CRICKET - Lesser-known pair steer victors home

Maungakaramea supporters had good reason to applaud as two of their club's lesser-known players made the biggest contribution to their win in the Whangarei two-day cricket final on Saturday.
The sixth-wicket stand between David Croucher and Mark Southee helped Maungakaramea to take the first innings advantage in a tight match against Whangarei Boys' High School.
The partnership later became the defining moment of an intriguing final that ended with a nailbiting run chase for overall victory.
The pair started the day together at the wicket with their team in a spot of bother, trailing High School's first innings total by 111 with five wickets in hand.
They set about their task with determination and with little fanfare overhauled the High School total.
"We had a bit of a talk and assessed what we had to do and that was to stay in basically, and get the singles and twos," Croucher said.
He said batting was easier on the second day with less movement and a truer bounce off a drier pitch than the first day.
Once they were past the total they threw caution to the wind and attacked, sacrificing their wickets in the cause of quick runs.
"We had five or six overs at the end to have a smash and we got a few but then got out in the last couple of our 65 overs," he said.
The partnership cancelled out Jamie Lee's tidy century on the first day but High School weren't about to throw in the towel and turned down Maungakaramea's offer of an early finish.
Todd Beehre (52), Christian Arnel (25), Harley Dyke (38), and Nick Breslan (30 no) kept the score moving in their second innings, seeing the students post a total of 158, leaving Maungakaramea 27 overs to chase down 120 to win outright.
They got off to a good start with Mark Child again scoring freely at the top of the order but a good spell of bowling by Tom Lovegrove and Rory Darkins in the middle of the innings all but strangled the chase.
Some big hitting by Craig Gurr got Maungakaramea back on track and with only seven runs required off the last over they looked to have done enough for the outright win.
But six singles was all they could manage off a great final over by Josh Matthews and with first innings hero Mark Southee run out attempting a suicidal second on the last ball, the match finished up tied.
Maungakaramea, weakened by a number of their senior players on representative duties, relied on the input of their club's stalwarts to edge ahead of the students in the final.
They will miss Croucher's presence in the competition next season with the batsman planning to work in the United States for a couple of years.
But like Southee, who returned to the club this year after time away, the country club is sure to be able to call on his services in the future.
• In friendly matches held over the weekend, Bledisloe defeated City in a Twenty20 match by nine runs, while Onerahi-Central defeated High School's second XI in a 50-over match by 29 runs.