History repeats ahead of T20 final

Ryan Evans

Photo: Pukekura Park will host the club T20 final on Sunday afternoon.

The old saying ‘history never repeats’ is getting a severe challenge in Expert Turf Taranaki Premier grade cricket.

When New Plymouth & Marist United and New Plymouth Old Boys meet again in another Taranaki cricket decider - for the T20 crown on Sunday – it will be the latest chapter in a quite remarkable run of recent history.

Across all formats, it will be the fifth championship final in a row played out by the two city rivals, while you have to go back to the 2016-17 season, when Inglewood was scheduled to play Woodleigh in the two-day final, to find the last time a championship game hasn’t featured one of the two sides.

And since that match just one other club has picked up a premier title - that came in 2020 when Hawera United was awarded the two-day crown as top qualifier after the first Covid lockdown brought the season to a halt.

For Merit RV NPOB club chair Jamie Watkins, who will also take to the field on Sunday, the era of dominance can be put down to the consistency of depth being developed in both clubs.

“We’re lucky to have the depth there, so when rep players go out, others can come in.

“At Old Boys we’ve tried to build that depth around the culture of the club - doing the right things at practice, respecting the game of cricket, little things and building a culture of cricket.

“There’s also a mindset of winning that tends to get you through the close games,” Watkins said.

Nag N‘Noggin NPMU chair Stu Dempster said building culture had been a big work on for the Marist club in recent years as well.

“It’s all culture – working to make our club a place where people want to come and play for us and then stick around and have a beer after wards too.

“That’s what we’ve been working towards, and it’s helped us with a steady progression of players coming through. “We’re lucky to get younger guys, like the Boon brothers (George and Keegan) and Gareth Duffy, coming through and getting to play to play with the older, established guys, like Deano (Robinson) and Ryan Watson and learning how they go about things to be successful.”

Merit RV NPOB had the wood on Nag N’Noggin Marist United when they met in the 50-over final in December, at Western Park, while Marist is the defending T20 champion, and the round robin clash between the two sides was rained out, way back in October.

With the grand final back on neutral ground at Pukekura Park, the game is too tight to call.

Neither side had an easy pass to the big dance in their semi-finals, especially NPOB who had to withstand a remarkable 13-ball half century by Metcalfe Real Estate Hawera United’s Tinashe Chimbambo, before they edged in front and eventually held on for a 21-run win.

Old Boys had won the toss and elected to bat first and would have been pleased with their decision as they posted a healthy 174/5 off their 20 overs thanks to a fast start by openers Myles Simkin (42) and Josh Borrell (16) who put on 64 runs before losing a wicket. Davis Mills came to the crease and held the rest of the innings together, making 50no, to go with contributions from Mattie Thomas (25) and Oli Burbidge (28).

Reuben Nelley took two wickets for Hawera, while Robert Northcott bowled his four overs for an economical 23 runs.

Any complacency Old Boys might have been feeling was quickly blown away in Chimbambo’s opening blaze. The Zimbabwean smashed five sixes and four fours in his 50, showcasing a range of powerful shots.

The innings left Hawera briefly in the box seat, but with his dismissal with the score on 60, NPOB was able to tighten the screws and runs became harder to get. Still with four or five overs remaining, with wickets in hand and the powerful Northcott (24) and Shay Smith (19) still at the crease Hawera was in the hunt, but regular wickets as the run rate rose eventually cost them.

Jordan Gard (48/3) was best with the ball for Old Boys. Having taken a hammering early, he took the key wicket of Chimbambo and then returned at the death to take two key wickets, including that of Smith. Jarrod Ritson also bowled extremely tightly, taking 14/1 off his four, while Liam Carr (15/1) also proved very tough to score off through the middle overs.

At Lynmouth Park, Marist also had some work to do to put away Civil Quarries Inglewood, but in the end were comfortable winners.

Electing to bat, the home side posted a competitive total of 138, with Jacob Leuthard-Richards top-scoring with 42, while Dean Robinson (22) and Robson Chapman (28) both also made important contributions. Chris Logan was outstanding with the ball for Inglewood, taking 15/4 to help restrict Marist to a total that Inglewood would have felt was gettable.

Marist proved too strong with the ball though, and while a number of Inglewood batters made starts, none was able to kick on with a score that others could build around. In big trouble at 64/8 a tail ender’s knock of 35 from Richard Clough gave Inglewood the faintest of hopes but in the end their 20 overs finished with them on 109/9.

Key with the ball for Marist was Michael Blanks, who took 10/3 including big wickets in the middle stages of the chase. Kurt Leuthart also bowled well to pick up a pair of wickets.

The Expert Turf Premier T20 final is scheduled to begin at Pukekura Park at 2pm on Sunday. Full match details, including live scoring can be found here at Play HQ.

Nag N’ Noggin NPMU:

Ryan Watson (c), Joshua Barrett, Daniel Bernet, Michael Blanks, George Boon, Robson Chapman, Jarred Cunningham (wk), Gareth Duffy, Jacob Leuthard-Richards, Kurt Leuthart, Dean Robinson, Robbie Yule. 

Merit RV NPOB:

Myles Simkin, Josh Borrell, Ben Mitchell, Davis Mills, Mattie Thomas (c), Olly Burbidge, Jordan Gard, Ben Frewin, Jamie Watkins, Jarrod Ritson, Kyle Pillay, Liam Carr.

