The Central Stags have beaten the Canterbury Wizards by 15 runs in the first round of the men’s one day competition.
The Stags were in command early at MainPower Oval in Rangiora after Peter Ingram and George Worker put on 99 for the first wicket.
Ingram hit 53 off 50 with Worker happy to play the anchor role with 84 off 122.
Prolific run scorer Mathew Sinclair ensured that the early momentum continued with 67 off 62 before Brendon Diamanti clouted 27 off 15 to finish the innings off.
Carl Frauenstein was outstanding with the ball taking four for 48 with Craig McMillan chipping in with three for 47.
Canterbury made a disastrous start to their run chase, losing Rob Nicol second ball followed by Peter Fulton and Johannes Myburgh with only 32 on the board.
Opener Michael Papps held the innings together but the wickets kept tumbling at the other end with Shanan Stewart out for 13, Craig McMillan 5 and Chris Harris 32
He found a willing accomplice in Kruger van Wyk with the pair coming together just before the fortieth over and together lashed 77 from six overs to give the home side a glimmer of hope but the loss of van Wyk for 41 off 20 turned the match back in favour of the Stags.
Papps did his best to keep his team in the match, batting for 49 overs and scoring 150 runs but his wicket put to rest any chance of victory. It is his highest one day score, surpassing his previous best of 136 not out. The score is enough to put him on top of the one day MVP, despite being on the losing team.
Current MVP leader Ewen Thompson was more than handy in taking three for 45 and Diamanti aided his team's cause with three for 55 including the valuable wicket of Papps.
