Jude McLaughlin (2-2 with two maidens at first-change) and Lachlan Best (2-4) both bowled three probing overs of good line and length. Best was the ninth of 13 bowlers Collegians Black put to use.
The Wellingtonians' coach Michael Best said: “The Poverty Bay batsmen, Jed especially, showed resilience and valued their wicket for the full complement of overs.
“They backed that up with very accurate bowling to good field placements.”
The ability of Roberts to not just understand and use his bowlers well, but also draw extra effort from his fielders, was key to making the contest as close as it became.
Collegians had won two of four games going into Game 5. They took a chance and rejigged their batting order to afford players in need of time in the middle that opportunity.
The Bay ran out three batsmen (WC captain and opener Gaurav Prasad-Deo for 1, first-drop Vivaan Narayanan for 2 and No.8 Best off the only ball he faced) in the run-chase courtesy of sterling work by Quin Fussell, Cole Hogarth and Putter. The effort and commitment of Fussell, Hogarth and others whose contributions add up over time, is invaluable.
Quicks McMurray (1-6, one maiden, from four overs) and Hunter Irwin (1-4, one maiden, from two overs) plus leg-spinner Arthur Cave (1-3 from two overs) were superb as the Bay placed Collegians under the microscope. When Putter ran out Best off the first ball of the 24th over, Collegians had slumped to 39-6.
No.7 Ollie Coull (24), second-drop Nikolas Ye-Qing (10) and seamer-cum-gloveman Teddy Zohrab-Stewart (10), ninth man in, were the only Wellington Collegians batsmen to score in double-figures. The 36-run stand for the eighth wicket between Coull and Zohrab-Stewart was the best partnership of the match.
Zohrab-Stewart worked a tough delivery from opening bowler Reuben Walsh (1-17 from 3.5 overs) off his hip for two to win the game with one ball remaining in the 30th and final over. It was a fitting end to the match.
Poverty Bay lost Game 5, against the North City Cricket Club Knights yesterday afternoon by 77 runs.
It is worth noting that such a heavy loss can follow so close a contest, as easily as it may follow a victory by inches or even a massive margin.
North City captain Harry Burke won the toss and chose to bat first, his crew making a healthy 144-6 on Park Island 4.
Opener Micah Davidson (26) impressed until Cook (2-7 off two overs) went through his defence. No.7 Rajbir Jubbal was City's next most productive batsman with 20 off 24 balls, including three boundaries.
Three other players scored in double-figures for NCCC, their most significant partnership being 49, between Davidson and Joel McGavin (13), for the second wicket. Jubbal and No.6 Braxton Rummens (13 retired) put up 38 for the sixth wicket, demonstrating true match-awareness and game-sense in the middle.
Walsh junior (1-21 from four overs) and McMurray (1-20 from three) bowled well for Poverty Bay, who have come within three runs of 100 as a team total only once: in Game 3 against Havelock North at the Clifton County ground. This was the second-biggest total they had been set, after the Hawke's Bay Invitation 11 made 164-7 in the tournament opener.
The Bay were 77 runs short — 67-8 — after 30 overs. No.1 Ged Cook was caught by Virat Chillimuntha off a fair paceman in Cooper France (1-3 from three overs) first ball of the innings, but although they lost two wickets with the score at 20 and at 43, Poverty Bay never allowed such double-blips to become a procession.
Only Roberts (11 from 25 balls in 40 minutes, from No.6) got into double-figures for the Bay. No.9 Reynolds (5), as he did against Wellington Collegians Black in Game 4, showed a willingness to occupy the crease. He faced 25 balls in 31 minutes. It was tenacity on display.
Fletcher Clarke, the ninth Norths bowler employed, took 2-2 from two overs. City have a high cricket standard and they never stopped working for wickets, yet 77-run win to a slick Norths side or not, the Poverty Bay batsmen — facing, in 144, a tall order for victory — still watched the ball hard and tried to bat productively for as long as possible. That is essential to any batsman's success, whatever the target at all levels of cricket.
Poverty Bay coach Walsh's policy of improvement targets could well yield fruit tomorrow in Game 6, the last hurrah, against the Auckland University Club's Team Black, on Frimley Park 3.
