Cricket: Strong starts for City, Maungakaramea and Onerahi Central in Oxford Trust Two Day

Kaipara Flats captain Liam Jones drives during his side's clash with Westech Automotives Maungakaramea. Photo/Tania Whyte

Duracrete Products City, Westech Automotives Maungakaramea and Onerahi Central all got off to good starts on day one of the latest round of the Oxford Trust Two Day competition.

City are in the box seat against Kamo after gaining a first-innings lead at Kamo Recreation Ground.

Kamo batted first and found runs tough to come by as Stacey Hyndman (2 for 36) and Kieran Nelson (5 for 35) both picked up early wickets.

Ben Hyde scored 52 opening the batting, but found continued support hard to come by as City bowled accurately.

Joey Yovich (2 for 20) got in on the wickets as well before Dave Armit (36) provided a rearguard action for the home side. However, Nelson returned to rip through the tail as Kamo ended their innings on 146.

City started their reply strongly with Yovich (23) scoring freely before being dismissed by Lakhvir Singh (2 for 42).

Bert Horner (77) and James Thompson (69 not out) continued the quick scoring as they put on 113 runs in 18 overs before the former was dismissed.

Once they had passed Kamo's total, Thompson and Ian Page (22 off15) accelerated the scoring to give City a 61-run lead.

Hyndman grabbed a vital breakthrough before the end of play, dismissing Hyde for 5, which left Kamo 43 runs behind with nine wickets in hand.

Meanwhile Maungakaramea have also grabbed first innings points against Kaipara Flats behind strong performances from Hamish Kidd and Tyler Lortan.

Bowling first at home, Maungakaramea remained in control as Kidd (5 for 41) applied constant pressure on the visitors.

Kaipara Flats managed to get through to 120 before being dismissed.

In reply Maungakaramea made sure of first innings points as Lortan batted fluently for his 67, leading his side to a 60-run lead at the end of the day.

Maungakaramea will resume day two on 180 for nine.

In the final match, Onerahi Central have continued their strong two day form as they grabbed first innings points and put Whangarei Boys' High School First XI in trouble going into day two.

Batting first, WBHS struggled against a potent Onerahi bowling attack as only Caleb Boswell-Smith (24), Luke Trigg (23) and Cullen Lowe (20) managed to put up any resistance.

Quick bowler Tom Herman (4 for 20) had another strong performance with the ball as he grabbed four wickets, while Sean Doel (3 for 21) managed a trio of top-order scalps.

In reply, Brad Kneebone's well-crafted 79 led Onerahi Central to first innings points.

Kneebone and Rory Anders (36) managed to offset the damage from Matt Kingi (5 for 36) to get their side a first innings lead of 59, and were eventually all out for 157.

WBHS ended day one on 69 for 4, leading by just 10 runs with six wickets in hand.