ON THE PROWL: Christian Leopard bowls for Hawke's Bay against Whanganui at Nelson Park, Napier. PHOTO/Warren Buckland
CAPTAIN Angus Schaw had no qualms admitting they were trying to throw the visitors off the scent when their coach made a pre-match declaration that Hawke's Bay senior men would elect to bat if they had won the toss.
The Colin Schaw-coached Pay Excellence-sponsored team did win the toss but chose to shine the ball in their zone 2 Furlong Cup qualifying match to earn the right to challenge for the Hawke Cup from the Central Districts region this summer.
"Everyone knows that here you will get wickets in the first half an hour or so because the pitch tends to flatten out," said the captain, grinning from ear to ear, after predictably trouncing Active Physio Cricket Whanganui by nine wickets yesterday in their two-day match at Nelson Park, Napier.
Rain overnight on Friday offered the ideal moisture for seamers to take early scalps as the visitors managed to eke out 120 runs before they were skittled in their first innings although skipper Simon Badger revealed they didn't buy into the bluff and would have bowled too had the coin flipped their way.
CD Stag Liam Dudding, taking the new ball in tandem with veteran Liam Rukuwai, created bedlam for the Whanganui batsmen as they claimed three wickets each.
Dudding was almost unplayable, going for a miserly 0.67 runs an over, milking four maidens.
However, the hosts didn't have it all their way in their first dig as four wickets tumbled early before No 3 Brad Schmulian (37 runs) and No 6 Angus Schaw (47) patiently forged a partnership to help steer them to first-innings points on a total of 186 all out.
Opening bowler Akash Gill tore through the top order to claim a five-wicket bag.
In their second innings, Whanganui redeemed themselves with 171 all out on the partnership of half centuries from Mark Fraser and Greg Smith.
With the wicket flattening out, Schmulian spun his way to three wickets while CD Stag Ajaz Patel and GC Pretorius tweaked their way to two each.
Captain Schaw opted for T20 merchants Indika Senarathne (24 runs) and Patel (36no) to combine with Matt Edmondson, unbeaten on 46, to ensure maximum points top stay on the heels of Taranaki who also claimed outright victory. Senarathne was on standby as cover for injured Stag Tom Bruce, who had recovered.
Coach Schaw said his men bowled the correct channels to see them off early.
"You could see the deck was getting better after the first hour to an hour and a half before flattening out to be a perfect batting deck."
However, he felt his batsmen started off well driving balls straight but saluted Canadian bowler Gill for his haul.
After Schmulian departed, he said Angus and Pretorius forged another partnership that gave them the lead.
"Even though we went in with the goal of getting 20 wickets our first aim was to get first-innings [points]," he said, highlighting the danger of players relaxing after claiming points, which they did, but it didn't detract from Whanganui's bowling.
The Bay play Taranaki in rain-risky New Plymouth on January 14-15 in what should be a decider for the CD qualifiers although the former face Manawatu and the latter Wairarapa in their final outings.
"We'll have to work hard to where we are. I'm hoping the CD A side will be coming from [Lincoln, near Christchurch ] after Christmas," he said, anticipating match-fit cricketers following the annual Provincial A tournament.
Realising the toss was significant, Badger was proud of his men were 30-7 before scrambling to their total.
"At one stage we had them at 60 for four, on a trying wicket, so there was pressure and we were still in the game," he said.
Had the toss gone their way, Badger felt the result would have been much closer.
"It was the greenest wicket I've ever seen in Napier and I've been here a few times," he said, amused at how brown the strip had become by yesterday to become batter friendly on a day which was bathed in sunshine.
While the result was disappointing, they realised they competed in patches and not the entire game despite a much-improved second innings.
"That cost us in the end where we switch off for half an hour to lose five wickets and then we're effectively oput of the game so that's perhaops the difference between the teams," he said.
Badger said the perennnial underdogs were light years away, under coach Warren Marr's maiden season at the helm, from previous summers.
"If we can keep going in that direction the results will come."