Cricket: Bay's cup run comes to an end

Bay of Plenty pace bowler Brett Hampton bowls against Manawatu. Photo/Geaorge Novak

Bay of Plenty's winning run in the Hawke Cup came to an end in their fifth defence, when Manawatu took first innings points to claim the spoils at the Bay Oval yesterday.

Bay of Plenty skipper Peter Drysdale lost the toss on Friday morning and Manawatu decided to bowl first on day one of three.

When rain stopped played early, the Hawke Cup holders were in a strong position at 103/1.

After a two-hour rain delay at the start of day two, the momentum of the match quickly changed when opener Tom MacRury was dismissed for 58 without adding to his opening day's total. Bay of Plenty's Brett Hampton regained some impetus for the home side before being dismissed for 26 but the middle order fell quickly.

It was left to Tauranga Boys' College newcomer Ben Musgrave, playing just his second game for the Bay's premier team, to keep his team in contention. When Musgrave went to the wicket the home team was in serious trouble at 163/6, but a 10th-wicket partnership of 33 between Musgrave and Tony Goodin helped Bay of Plenty get through to 216 all out in the 93rd over.

Manawatu got to 50/2 by stumps and on day three simply took control of the match to grab the Hawke Cup by way of first innings points. David Meiring scored a fine 128 runs off 201 balls, with Dane Cleaver, first cousin of Kane Williamson, smashing an unbeaten 102 from just 86 balls. The match concluded in mid afternoon on Sunday with Manawatu reaching 315/6.

Bay of Plenty bowler Tony Goodin returned 3/69, with his three wickets taking his tally to a remarkable 34 wickets in just seven Hawke Cup games.

Bay coach Ben Williams was in a philosophical mood after the game, realising that all cup runs have to end sooner or later.

"One bad session cost us and we obviously didn't form any partnerships and lost wickets in clumps," Williams said. "We didn't get any momentum and gave them the ascendancy so it was always going to be hard fighting back with a pretty small total on a good batting track. They were good enough to exploit us and cash in."

Williams noted Bay of Plenty sorely missed last summer's run machines in Joe Carter and Bharat Popli who have been promoted up to the Northern Knights.

"We did have a new-look, inexperienced team but I am still very proud of the way the boys applied themselves and were still competitive even with minimal runs on the board.

"It is a sign of promising things for what this young group can do in the next few years, I think."