Continuing to stay in control in multiple sessions, Whanganui were perfectly placed for first innings points at 146-2 at the close of play, led by the anchor innings of former professional Ben Smith (85), who had no club cricket behind him coming into the game.
Nick Harding (20) and Dempster (22) worked with Smith, while young Connor Rees (41) took over as leading batsman on Sunday morning when Smith lost his wicket in the first over to Ben Frewin (4-91), who got a little payback after some bowler vs batsman banter the previous day.
Whanganui lost wickets more than they would have liked, but still Mark Fraser (20), Mabin (39) and Kinnerley (22 not out) made starts for their team to take a comfortable lead at 282.
Not having enough time to surpass Whanganui’s advantage and get far enough ahead for a chance to then bowl their hosts out, Taranaki’s openers took them to 79-0 in their second innings before reaching agreement to end play at 4pm.
Other than Frewin, best for the visitors had been a fighting lower-order 50 by Robson Chapman on Saturday.
“The pleasing thing for me as a coach is that yesterday we dominated this side for three sessions – that’s why we won,” said Whanganui coach Warren Marr after the close of play.
“They’re like the best [district association] team in the country, and we dominated them, and I’m really proud of the guys for that.
“You’re going to say, ‘you need to bowl well’, and that’s seriously the best I’ve seen us bowl as a unit the whole time we’ve been together.
“No freebies, we put them under serious pressure in that bowling effort in the first session, and then following it up the rest of the day - that was the one for us.
“I said to the lads yesterday, ‘if you’ve got an opportunity to do it, it’s on the first day because no one’s had a lot of cricket to be at their best’.
“That’s what happened, and we were at our best.”
As acting skipper for the injured Shaun O’Leary, Dempster was delighted that the team played Saturday’s conditions right - the bowlers keeping a good line to dismiss Taranaki cheaply on a pitch which flattened out for Smith to lead the run chase.
“Hats off to the bowlers, we were able to put a lot of pressure on their batsmen, even when some of them got an extended period of time.
“We were able to apply pressure at the right times and pick up wickets when was needed.
“Just shy of the 300 for another bonus point but we’re quite proud of the efforts.
“Everyone’s been putting in a lot of work, and it’s quite pleasing to have the bowling, the batting and even in the field - everyone’s contributing at the right time.”
Scoreboard, November 22– 23
Taranaki 1st innings: 178 (63 overs)
Whanganui 1st innings: 282 (83.5 overs)
Taranaki 2nd innings: 79-0 (26 overs)
Result: Match Drawn, Whanganui win first innings points
