Hayes hits half-ton

TOP-SCORER: Poverty Bay/Northern Districts top-scorer Thomas Hayes punches the ball away through the off side on his way to 53 against the Sri Lankan Under-19 cricket team at Harry Barker Reserve on Saturday. Picture by Paul Rickard

THOMAS Hayes continued his good representative form this season when he top-scored for the Poverty Bay/Northern Districts cricket team against the Sri Lankan under-19 team in a 40-over game at Harry Barker Reserve on Saturday.

Hayes scored 53 off 73 balls in 110 minutes, but it was not enough to stop the visitors from winning by 74 runs, as they prepare for the u19 world cup tournament starting next week.

The scheduled 50-over game was due to start at 10.30am but rain meant the covers remained on the wicket until 2pm. The game finished at 8pm.

Batting first, Sri Lanka posted 211-5. Nipun Dhananjaya scored 82 not out off 70 deliveries and shared in an opening stand of 57 with Santhush Gunatilake (22) and a fifth-wicket partnership of 54 with Nisan Bandara (19).

The combined team’s skipper, Andrew Gibbs, said former Bay draft player Tom Clout was the pick of the attack.

“Tommy bowled eight overs and picked up a wicket for 52 runs, but he bowled better than those figures suggest,” said Gibbs, who felt 212 to win was “gettable”.

“He didn’t get the rewards he deserved.”

The Bay got off to a bad start, losing Jared McDonald, Anish Desai and Scott Tallott before the total passed 16.

Hayes and Thorn Parkes (32) rebuilt the innings with a 93-run stand, but the home side were always chasing the game, particularly with the light fading fast.

When Parkes and Hayes departed at 109 and 114 respectively, the task became much tougher.

Gibbs told each incoming batsman after this to go for it, but the remaining five wickets fell for 24 runs as the batsmen struggled to see the ball.

Sri Lanka’s first game in the u19 world cup is against Ireland at Whangarei on Sunday.

SRI LANKA Under-19s

S Gunatilake c J McDonald b R Tallott..22

N Madushka c Z Gibson b J Gibson....30

N Dhananjaya not out.......................82

N Fernando c J McDonald b T Clout.....21

K Mendis c T Clout b T Weir..................7

A Bandara b A Gibbs........................19

J Daniel not out.............................16

Extras (lb 1, wd 13, nb 0)................14

Total (for 5 wickets, 40.0 overs).........211

Fall: 57 N Madushka, 59 S Gunatilake, 101 N Fernando,124 K Mendis, 178 A Bandara.

Bowling: Z Gibson 8-0-34-0 (5w), T Clout 8-0-52-1 (4w), A Gibbs 6-0-33-1 (1w), C Rowell 3-0-7-0, J Gibson 6-1-26-1, R Tallott 2-0-7-1, A Vodnala 3-0-23-0 (1w), T Weir 4-0-28-1 (1w).

Poverty Bay/Northern Districts

S Tallott lbw b R Dilshan...............10

J McDonald b R Dilshan..................0

A Desai lbw b R Dilshan......................5

T Hayes c H Boyagoda b N Malinga....53

T Parkes lbw b N Malinga...................32

A Vodnala c K Sanjula b H Buddila........7

J Gibson b H Buddila..........................1

T Clout run out (D Lakshan)...............6

C Christophers c K Perera b H Buddila...9

Z Gibson not out.................................2

C Rowell c A Bandara b P Jayawickrama.0

Extras (b 1, wd 10, nb 1)..................12

Total (for 10 wickets, 36.2 overs)....37

Fall: 1 J McDonald, 11 A Desai, 16 S Tallott, 109 T Parkes, 114 T Hayes, 116 J Gibson, 121 A Vodnala, 135 T Clout, 136 C Christophers, 137 C Rowel.

Bowling: R Dilshan 5-0-14-3, N Malinga 6-0-18-2 (1w, 1nb), J Daniel 4-0-17-0 (4w), K Perera 5-0-22-0 (3w), P Jayawickrama 7.2-0-27-1,K Mendis 4-0-16-0 (1w), H Buddila 5-0-22-3 (1w).