SCOTT TALLOTT scored 22 not out in Poverty Bay’s second innings against Waikato Valley yesterday. Picture by Rebecca Grunwell
JONATHAN Purcell will see his name on Poverty Bay Cricket’s bowling honours board after he took six wickets against Waikato Valley in a Fergus Hickey two-day game that finished at Harry Barker Reserve yesterday.
But the 25-year-old leg-spinner’s effort of 6-38 off 6.4 overs was not enough to stop the visitors from taking first-innings points in a rain-affected game.
Bollywood Stars Poverty Bay skipper Danny Gibbs won the toss and elected to bat first.
The first-innings blues that have haunted the Bay in past seasons returned and they were all out for 92.
“I thought there would be a little bit of movement early on but I backed our batting line-up to lay a good foundation,” Gibbs said.
He opened with Jared McDonald and was the first to depart with the score at four.
“With the way the weather turned out, visibility from one end was particularly bad but, still, 92 all out was very disappointing.”
After Gibbs departed, the Bay lost the next six wickets for the addition of only 53 runs.
Kieran Venema and Blake Taylor put together a 30-run partnership, and the Bay went to lunch at 82-7.
There was no further play on Saturday due to rain. Play resumed at 10am yesterday, and Taylor departed for 20 with the score at 87. Jak Rowe followed five runs later, leaving Venema not out on 11.
“Blake and KV (Venema) batted well together,” Gibbs said.
The visitors then earned first-innings points when they reached 151-2 by lunch yesterday, before rain again interrupted play.
The teams resumed at 3pm, and Waikato Valley added 149 runs before declaring at nine wickets down.
Opener Dillon Kelliher top-scored with 134 and shared in two valuable partnerships — 89 with fellow opener Brandon Weal (28 runs) and 107 with Chris Swanson (43 runs).
The Bay had to survive a minimum of 24 overs in the last hour to prevent an outright loss.
When the players left the field at 6.20pm the Bay were 63-4 with Scott Tallott 22 not out and Purcell 1no.
Purcell paid tribute to the fielders for his rep career-best figures.
“I have to give awesome credit to our fielders (five of his six dismissals came from catches). It wasn’t my best bowling. Danny (Gibbs, also a spinner) bowled better but he didn’t get the rewards. I did . . . it was just my day and I’ll take it.”
Gibbs said it was “nice to see JP (Purcell) pick up a six-wicket bag”.
“I think he is an exceptional spinner . . . the best. He bowled really good deliveries.
“Blake (Taylor) also bowled well today and Jimmy (Holden) picked up a couple of wickets.
“But overall we didn’t bowl with the discipline we need at this level for long enough periods, which meant we couldn’t sustain any real pressure.”
POVERTY BAY first innings
Danny Gibbs b Fisher..............................4
Jared McDonald c Weal b Fisher...........20
Thorn Parkes c Weal b Clarke.................4
Richard Mills b Montgomerie.....................7
Scott Tallott c and b Gibson...................17
Drew Scott b Gibson................................1
Kieran Venema not out...........................11
Jonathan Purcell b Gibson.......................0
Timoti Weir lbw Gibson............................0
Blake Taylor c Gibson b Fisher...............20
Jak Rowe b Kumar...................................2
Extras.....................................................6
Total........................................................92
Bowling: Matthew Fisher 13-3-25-3, Kristian Clarke 7-2-23-1, Matt Montgomerie 7-2-16-1, Jake Gibson 16-8-15-4, Chris Swanson 2-2-0-0, Yogesh Kumar 3.5-2-4-1, Stephen Sistern-Tate 1-0-7-0.
Second innings: 63-4 (S Tallott 22no, J Purcell 1no).
WAIKATO VALLEY first innings
Dillon Kelliher c Patterson b Purcell.....134
Brandon Weal c Tallott b Holden............28
Sam Cooper lbw Holden........................41
Chris Swanson c Tallott b Purcell...........43
Campbell Child c Holden b Taylor..........12
Yogesh Kumar c Patterson b Purcell........1
Jake Gibson c Gibbs b Purcell...............23
Stephen Sistern-Tate c Parkes b Purcell....1
Kristian Clarke b Purcell...........................2
Keith Vincent not out................................7
Extras.......................................................8
Total (for 9 wkts declared)....................300
Bowling: Richard Mills 11-1-89-0, Jak Rowe 8-0-55-0, Jimmy Holden 7-0-43-2, Timoti Weir 2-0-10-0, Danny Gibbs 5-1-32-0, Jonathan Purcell 6.4-1-38-6, Blake Taylor 4-0-26-1.