ON TARGET: Jak Rowe took 4-72 off 14 overs for Poverty Bay against Hamilton in a limited-overs game at Harry Barker Reserve yesterday. Hamilton won by 162 runs. Picture by Liam Clayton
POVERTY Bay cricket coach Lance Cairns was happy with his bowlers in yesterday’s 50-over game against Hamilton but says there is a lot of work to be done with the batsmen, after the Bay were dismissed for 88 in reply to Hamilton’s 250-7 at Harry Barker Reserve.
The game was scheduled as a two-day Fergus Hickey match but was reduced to a limited-overs game after Saturday’s play was washed out.
“To keep them to 250 wasn’t a bad effort,” Cairns said. “I was reasonably happy with that, it was a follow-on from a good bowling performance against Counties Manukau in our last game. But there’s a lot of work to do with the batting. It’s a lot tougher than I thought it would be.
“It’s a mindset. The batsmen are taking their club cricket into representative level and you just can’t do that. They want to start hitting the ball after two or three runs and that’s not the answer at this stage. Of course I want them to score runs but I’m not asking for hundreds or anything like that, not just yet. I want them to learn how to build an innings.
“It’s like if they get tied down for a couple of overs they start swinging the bat, and against the calibre of bowling we faced today that’s not on.”
The former New Zealand test cricketer admitted it was hard watching his team “get belted every game” but said he was still enjoying his role.
“It takes me back to when I first started playing cricket at this level and I know the answer is not to chop and change the team. What we have to do is look for the talented players in the district and help them improve their technique and, most of all, their mindset. We (he and Bay cricket district manager Mohit Rao) will sit down and try to work out a batting plan for our last rep games this season against Northland in Hamilton.”
Bay captain Danny Gibbs won the toss and sent the visitors in.
“With our strength being in the bowling department, we wanted to try to bowl them out and set ourselves a target,” Cairns said.
Jak Rowe, back from police training for the game, was the chief wicket-taker with four for 72 off 14 overs.
“I have a lot of time for Jak; he’s a work in progress,” Cairns said. “He has missed most of the summer with his police training but once he comes back next season we’ll continue to work with him. He’s above average as a new-ball bowler. He has the ability to swing the ball into the right-hander and he’s got the ability to be a bounce bowler (bowl on a length and hit the splice of the bat).”
Mitchell Turner continued his good form with 2-50 off 15 overs. Rowe picked up the first wicket, that of Chris Fawcett, caught behind by Scott Tallott for 15 with the score at 32. However, fellow opener Michael Dodgunski and Anish Desai put on 65 runs for the second wicket. Dodunski was caught by Tallott off the bowling of Turner for 50 off 105 balls.
Desai (31) followed with the score at 113, Tallott and Turner combining, before Peter Bocock and Josef Walker shared a 72-run partnership. Bocock was caught by Alex Clare off the bowling of Rowe for 54 off 44 balls. Rowe claimed his third victim when he dismissed Walker for 42. Rowe completed a good spell when he had Brook Hatwell caught by Gibbs.
The Bay’s chase got off to a bad start when Gibbs was caught by Keir Bettley off Dodunski for three, with the score at nine. From then on, wickets fell at an alarming rate. Speedster Matt Wallbank snared five wickets for 16 runs off 5.1 overs. Cooper Rowell chipped in with 3-37. Gary Singh, batting at No.7, was the best of the Bay batsmen, scoring 39 off 35 balls. He hit seven fours. Singh and Campion College’s Sam Patterson shared a last-wicket stand of 21.
HamiltonC Fawcett c Tallott b Rowe................15
M Dodunski c Tallott b Turner............50
A Desai c Tallott b Turner...................31
J Walker c Singh b Rowe...................42
P Bocock c Clare b Rowe..................54
J Moore c Salmon b Weir...................19
K Bettley not out................................16
B Hatwell c Gibbs b Rowe...................8
M Wallbank not out..............................4
Extras.................................................11
Total (for seven wickets)...................250
Bowling: M Turner 15-4-50-2, J Rowe 14-1-72-4, G Singh 6-0-22-0, T Weir 10-0-69-1, A Clare 5-1-30-0.
Poverty BayD Joll lbw Dodunski.............................5
D Gibbs c Bettley b Dodunski..............3
A Clare b Rowell................................12
D Salmon c Bocock b Rowell..............3
S Tallott b Wallbank..............................2
S Singh c Bocock b Rowell................10
G Singh b Wallbank...........................39
A Kumar lbw Wallbank.........................1
T Weir c Walker b Wallbank.................2
M Turner b Wallbank............................0
S Patterson not out..............................0
Extras.................................................11
Total...................................................88
Bowling: J Baker 7-3-12-0, M Dodunski 7-2-14-2, C Rowell 7-1-37-3, M Wallbank 5.1-1-16-5.