Levin Old Boys and Horowhenua Kāpiti representative opening batsman Dion Sanson continued his brilliant form to lead his side to victory over Weraroa Cricket Club on the newly laid block at Donnelly Park over the weekend.
Batting first Levin Old Boys scored an imposing 271 all out off 49.5 overs,with Sanson's 106 the cornerstone of the innings. Facing 118 balls in a beautifully paced knock, Sanson was three balls short of carrying his bat as he ensured Weraroa CC would have a sizeable total to chase. He found support from Bailey Te Tomo who scored a typically high quality 50 whilst Keegan MacLachlan (21) and Liam Pinfold (16 off 9 balls) chipped in to push the total beyond 250.
Englishman Henry Dobson was the pick of the White Heron's attack claiming 4-44. In response Weraroa were off to a flyer courtesy of player coach Matthew Good and young U17's player Blake De Burgh. An outstanding partnership of 60 for the first wicket was broken by Liam Pinfold as De Burgh departed for a very promising 27 showing he is a player to watch.
Dobson arrived at the crease and continued the good work combining with Good to push the total to 95 before Good's departure for 47 gave the Levin Old Boys outfit the opening they had been looking for. With the asking rate being demanding and runs hard to come by at times, regular wickets began to fall and Dobson's untimely dismissal for 51 meant that Weraroa were falling behind.
Carl Trask hit 22 despite being hampered by injury but it was to no avail as Levin Old Boys were able to wrap up the innings and end Weraroa's innings on 222 to record a commanding 49 run win. Jacob O'Brien bowled well for his 3-15 off 5 whilst Liam Pinfold showed he is making his way back to the form that saw him play for CD U17's, taking 2-22 off 7.
Down South in another local derby the Life Members Cup was up for grabs between Kāpiti Old Boys CC and Paraparaumu CC at the Paraparaumu Domain. Kāpiti Old Boys went about setting a total and it was Marty Harrison who led the way scoring a typically aggressive 79 off only 51 balls at the top of the innings in a knock that featured three 6s and nine 4s.
Unfortunately for Harrison and KOB support was hard to come by and Jayden Rose Miles' 16 and Carter Andrews' 15 were the next best efforts as their side limped to 155 all out. Nigel Harvey was the pick of the PCC attack taking 4-22 off 9 including the wicket of Harrison to ensure KOB were restricted to less than they would have liked.
In response PCC were very comfortable in their run chase as they cruised to 159-2 with Jake Ross batting through the innings to score 47* guiding his side to victory. He was well supported by Ajay Kumar's 44 and Byron Gill's 44 as the KOB attack struggled to make the inroads they desperately needed to take the Life Members Cup back from PCC.
