Batted with maturity: Poverty Bay’s Cohen Loffler bowled beautifully taking 2-33 from five overs and scored 31 runs. Picture by Paul Rickard
For a first hit-out, yesterday's Kirk Cup game will suffice.
The Dave Castle-led Poverty Bay side lost by 26 runs to Hawke's Bay under-19 side the Mavericks at the Harry Barker Reserve.
Player-coach and captain Castle had every reason to regard the day as a success.
“It was a fantastic match . . . 201 to play 175 is a good game of cricket and we were proud of our performance,” he said.
“The Hawke's Bay opening batsmen came out aggressively but our bowlers, led by left-armer Jak Rowe (4-54 from 10 overs), stayed tough. Cohen Loffler (2-33 from five overs) took some tap but bowled beautifully, as did left-arm orthodox spinner Daniel Torrie (2-24 from 10, two of which were maidens).
“Paul Stewart (23 runs off 44 balls, batting at No.8) is a trusty cricketer. He knows his skills, executes them well and we have a lot of faith in a guy like Paul.
“Cohen bowled quick with the new ball and batted with maturity for his 31.”
The 56-run seventh-wicket stand between Loffler and Stewart was Poverty Bay's biggest partnership of the game.
The day had begun with visiting captain James Rawnsley winning the toss and opting to bat first on the representative wicket.
Castle, Loffler, Torrie, Teghbir Singh, Mitch Hammond and Shubham Ralhan all debuted for Poverty Bay yesterday.
Hawke's Bay reached 201-9 in 50 overs, wicketkeeper and opening batsman Logan Ryniker-Doull (22) sharing a 39-run stand with Rawnsley (28). The left-handed gloveman took nine runs off Loffler's third over, including a six over square leg off the third ball. Loffler went through Ryniker-Doull with the inswinging first ball of his fourth over, as justice.
The next partnership of consequence was a sixth-wicket stand of 70 between sixth-man-in Sam Cassidy (58) and Koji Hardgrave Abe (24), yet all the time the home team plugged away.
Torrie got twice as much bounce as expected with his first delivery at senior representative level and three balls later had Rawnsley hole out at Cow Corner, caught by Angus Orsler, and had Lovepreet Padda (22) stumped by Graham Sharp off the second-to-last ball of the 24th over. So desperate and off-balance was Padda in his attempt to get back that he strained his left hamstring and two of his teammates had to help him from the field.
Castle's off-spin accounted for No.5 Josh Doran (11), leg before wicket. The Poverty Bay skipper yielded only 19 runs in 10 overs.
The Bay were well-organised in the field, while coach Daniel Drepaul's Mavs showed signs of class with the bat.
In Poverty Bay's innings, the Loffler-Stewart partnership was the big talking point, while Sharp (28) was typically pugnacious at No.5.
Loffler and Stewart flew a sail of batsmanship that had the Bay right in the game and the Mavericks under significant pressure.
The fighting qualities — and indeed quality — of Hawke's Bay leg-spinner Finn Read, who conceded only 36 runs in his 10-over stint, made for great viewing. He is a quick learner.
Loffler fell with the score at 153-7, with one ball remaining in the 44th over. Poverty Bay had to force the pace. The loss of Stewart 11 runs later made the task near-impossible — both he and Ralhan (4, from No.9) were caught by Rawnsley at mid-off as they tried to clear the in-field. Rawnsley held four catches, setting an example of solidity as much as anything else for his teammates.
When Mavericks spearhead Jed Greville (3-29 from 9.3 overs) yorked Bay No.10 Torrie (8) to end the run-chase at 175 in 48.3 overs, Rowe was left not out on 2 from No.11 and safe in the knowledge that he remains a penetrative bowler at representative level. His 4-54, like tall Mavs speedster Rogan Ross's 4-22 from nine overs, was good stuff.
Rawnsley said: “Sam (Cassidy)and Koji (Hardgrave Abe) dug in and ran hard, and we found the pitch wasn't the road we thought it would be.
“We had to reassess during our innings.
“It was a long day, but we stuck at it.”
A welcome feature of yesterday's cricket was the return to service of the John McFarlane Scoreboard from go to whoa — Poverty Bay manager Glen Udall found four great attendants in Zyden Worsnop, Brandon Fearnley, and Akira and Keanu Makiri.
Hawke's Bay Mavericks 201-9 (Sam Cassidy 58, James Rawnsley 28, Koji Hardgrave Abe 24, Logan Ryniker-Doull 22, Lovepreet Padda 22; Jak Rowe 4-54, Daniel Torrie 2-24, Cohen Loffler 2-33) beat Poverty Bay 175 (Cohen Loffler 31, Graham Sharp 28, Paul Stewart 23, Teghbir Singh 20; Rogan Ross 4-22, Jed Greville 3-29).
Coastal Concrete Old Boys Rugby 105-4 (Dane Thompson 53, Paul Stewart 22; Shubham Ralhan 2-12) beat Horouta Te Waka 104 (Aekamjot Singh 29, Ben Brick 21; Daniel Stewart 4-6, Jimmy Holden 2-14, Matt Cook 2-27).
Bollywood High School Old Boys Presidents 114-7 (Glen Udall 52, John Phelps 23; Stanley Blake 4-5, Grace Levy 2-16) beat Horouta Te Waka 113 (Mel Knight 33, Blake 20).
Civil Project Solutions Ngatapa Green Caps 103-6 (Logan Orsler 36, Mike Gibson 24; Joe Singh 2-16) beat Campion College 102-6 (Taye McGuinness 21 not out; Rhys Grogan 17; Ben Holden 2-11).
Rawhiti Legal OBR 64-0 (Sarabjit Singh 37no, Te-Reimana Gray 16no) beat Gisborne Boys' High School (2) 62 (Alex Shanks 13; David Gray 3-11, Johnathon Gray 2-9, Amit Vyas 2-11).