Kamo one win away from national club cricket championships after Pukekohe win

City batsman Matthew Lobb looks to drive a ball into the offside off WBHS bowler Michael Krige while wicketkeeper Luke Trigg looks on. Photo / Michael Cunningham

A last ball thriller against Pukekohe Metro has put Kamo one win away from the national club cricket championships in April.

Played at Kamo Recreation Ground on Sunday, the hosts chased down Pukekohe's score of 229 with the final runs coming off the last ball.

Kamo were nine down with No 5 batsman Caleb Boswell-Smith partnering No 11 Nathan Parkes to get the Northland side over the line.

"We played well enough to win, we can certainly play a bit better but it was a really good game of cricket," Kamo captain Ben Hyde said.

The visitors were all out in the 44th over after Kamo's tight bowling unit kept them to a manageable total.

Top scorers were Katene Clark, 80, and Ash Vodnala, 46, but two wickets apiece for Hyde and left-arm spinner David Armitt put the brakes on Pukekohe's innings.

However, Kamo's chase didn't start as planned with opener Lewis Miller being dismissed by Clarke off the third ball of the innings.

At 42/4 things were dire for the hosts until new recruit Boswell-Smith stepped up and formed partnerships with three different lower order batsmen to guide his side home off the final ball of the innings.

Boswell-Smith finished 64 not out while contributions of over 20 from Bruce Martin, Lahkvir Singh and David Armitt were essential for Kamo to recover from their bad start.

Clarke was the chief destroyer for Pukekohe with 4-64 off 10 overs.

Hyde said a shared bowling and batting performance from his side gave them the upper-hand, after going into the game with a relaxed mindset.

"Obviously for a one-off game we didn't put too much pressure on ourselves and no real expectations as to what they were going to be like."

In the final qualifying round, Kamo will take on Greerton from Tauranga, who won the Hamilton-Bay of Plenty semifinal against Hamilton Old Boys by 13 runs.

"Whoever we end up playing, they are going to be a good team so we'll just have to take it as it comes but it'll be a good away trip, irrelevant of the result," Hyde said earlier.

In Northland's premier men's competition, teams played the first round of the two-day format which spanned two Saturdays in which about 100 overs were bowled on one day.

There were clear winners and losers from Saturday's first round of games with City, Kaipara and Onerahi thoroughly taking the advantage against Whangārei Boys' High School, Kamo and Maungakaramea respectively.

Maungakaramea bowler Callum Thompson eyes the wicket of Onerahi batsman Cullen Lowe. Photo / Michael Cunningham

City started with the bat at Kensington Park and after losing opener Callum Gegg early, City formed a colossal 138-run partnership between Matthew Lobb and Craig Elliot, dominating WBHS through strong running between the wickets.

The partnership was broken when Lobb was caught for 82 off the bowling of Vincent von Mulert-Carvell. However, it couldn't stop City's dominance with Callum Garden joining Elliot to add a further 117 to the total before Garden fell for 62.

City finished with 320/6 after 68 overs, Elliot unbeaten on 124, anchoring the innings and putting the pressure firmly back on WBHS. Sam Webb was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3-91 off his 18.5 overs.

WBHS started well with openers Chamodh Peiris and Richard Stobart making 71 for the first wicket. City then took four quick wickets to put a final stamp of authority on the day to leave the schoolboys 90/4 after 32 overs.

While it was City with the bat, it was Kaipara with the ball, running through Kamo's batting unit leaving them 76/9 after 40 overs at the Kamo Recreation Ground. With Kamo at 59/2 after 27 overs, Kaipara's bowling unit went into overdrive, taking the next six wickets for two runs, Byron Jollivet doing most of the damage taking 5-12 off his 7 and Luke Beaven taking 3-6 off 7.

In response, Kaipara amassed 178/5 off their 63 overs. Opener and captain Rory Christopherson made 45 to get his side off to a good start.

No 5 batsman Kyran Dill contributed with an unbeaten 46 while Bruce Martin was the pick of the Kamo bowlers taking three wickets.

In the other game of the round, Onerahi showed a dominant display at Kensington Park over Maungakaramea, scoring 270 and then leaving the visitors scrambling at 72/7.

Onerahi's Henry Cooper was the last man out, amassing an impressive 120 along with Gabe Fields who scored 53. Maungakaramea's Hamish Kidd was the shining light for the bowlers with 5-47 off 23 overs.

Onerahi bowlers Sean Doel and Henry Cooper did most of the damage to Maungakaramea's batting, both taking two wickets.

Games resume on Saturday, February 2.