WHIPPED AWAY: Thomas Hayes scored 80 not out for Poverty Bay in a Twenty20 game against Northern Districts Maori in Gisborne yesterday. Picture by Paul Rickard
A GREAT beginning to the season, that’s what Bollywood Poverty Bay made in beating McCaw Lewis Northern Districts Maori by 49 runs in a 35-over cricket match on Sunday and by 18 runs in yesterday’s Twenty20 game.
The two wins made for a great weekend, Bay coach Lance Cairns said.
“Batting first on Sunday, we weren’t in the contest after an early collapse (three wickets down for 15 runs) but Craig Christophers (29) and Richard Mills (21) stopped the rot,” Cairns said.
“The highlight of the innings was an 81-run partnership for the eighth wicket, between Timoti Weir (47) and Kieran Venema (33 not out), that gave us a total we could defend.
“Yesterday we saw an outstanding innings, a truly memorable knock of 80 from Thomas Hayes, which showed the talent he has when he applies himself.”
Cairns also said the bowling in both matches was of a high standard, with “Jack Faulkner showing he wasn’t out of his depth.”
Fifteen-year-old Faulkner, a Year 11 student at Gisborne Boys’ High School, took 2-27 off four overs yesterday. He took the key wicket of Maori wicketkeeper-batsman Andrew McLean for 66.
In Game 1, fellow seamer Jimmy Holden (3-17 off six overs), left-armer Jak Rowe (2-9 off 3.1) and leg-spinner Danny Gibbs (2-22 off seven) were to the fore in bowling the visitors out for 103 in 31.1 overs.
The Bay have variation, quality and depth in their attack, with left-armers Rowe and Weir (1-11 off four in Game 1), the outswing of Holden and the guile of Craig Christophers (1-20 off four in Game 1).
Gloveman Scott Tallott joined forces with Gibbs in a classic dismissal, the stumping of impressive Maori all-rounder Chris Tupaea for 38 on Sunday. It was the ninth wicket to fall, with the score at 99.
The Bay won the toss in both matches, but were in early trouble against the Leighton Parsons-led ND side, with the Lake Taupo club’s John Dolan (2-26 off seven ) and off-spinner Keith Vincent (2-19 off seven) striking early before the introduction of bustling left-arm orthodox spinner James Nixon (3-31 off seven) and medium-pacer Sam Nowland.
Nowland took 2-21 off six overs with a combination of outswing and the nip-back that accounted for Ajay Kumar (1). Venema and Weir then showed the grit that Poverty Bay needed. Weir hit nine boundaries in a 28-ball stay while Venema’s gutsy, 53-minute vigil was an important factor in the home team getting through to 152-9.
In Game 2, 26-year-old Thomas Hayes played the innings of the fixture with 80 not out off 58 balls, with six fours and two sixes in 85 minutes, No.1 Tallott having made 27 off 34 balls in an opening stand of 60.
The footwork of Hayes against Nixon was excellent and the Bay ran hard between wickets in both games.
Dolan (0-31 off four overs) beat the bat with the first three balls of the day but after that the bowlers were not allowed to settle as the Bay maintained a respectable run-rate throughout their next two partnerships of 26 and 35.
The first over from Nixon (1-25 off three overs) cost 10 runs and promising young pace bowler Lachie Holt went for 33 runs off two overs — a telling reminder that T20 cricket is a hard school.
Hayes hits the bad ball hard. Both he and McLean cleared the boundary in Game 2, but the two biggest sixes of Labour Weekend were struck by 15-year-old St Paul’s Collegiate School student Cooper Robinson for ND Maori.
Although the Y10 student made only 11 runs on both days, in Game 1 he hit Holden over the midwicket boundary and in Game 2 (having been promoted from No.6 to No.2 — an excellent move), Robinson hit the same pull-shot against Mills in an opening stand of 73. Those two shots on the No.1 ground cleared the line by at least 15 metres.
ND Maori captain and player-coach Leighton Parsons said his players enjoyed the weekend. It was good for them to play on grass, test bowling combinations and give young players an opportunity.
He and manager Vincent were impressed by the pace and accuracy of Dolan for the Maori, but Poverty Bay deserved to win, Parsons said.
Both Parsons and Bay coach Cairns were keen to see Poverty Bay host ND Maori every year.
Bay captain Gibbs said his side needed to play good opposition and put together performances in which everyone contributed.
Weir and Venema had shown determination, patience and resilience on Sunday.
“That’s what we needed at the time.”
Gibbs acknowledged the value of his senior players. The positive tone they set and their reading of the game were key elements in this weekend’s success, while Cairns rated the Bay’s bowling changes and field placings top-notch.
ND Maori contained seasoned competitors such as Andrew McLean, who gave his captain the same sort of tactical assistance Gibbs received from — among others — Christophers and Jonathan Purcell. The weekend, as an indicator of unity and enthusiasm, deserves a big tick.