Mark Fraser was "out on his feet" after a big weekend, coach Warren Marr said. Photo / Kiwi TV
Jurgens Demolition Whanganui could be one game away from a historic Furlong Cup championship after their fourth-straight first-innings win against WBS Wairarapa.
Two days of quality cricket by the whole team nearly resulted in an outright victory at Masterton’s Queen Elizabeth Park at the weekend, coming down to the penultimate delivery as, after bowling out their hosts a second time, they were left to chase 113 runs from 19 overs – a run-rate of 5.95.
In virtual Twenty20 conditions, but with much more tired players, Whanganui closed out at 108-6, denied by an extraordinary effort from pace bowler Ethan Childs. Childs, whose partner Jack Jonas was hit for a couple of double-digit overs, produced 6-46 from his 10 straight to also have a 10-wicket haul for the match.
The hosts had only managed to get that far ahead from their second-dig thanks to an innings-defeat-saving effort by allrounder Samuel Payne (154 from 176 balls), who batted with his entire lower order in their attempt to get through the day.
On Saturday, the Whanganui bowlers ripped through the host line-up to have them 105-7 at lunch, all out shortly after for 127, and the batsmen had closed in on first innings points at 117-4 by tea time.
Stars of the morning and early afternoon were spinner Hadleigh O’Leary (3-13), strike bowler Connor O’Leary (3-38), veteran allrounder Nick Harding (2-16) and the promising Harry Burroughs (2-20).
After Harding (28) made a good start at opener, the returning Connor Rees (83) led a strong middle order batting effort alongside Carter Hobbs (36) and Mark Fraser (50), with Shaun O’Leary (32) making a welcome return to the crease with his recovering left hand, as he and brother Hadleigh (26) were set with Whanganui at 254-6 by stumps.
The plan was to reach 300 and declare for maximum bonus points, but with Jonas (2-71) and the Childs brothers Ethan (4-67) and Quinn (2-51) firing it in on Sunday morning, it took an important 10th-wicket cameo partnership from Burroughs and Aidan Muir to lift from 293-9 to 302-9 declared.
Having previously taken a backseat to other in-form bowlers, spinner Muir was desperate to achieve and Wairarapa’s second innings was his moment, as he finally broke Payne’s stumps to end his herculean effort as part of a 2-40 haul. Burroughs took 3-53 and four other bowlers grabbed a scalp, with Wairarapa, having only nine wickets available due to an injury to Sam Jonas, reaching 288.
Despite the best efforts of Ben Smith (30), Harding (20), Rees (19) and Fraser (23 not out), the home side’s 112-run lead proved four runs enough to hang on for an overall draw, although they had been outplayed in every other facet of the match.
“Very exciting, that’s why we play,” coach Warren Marr said of the grandstand finish.
“Mark Fraser’s out on his feet, I can tell you that – he’s had a big weekend.
“We definitely believed we could get that [target]. There was only one team that was going to win and that was us, so we were going to have a crack.
“There was a few too many dot [balls] when the field’s spread, we were trying to hit the ball too hard to the fence instead of just working the ones and, in the end, we were only short by a few ones.
“It feels like a loss, and I’m actually proud of the guys for that because they were actually hurting when they are actually the winners of this game and we played so well.”
While every player had a moment with bat, ball or both, Marr offered praise for some of the younger players who, despite still being relatively new to Furlong, have lifted to the standard.
“Harry, once again, he did what he did in Manawatū – he changed the game for us, they were 70-1 and he goes bang, bang and then we get them six [wickets] for 30.”
On Saturday, with Whanganui under pressure at 15-2, Rees entered and took control of the innings, hitting 12 boundaries and a six.
“Also a fantastic catch when we were grinding it out today, he took an amazing catch in the gully,” Marr said.
“Everyone in the team [is] contributing, we’re not relying on any one person.”
That makes four straight wins as skipper for Tom Dempster, while also breaking another long dry spell for Whanganui against Wairarapa.
“It’s a shame we couldn’t get it over the line [for outright], but it was a good game and pretty happy with the way the boys went,” he said.
“It’s definitely good to get the monkey off the back. They’re a quality side, did well in their second innings and a shame we couldn’t get them slightly shorter, but we gave ourselves a chance with that chase.”
Whanganui’s last Furlong match is against Pay Excellence Hawke’s Bay on January 10-11 at Tasman Tanning (Victoria) Park.
Scoreboard, December 13–14
Furlong Cup
Wairarapa 1st Innings
Q Childs ct M Fraser b C O’Leary 8
R Anderson ct C Rees b H Burroughs 40
J Jonas ct H O’Leary b N Harding 26
S Payne ct S O’Leary b H Burroughs 3
J Forrester b C O’Leary 5
S Jonas ct H O’Leary b C O’Leary 0
E Childs b H O’Leary 17
J Anderson ct N Harding b H O’Leary 1
J Didsbury not out 8
S Perera lbw N Harding 0
Z Anstis ct M Fraser b H O’Leary 0
Extras: 19
Total: 127 (47.3 overs)
Bowlers: S O’Leary 5 overs, 1 maiden, 17 runs, 0 wickets; C O’Leary 13-4-38-3; T Roebuck 6-2-14-0; H Burroughs 5-0-20-2; N Harding 12-5-16-2; H O’Leary 6.3-1-13-3.
Whanganui 1st Innings
N Harding ct J Didsbury b J Jonas 28
B Smith ct & b E Childs 6
T Dempster ct J Forrester b E Childs 0
C Rees ct J Jonas b J Fitzgerald 84
C Hobbs ct R Anderson b J Jonas 36
M Fraser ct J Jonas b Q Childs 50
H O’Leary ct E Childs b Q Childs 26
S O’Leary b E Childs 32
C O’Leary ct S Perera b E Childs 0
H Burroughs not out 12
A Muir not out 5
Extras: 23
Total: 302-9 dec (84 overs)
Bowlers: E Childs 21-3-67-4; S Payne 8-1-33-0; J Jonas 17-1-71-2; J Fitzgerald 9-0-21-1; Q Childs 21-7-51-2; J Didsbury 3-0-16-0; S Perera 3-0-16-0; R Anderson 1-0-8-0; Z Anstis 1-0-5-0.
Wairarapa 2nd Innings
R Anderson b H Burroughs 11
Q Childs ct H O’Leary b H Burroughs 22
J Jonas ct & b S O’Leary 8
S Payne b A Muir 154
J Forrester ct C Rees b H Burroughs 0
E Childs ct M Fraser b H O’Leary 7
J Anderson ct S O’Leary b A Muir 14
J Didsbury ct A Muir b N Harding 24
S Perera ct Mark Fraser b T Roebuck 19
Z Anstis not out 15
S Jonas DNB
Extras: 14
Total: 288 (73.2 overs)
Bowling: T Roebuck 7-0-38-1; H Burroughs 13-3-53-3; S O’Leary 12-1-48-1; C O’Leary 9-1-26-0; A Muir 11.2-3-40-2; H O’Leary 14-2-46-1; N Harding 7-1-34-1.
Whanganui 2nd Innings
B Smith ct S Payne b Ethan Childs 30
N Harding ct unknown b E Childs 20
T Dempster lbw E Childs 0
C Rees ct J Forrester b E Childs 19
C Hobbs ct J Jonas b E Childs 3
M Fraser not out 23
H O’Leary ct J Jonas b E Childs 5
S O’Leary not out 5
Extras: 3
Total: 108-6 (19 overs)
Bowling: E Childs 10-0-46-6; J Jonas 9-0-60-0.
Result: Match drawn, Whanganui win first innings points