Full round of premier cricket played

Ryan Evans

Photo: Inglewood stalwarts Aaron Taylor, left, and Jason Dombroski celebrated a win over the NPBHS First XI in a special game for the two. Taylor scored 60 with the bat then tookl three wickets and made a run out in his 200th premier game, while Dombroski picked up his 500th premier wicket.

With the sun beaming brightly down over the long weekend, perfect playing conditions meant the Expert Turf premier 50-over cricket competition was finally underway in earnest.

With three matches on the Saturday and a fourth on the Sunday, club cricket lovers were able to get their fill as the competition leaders Nag N’ Noggin NPMU and Civil Quarries Inglewood sides held onto their table topping positions with victories over Stumble Inn Woodleigh and NPBHS 1st XI respectively.

In other matches over the weekend, Merit RV NPOB finally took to the field for their first match of the year with a win over Metcalfe Real Estate Hawera United, while Stratford Cricket Club also got their summer underway, with a comfortable win over the Whitaker Civil FDMC 1st XI.
At Sutherland Park, a depleted Woodleigh won the toss and sent Marist into bat. Despite the quick loss of a wicket, Robson Chapman (52) and Sam Fastier (27) got the innings off to a good start, putting on a 95-run stand before good contributions from Daniel Bernet (47) and Jarred Cunningham (30) helped the visitors through to 216 off their 50 overs.

Englishman Connor Poulton was strong with the ball for Woodleigh, taking three wickets and also taking a run out in the field.
Facing a tricky chase Woodleigh’s top order all made starts but the regular loss of wickets made momentum tough to build. Middle-order batter Tyler Slingsby played well for 51 not out, but with Bernet in good form with the ball and taking four wickets, the home side was eventually all out for 169.

In Stratford, FDMC player/coach Tinashe Chimbambo anchored his side’s innings with a knock of 44 as the team, who’d opted for the first bat, put together a defendable target of 189 for the loss of seven wickets. The innings also featured good contributions from Lucas Vassiliou (31) and Asher Ryan (29), while Stratford captain Liam Muggeridge was the host’s top wicket taker, claiming 3/34 off 10 overs.
Stratford never really looked troubled in their chase. Openers Ross Forrester and Denis Mihalijevich put on a 50-run opening stand, and then Andrew LeFeaver (53 n/o) and Muggeridge (51 n/o) carried the home team on for an eight-wicket win in another match with an improved showing from FDMC.

Hawera United took on NPOB at Western Park and with the southerners opting to bat first and quickly finding themselves in trouble at 6/43, Old Boys never looked particularly troubled in picking up the win. A lower order knock of 35 from Phillip Joblin helped restore some respectability as Hawera made it through to 107. Kyle Pillay impressed with the ball, knocking over the Hawera top order and finishing with figures of 3/19 while Jordan Gard, Fianlay Barnes and Mattie Thomas shared the remaining six wickets equally.

Old Boys lost five wickets in hunting down the total in the 25th over, with Thomas the pick of the batters making 38 n/o, while Ben Mitchell also contributed with 22. Shay Smith bowled well for Hawera, picking up 3/12.

The final game of the round was played on Sunday at NPBHS Top Field. It was a big day for the visiting Inglewood club, with stalwart Aaron Taylor taking the field for his 200th premier match. He didn’t disappoint either, opening the innings and getting Inglewood off to a good start with a score of 60. A string of other batters made solid contributions as well, including Brent Stevens (43) and Sam Darth (38), helped Inglewood through to an imposing total of 270.

Taene Nelly picked up two wickets, the most of any NPBHS bowler.

It might have been Taylor’s day, but it was new NPBHS player/coach Dean Robinson (101) who put out the best performance on the field, hitting the first century of the summer before Taylor, fittingly, had him caught.

It was all in vain for NPBHS though, as nobody was able to stick with Robinson and the school side was all out 109 runs short.
Taylor celebrated his big day with innings-high figures of 3/30 and also snared a run out, while another club veteran, Jason Dombroski, took his 500th wicket for the club on his way to figures of 2/9.

The weekend’s results leave Marist and Inglewood on top of the table with 12 points, while Old Boys and Stratford round out the top four with nine points each.

Woodleigh and Boys High are five points back, while Hawera and FDMC each have just two competition points and already face an uphill battle to be in semifinal contention.

This week’s matches features the always hard fought match-up between city rivals Marist and Old Boys and with both sides missing a number of players on Whitaker Civil Taranaki Men’s duties it’s a game that could go either way. Elsewhere, NPBHS host Hawera, Inglewood heads north to FDMC and Stratford will take on Woodleigh at Sutherland Park.

Full scorecards, points tables and match details, including new and improved live scoring, are available here at PlayHQ