Although ND Maori are not the strongest side Poverty Bay will meet this season, the clinical way the Bay went about their business bodes well.
The inclusion of Hendrie and his South African countrymen Bruce Kerr and Matt Crampton in the Lance Cairns-coached Bay side brought a professional approach that resulted in two convincing victories.
Opener Hendrie and first drop/wicketkeeper Kerr have played first-class cricket and they set the standard on Sunday. To a man, their teammates supported them.
“It was pleasing to get a win first up,” said Hendrie, who won the toss and chose to bat first. “We wanted to put runs on the board and it looked a good deck.
“We’ve also got a good batting line-up so we wanted to go out hard.”
Unfortunately for Hendrie’s opening partner Scott Tallott, the decision to “go out hard” was reflected in his being caught near the boundary for four with the score at four.
“Scott was playing the role that I asked him to play,” Hendrie said. “Sometimes it comes off, sometimes it doesn’t.”
Tallott’s departure brought Kerr to the crease. Hendrie and Kerr shared a 72-run stand before Kerr was dismissed for 35, including one six and three fours. Hendrie followed soon after for a well-compiled 42.
The middle order — Drew Scott (23), Crampton (24), Craig Christophers (14), Josiah Turner (37 not out, seven fours) and Ajay Kumar (15no) — contributed valuable knocks to set the visitors a target of just over six runs an over.
Jimmy Holden, Inder Singh and Turner then knocked off the ND Maori top order, and Crampton mopped up the tail.
'All the bowlers played their roles'“All the bowlers played their roles,” Hendrie said. “I had a talk with them about the fields we wanted to set and then it was up to them to bowl to those fields, which they did, and that made my job easy.
“It was good to see Jimmy and Inder running in quickly, keeping the pressure on, restricting runs and taking wickets. Inder had real fire in the belly and it was great to see a genuine quick bowler at this level. When we brought on the change bowlers they kept the pressure on. Young Josiah (Turner) and Paul (Stewart) attacked the batsmen.
“It’s also great having someone like Craig in the team with his experience and enthusiasm. He really encourages people and is good in the field.”
Man of the match honours?
There were a few contenders, including the skipper, but Turner took the honours on Sunday with his unbeaten 37 and 3-5 off four overs.
Kerr was not far behind with his 35 runs and impressive display with the gloves. He kept the pressure on the batsmen with good work behind the stumps and constant chatter.
He made sure every good delivery or piece of fielding was acknowledged.
The pace of newcomers Singh and Turner brought out the best in veteran seamer Holden, who took three wickets in the 35-over game.
Singh bowled magnificently without reward on Sunday, finishing with 1-18 off five overs, while left-arm orthodox spinner Crampton chipped in with 2-4 off three. Not to be outdone, Gisborne Boys’ High School first 11 all-rounder Stewart took a superb catch off his own bowling to dismiss Moke Rivers.
Stewart (15no) was named man of the match yesterday after taking two wickets and sharing an unbeaten third-wicket stand of 44 with Ajay Kumar (46 off 36 including four fours) to steer the Bay home.
“Paul’s had a very good weekend,” Hendrie said. “He’s a young guy with a lot of potential and he’s willing to listen and work hard at improving his game.”
Hendrie was out without scoring in the T20 game yesterday but Kerr again showed his class with a hard-hit 32 off 22 balls as he and Kumar put on 64 runs. When Kerr was dismissed, Kumar took on the aggressor’s role, with Stewart happy to feed him the strike.
RESULTS — 35-over game: Poverty Bay 214-7 (N Hendrie 42, J Turner 37no, B Kerr 35, M Crampton 24, D Scott 23, A Kumar 15no; D Stewart 2-29, M Rivers 2-35) def NORTHERN DISTRICTS MAORI 81 (J Turner 3-5, J Holden 3-35, M Crampton 2-4) by 133 runs.
Twenty20 game: POVERTY BAY 108-2 (A Kumar 46no, B Kerr 32, P Stewart 15no) def NORTHERN DISTRICTS Maori 107 (S Solo 31, H Darkin 24; J Holden 2-9, M Crampton 2-11, P Stewart 2-24) by eight wickets.
