on the chaotic first innings.
Lees wasn’t alone in his work this time, Sean Davey also getting the job done as both batsmen reached exactly 141. Hawke’s Bay gave the chase a crack but at 120 for seven in the second innings the captains shook hands.
Allrounder Sean Davey in his NZ Under-19 days
Hawke’s Bay had put up a good fight, but losing opening bowler Liam Dudding — who had ripped out six wickets on day one, on a new deck — didn’t help their cause. Dudding had bowled just two balls before a side injury took him out, and all up it was a gutting denouement for the challengers who had had such high hopes of snatching back the trophy after sending Bay of Plenty into bat in the first innings and having had them down to 54 for seven.
Bay of Plenty will now face yet another challenge from a Central Districts minor association after Nelson beat Canterbury Country in Zone 3 to win the right to contest the next episode of Hawke Cup warfare in a fortnight’s time.
DAY TWO
At 70 for six overnight, the innings of Hawke's Bay had been almost an action replay of their hosts' efforts. Problem was, they were still one hundred runs in arrears. By drinks the next morning they were nine down and now pinning all their hopes on an outright win. Unfortunately their day was about to get worse with Liam Dudding breaking down first over, captain Jake Smith having to rummage through eight other bowling options while Bay of Plenty settled in, Joe Carter reaching his fifty and Alex Lees his century before stumps, Sean Davey (32 not out) and company then carrying on to put Bay of Plenty in a healthy position at 324 for six overnight.
DAY ONE
After the opening few hours of Bay of Plenty’s second Hawke Cup defence of the season at Bay Oval, it was clear the match was going to be a rather different kettle of fish to their marathon 700-plus innings domination of a fortnight ago on the same turf.
The clues were obvious when Hawke’s Bay captain Jake Smith put the holders into bat — Hawke’s Bay earning the right to this challenge after having shut out Manawatu in the regional Zone 2 competition.
In the 26 overs before lunch, Bay of Plenty lost seven wickets — the first six of them all claimed by Central Stags paceman Liam Dudding, including Yorkshire captain Alex Lees for just four, and Northern Districts rep Joe Carter, Ben Musgrave and keeper-batsman Tim Clarke all for ducks.
The top score had been captain Pete Drysdale’s 25 as Sean Davey departed for two, getting Liam Rukuwai in on the wicket action.
A determined late order stand then added what may prove critical runs to the scant local scoreboard. Batting at nine, Donovan Deeble (in just his second Hawke Cup match) and debutant Brenton Thompson put on 85 for the eighth wicket, an hour finally going by without a wicket.
Deeble raced ahead for a run-a-ball 61, hitting the only six of the innings along with six boundaries, progressing the score to 139 for eight before his wicket ended the amusement.
Tony Goodin lasted just three balls but with some help from the number 11, who hung on for 45 minutes, Thompson had a half century in sight before falling just a handful short to close the innings at 170 all out.
Dudding had returned a spectacular six for 46 off his eleven overs, but what was sauce for the goose was about to become sauce for the other goose as Hawke’s Bay got off to an equally horrendous reply on a pitch that was clearly doing a bit.
They lost their top four for just 15 runs between then, Deeble and Davey doing the damage with two apiece until former Auckland A rep Brad Schmulian dug in. He was unbeaten on 28 at stumps after a hectic day, by which time the challengers needed another 100 runs exactly to overtake the holders. Six down, it will be a pivotal second morning for both sides.
Hawke's Bay has already beated Bay of Plenty once in the past 12 months of Hawke Cup
Bay of Plenty beat Hawke’s Bay in the final challenge last season to claim the Hawke Cup, but will be taking nothing for granted — on their toes after a chastening outing last weekend in ND’s regional Fergus Hickey Rosebowl competition in which Hamilton took first innings points from them after they let their tail get off the hook with the bat.
The winner of the three-dayer (10–12 February 2017) will get to host the Zone 3 winner in a fortnight’s time, and with Nelson well in contention for the Zone 3 bragging rights, Central Stag Greg Hay having scored a century on the first day of their zone final with Canterbury Country, a Hawke’s Bay win at the Mount could potentially set up an all-CD Hawke Cup civil war.
Livescores
More about the Hawke Cup
• The historic Hawke Cup is the major competition for New Zealand's District Associations
• To win the Hawke Cup, challengers must beat the holders on their home ground.
