Cricket: Rain dampens Taranaki's result

It’s a long way to travel to Napier only to get one day’s play in, but sitting around all day Sunday will have no doubt given the Whitaker Civil Engineering Taranaki team plenty of time to ponder their performance.

From delight, almost elation, to misery, almost depression, the Taranaki boys will have ridden the full range of emotions after winning the toss and inserting Hawkes Bay on a green looking pitch at Nelson Park.

What happened on day one showed how cricket can be a killer. Just as you think you have it under control, you in fact don’t. And it hurts.

With Ryan Watson not able to bowl due to a medical condition, the team needed the two quicks, skipper Jordan Gard, and the lively Callum Stuart, to step up and make the most of the conditions.

This they did, particularly Gard, with his consistency and accuracy, which saw Hawkes Bay eight wickets down for 88. Gard had six of those, Stuart with one, had bagged the crucial Bradley Schmulian wicket, and the clever Davis Mills picked up the other with his nagging medium pacers.

Seven catches had been snaffled without a drop. There were smiles all round. Hawkes Bay were 8-90!

Cricket is often about fairy tales and when it was needed most the player with a cricket name like no other, Sachin Jayawardena, stepped forward.

This was Jayawardena’s first game for the Bay, called in at the last moment to replace an injured player, and he was keen to make the most of it. He obviously didn’t realise that when your team is 8-90, then 125 would be a good total.

140 balls later he walked back to the pavilion on 87 not out, but crucially for HB the final three batsmen had taken the total to 237, and certainly over 100 runs more than Taranaki had anticipated earlier.

Liam McCarthy had helped things along with 28 runs batting at 10, and then the big quick Tyler Annand batting at 11, helped himself to 37 before he was the last man out.

Still, 237 is not a mammoth total, so it was time for Taranaki to get back into the game and head for a first innings win.

Disaster struck immediately. Bailey Wisnewski, Rupert Young and Jacob Leuthard-Richards managed scores in the 20’s, but four others totaled only 15 runs from 43 balls.

Taranaki went to stumps at seven wickets down for 94. And it has rained ever since.

Taranaki’s best performer was skipper Gard, a Jamie Watkins mini-me, Gard wound up for 27 overs (162 balls), managed seven maidens, and took six wickets for 82 runs.

In the absence of Ben Frewin and Watson Gard stepped up and bowled 21 overs on the trot from ball one right through until lunch, and then again after lunch. This was an extraordinary performance and certainly deserving of the Honours Board recognition.

Taranaki’s next game will be the Hawke Cup defence on 30/31 January & 1 February at Pukekura Park. It will more than likely be against Hawkes Bay.

The comforting thought is that this is the first time in four games that HB have held the upper hand and I’m sure if we asked the not out batsmen Leuthard-Richards and Liam Carr, they would have been anticipating a big, big partnership.

The great thing about sport is that things can turn quickly, and that will be the plan.