Zone 3 Hawke Cup Challenge Bay of Plenty v Nelson, 24-26 February 2017 at Bay Oval, Mt Maunganui
After winning the toss at Bay Oval in their third intended defence of the season, Hawke Cup holders Bay of Plenty were up to their usual tricks racking up the runs on their home turf at the Mount.
By the end of the first day, Pete Drysdale's Bay of Plenty team was already well in position at 284 for four — looking to shut Marty Kain’s Nelson out of the contest with their strong batting line-up, on a less experimental wicket this time.
First drop Joe Carter had been the one to reach three figures on day one, building after Tom MacRury had already trucked up a half century before becoming the only wicket to fall on the first morning.
Fellow opener Drysdale would still be there by Friday’s close, having batted all day before continuing into the second day for the 90 he scored across more than six hours at the crease, only to be caught almost as soon as day two began.
Not that he needed to worry too much about his side’s position: Sean Davey simply stepped up at seven to roll out his third century, bringing it up in style with a six off young NZ Under-19s left-arm spinner Felix Murray, who is playing in his first Hawke Cup match.
Davey himself is a former New Zealand Under-19s allrounder and he and Tim Clarke put on 80 together for the seventh wicket to solidify the home tally, until Clarke was trapped shortly after the lunch break on day two to make the score 373 for seven.Davey’s dismissal at the tea break took it to 452 for eight.
It had been tough toil for the Nelson Griffins, Marty Kain shuffling through 10 bowlers in his attempt to make breakthroughs, including himself and even a couple of overs from young star Josh Clarkson, who is awaiting back surgery and has only played as an impact batsman for the Central Stags this summer.
A merciful declaration finally came at 469 for nine following Chris Atkinson's dismissal three overs into the final session, but Nelson was already three down by stumps heading into the final day and needing a further 396 runs to get over Bay of Plenty’s mountain of runs.
Opening batsman Mason Thelin was unbeaten on 44, the overnight total 74 for three. Fellow opener Paddy Howes (6), Tom Zohrab (7) and Clarkson (7) had already departed.
Nelson would reach 275 in reply, Thelin's 69 the top score followed by a 63 down the order from Clark, young Felix Murray making 48 at 10. But the writing was on the wall: the match was already Bay of Plenty's, retaining the Cup on the first innings after the draw was called.
