Zimbabwean professional Greg Strydom proved to be the star turn as Onerahi-Central continued their domination of the Northland two-day competition with a win over Kamo on Saturday. The result was the only completed match in the premier grade and pushes Onerahi further clear of the chasing pack, making them likely finalistsnext month. The home side resumed at 2/20, still trailing Onerahi's first innings total by 20-odd runs and scored 157 all out, with Strydom doing the damage by taking six fairly cheap wickets. Taken in the context of the match, and added to his first innings haul of five, it was worth writing home about. Onerahi were left with 112 runs to get for victory but, with the rain approaching quickly, a win was by no means certain. The Kamo bowlers chipped out the top order as the batsmen sought to push the pace and it was left to Nic Breslin (33no) and Aaron Bradley (25no) to see their side home - much to everyone's surprise. "We went in just to have a go really because the rain was coming and we ended up chasing it down with the rain getting pretty heavy, because the umpires let us carry on," Strydom said. At Maungakaramea, the home side made a sporting declaration before the start of play, more than 50 runs behind City's first innings total, to try and get a result out of the match. The plan got off to a good start with some tight bowling having City in a spot of bother at 160/9. John Child took five wickets on a surface that was doing plenty, while Andy Thompson took three. Only Bert Horner got a score for City, with 55 runs, but the rain then got in the way of Maungakaramea's plans, ending the day's play well shy of a result. Kaipara Flats were not able to add to their score of 2/71 in reply to Whangarei Boys' High School's first innings total of 165 all out and neither team earned points, with the entire day's play washed out. The school's second XI got a good start against the senior grade's form team, Dargaville Cricket Club, by having them seven down for 219 after 59 overs, before rain halted their fixture. Terry Duncan (74) and Tom Guy (48) were the main scorers for Dargaville, while Api Packiyarajah took 3/47 and Alex Seymour 2/17.
