Day Four
Eastern Suburbs (Wellington) v Suburbs New Lynn (Auckland)
Eastern Suburbs 161 (Andrew Fullerton-Smith 39, Jimad Khan 37) lost to Suburbs New Lynn 168/5 (George Hanham 55, Michael Barry, 49; Jack Anderson 3-36) by five wickets
View scorecard
Josh Presland made early breakthroughs
A calm chase combined with a useful early bowling performance helped Suburbs New Lynn hand Eastern Suburbs their first defeat of the NZCT National Club Cricket Championships.
Wellington’s Easts had been riding high along with St Albans as the only unbeaten sides heading into the fourth round — but a solid comeback from the Auckland side ended that run in a rain-impacted encounter.
Suburbs gained an early foothold in the game thanks to their strong bowling duo of Josh Presland and Anas Patel chipping out early wickets.
That left Easts in the middle of a rebuilding phase when rain called their innings early.
With a shortened target to chase, Suburbs New Lynn broke the back of the chase through a strong partnership between skipper Michael Barry and George Hanham, and put their side in a strong position.
George Hanham
The chase wasn’t without nerves, however, after both Barry and then Hanham lost their wickets after having been well set.
It took a very composed partnership between Jonny Bassett-Graham and Max Montgomery to take them home.
The pair pushed runs well on Cornwall’s big number one, and they offered few chances for Easts to cash in on.
Suburbs will now be hoping to push for another victory against Kaikorai tomorrow in the hope of boosting their way up the table. Easts, on the other hand, head into an intriguing clash with frontrunners St Albans.
Watch Suburbs New Lynn’s Dane Watson’s take on the win
Kaikorai (Otago) v Manukau City (Northern Districts)
Kaikorai 261 (Geordie Scott 73, Rhys Bayly 70, Iain Robertson 50, Liam Cotton 43; Sandeep Patel 5-63) beat Manukau City 248 (Nick Kelly 72, Sandeep Patel 54; Iain Robertson 5-60, Geordie Scott 3-43) by 13 runs
View scorecard
Coming into this match, both sides were very keen to end their winless runs at the tournament.
The game more than delivered, as the two sides pushed eagerly for an opening win. Frustratingly for Manukau, Dunedin’s Kaikorai — thanks to a top bowling effort and a range of contributions from their batsmen — came away with the better of a rain-shortened tussle.
Kaikorai did all their batting work early. Their top order came to the party to put on the majority of the runs and the side ended up being lucky that the top order had done so much work, as they ran very close to Manukau.
After the impressive Geordie Scott was dismissed for 73 (batting at five), no other Kaikorai player was able to nudge double figures.
Sandeep Patel meanwhile had a field day for Manukau City, devastating the Kaikorai lower order as he picked up four tailend wickets to go with his dismissal of Iain Roberston, to snatch a five-wicket bag.
Patel and SKYCITY Northern Knight Nick Kelly then did their absolute best to pull Manukau City over the line.
The duo top-scored for Manukau, but unfortunately they were the only two to be able to offer substantial contributions as their teammates fell away around them.
Kaikorai picked up regular wickets to prevent the chase from gaining any momentum. Robertson capped off a supreme all-round game by picking up five wickets of his own.
St Albans (Canterbury) v Napier Tech Old Boys (Central Districts)
St Albans 195/6 (James O’Gorman 64 not out, Robbie Polson 42, Matthew Holstein 37; Christian Leopard 3-29) beat Napier Tech Old Boys 149 (Benjamin Langrope 3-33) by 83 runs (DLS)
View scorecard
A clinical performance carried St Albans to an impressive fourth consecutive win at the National Club Cricket Championships. Watch St Albans captain James O'Gorman's report below.
Batting first, St Albans made a very strong start and, before rain cut play, they had managed to make the most of the notably smaller dimensions of Cornwall number three.
Once the weather had eased, St Albans was able to back up its powerful batting effort with a strong bowling display.
Skipper James O’Gorman led the way for St Albans after some early wickets and offered a commanding effort right up until the rain delay.
Napier had impressed in the last two rounds, with strong efforts with the bat, but today’s effort went completely against that trend.
The Central Districts side’s top order crumbled under sustained pressure from St Albans. Only some late hitting added spice to the game as the lower order looked to free their arms and frustrate the bowlers.
St Albans are now the only unbeaten side in the competition. Qualifying for Sunday’s 1v2 Final with a round in hand, they will head into tomorrow’s match with Eastern Suburbs trying to go unbeaten all the way.
POINTS AFTER DAY 4
St Albans – 12
Eastern Suburbs – 9
Napier Old Boys Tech – 6
Suburbs New Lynn – 6
Kaikorai – 3
Manukau City – 0