Umpires:

Kevin Kerr, Nathan Andrews. 

City sides in race to the top in two-day competition

As the Expert Turf Premier two-day comp rolls on, outright wins for both NPOB and Marist in Round 4 see them sitting on top of the table and it’s difficult to see a scenario that doesn’t have both hosting home semi-finals in the longer format as well.

NPOB crushed Stumble Inn Woodleigh at Sutherland Park, with the foundation laid when they rolled the home side for just 55 in the first innings. It was a happy hunting ground for bowlers Ben Frewin (8/4 off 11) and Liam Carr (13/5 off 18.4), with Thomas Graham (10) the only Woodleigh player to reach double figures. While the pitch may have contained a few demons, Old Boys showed they could be negotiated as they made their way through to 194/8 before declaring. Josh Borrell made 50, and Sean White 43, while Harmandeep Sharma took 22/3 with the ball for Woodleigh.
Trailing by 139, Mitchell Proffitt ensured a more respectable second innings total as he ground out a hard earned 94. It was lucky he did, as he had little to no support around him, with just one other batter, Connor Poulton (11), making double figures. Woodleigh was all out for 137, for an innings and two run loss. Jordi Fettis picked up figures of 22/4 while Frewin continued a good match with 21/3.

Marist’s win over Hawera came in a contrasting fashion but in the end was no less emphatic, on the scoreboard at least.

Hawera was sent into bat at Lynmouth Park, and thanks to half centuries to Tinashe Chimbambo (58) and Robert Northcott (53no) posted a respectable 170/10. But against a class side like Marist it was well short of what was needed and the home side duly posted a total of 270/10 in their first innings. The score was built around three middle order half centuries to Jacob Leuthard-Richards (69), Jarred Cunningham (53) and Daniel Bernet (54). The wickets were shared between the Hawera bowlers, with Ethan Keller, Northcott and Charith Gajanayaka each taking two scalps.

Having lost first innings points, a draw was still a possible outcome for Hawera, but the wheels fell off in their second innings and they were dismissed for 99, giving Marist an outright victory by an innings and one run. New NPMU arrival Keegan Boon (formerly FDMC) starred with the ball in the second innings, spinning his way to 30/6 while Chimbambo top scored with 30 for Hawera.

With no play having been possible on day one in the match between Stratford and the Riddick Contracting NPBHS First XI at Victoria Park, Stratford would have been desperate to get play under way and get as many points as possible to stay in touch with the leading pair. They managed to achieve that with a first innings win having batted first and making 245/7 before declaring and then dismissing the school side for 110. Opener Denis Mihalijevich top scored for Stratford with 62.

Meanwhile at Karo Park, the first day of Inglewood’s match against the Whitaker Civil FDMC First XI had been washed out and the second day was also abandoned without a ball being bowled due to issues with the pitch. It could prove a big blow for Inglewood’s chances as they would have fancied themselves capable of picking up plenty of competition points from the game to help their push for a top-four berth.

As it stands, NPOB and Marist are sitting first and second, with Stratford lurking close behind in third place. Woodleigh are in fourth place and perhaps the more intriguing battle in the competition is between the sides fighting for the 3rd and 4th positions for the semi-finals in March, with Stratford, Woodleigh, Inglewood and Hawera all genuine chances.

Stratford and Woodleigh’s round five match up will be crucial to the equation and is being played at Sutherland Park beginning Saturday.
Inglewood travel to NPBHS, where they will be looking for a commanding performance to kick off their charge.

Hawera will host NPOB and this will also be a game to watch, coming straight after the closely fought T20 semi-final between the sides.
In the final game, Marist visits FDMC and will be expected to much too powerful for the College side.

Play is scheduled to get underway at 10.30am Saturday and full match details, including live scoring, can be found here at Play HQ

Full draws, results and points tables for all Expert Turf Premier cricket on Play HQ

 Bartercard Taranaki women drop ball against Hawke's Bay

 The Bartercard Taranaki women’s side were left ruing some poor catching which cost them dearly as they lost to Hawkes Bay in the Mike Shrimpton Trophy last week.

Playing for pride, with the trophy already locked up in Manawatu’s cabinet, Taranaki was sent in to bat at Ongley Park in Palmerston North.
Top order batter Maree Gillespie knuckled down for tough innings of 44 to anchor the team with support from Sophie Campbell (14) and Grace Foreman (12no) as the side made its way through to 112/7 off their 40 overs, on a pitch giving plenty for the bowlers.

But with the pitch drying out and becoming more batter friendly as the day went on, it was vital that every chance that came their way was taken. Instead, Taranaki dropped Hawkes Bay opener Ellen Smith more than once on her way to 23, and again put chances down allowing middle order batter Briar Cloake (37no) to lead Hawkes Bay to a comfortable four wicket win with 8 overs to spare.

Two bright spots for the ball with Taranaki were Charlotte Stent, who was dangerous, taking 16/3 off seven overs and Amy Foreman who took 13/2 off just three overs.

The loss came after their match against Manawatu, their only game scheduled for Pukekura Park this season was washed out the previous week.
The season is almost over for the side, with just a trip to Nelson for two matches with the Nelson Nyxons to come, with the team heading for the South Island next weekend.

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