DAY THREE
Buller's brief but riveting Hawke Cup reign came to end shortly before noon today on the final morning at Westport's Craddock Park.
North Otago alleviates Buller of the Hawke Cup. Photo courtesy of North Otago
North Otago's pace strike man Francois Mostert swept to a match haul of 13 for 53 with a second innings effort of six for 31, finishing with the final two Buller wickets in the same over to lift the Hawke Cup with an outright.
Buller had fought to the end, captain Troy Scanlon battling 57 deliveries for his 15 before being bowled by Mostert, Max McDonald having stuck with him for a 50-ball 10 before the tail was exposed.
North Otago, the country's second smallest Minor Association (after Buller), will be overjoyed to have the Hawke Cup back in their possession, having lifted the Cup for the first time in their history in 2009.
They will host a challenge from Hawke's Bay in two weeks' time.
DAY TWO
A big day two was needed from Buller in their maiden Hawke Cup defence after a sobering first innings — and for a time, they certainly delivered a dose of hope to their faithful supporters swelling around sunny Craddock Park.
Indefatigable Buller captain and opening bowler Troy “Musafa” Scanlon led from the front yet again, wasting no time in making the first breakthrough of the second innings to have North Otago 1/1.
Scanlon would then bowl 16 overs unchanged while he rustled up a five-wicket bag, sitting on a return of 5-37 at that point.
The scoreboard at 81/5, there was hope North Otago could be contained, relatively, enough, maybe. Their lead was 164: not in the realm of foregone conclusions just yet.
But as the afternoon wore on, the raiders dug in, and wickets became harder to come by, as Penguin power came to the fore.
By the time Buller got them to seven down, the lead had already grown to 232, and it was the supporters east of the alps that were feeling chipper about North Otago’s fifth ever challenge.
Number four Stephan Grobler had batted for almsot two and a half hours for an important 61, guiding North Otago through to 149 for seven. Then the tail chipped in usefully, teenager Llewy Johnson lending a very helpful hand with an unbeaten 44 off 65 balls, before Buller’s Alistair Burnett finally took the last two wickets to halt them at 203.
Scanlon had finished with five for 74 from his 25 overs.
That left 38 overs to face after tea but Buller lost their first wicket at 17, Craig Adams caught and bowled by Jeremy Smith without scoring.
Greymouth’s Nick Cumming to the rescue. He slapped 65 off just 68 balls, including 11 boundaries with the half century set at run a ball pace, to the locals’ delight.
But he had lost two more partners along the way and, just as hopes turned to a big one, spinner Grobler had got him in the 32nd over: caught.
By the close of play, Buller’s second innings scorecard stood at 126/5, North Otago's South African duo of Francois Mostert and Grobler picking up two wickets apiece.
Chasing 287, the Buller Lions now need to roar to the tune of 161 runs on the last day today to hold onto the Hawke Cup, with five wickets in hand. Andrew Duncan is unbeaten on 12 overnight, joined by Troy Scanlon, who is yet to face a delivery.
The Hawke Cup involves 22 minor associations from throughout New Zealand, divided into four zones. Each zone plays a round-robin tournament and the winner gets the right to challenge the holder.
DAY ONE
The inaugural day of Hawke Cup cricket at Westport’s Craddock Park produced a bit more action than hosts Buller had been wishing for.
View scorecard
Twenty wickets fell on day one of Buller’s maiden defence — and, at first, it was a welcome sight and sound as the hosts, nicknamed the Lions, dismissed North Otago’s “Penguins” for 143 by tea, after the visitors had opted for a bat.
Yet by stumps Buller, too, was all out — and, with a deficit of 83 runs, meaning Buller now requires an outright victory in order to hold onto the cherished Hawke Cup, in what must now be a come from behind performance.
Buller was rolled for 60 in the afternoon after Oamaru opening bowler Francois Mostert ripped through their line-up to claim an impressive seven for 22 off just 12 overs.
It rather took the gloss off a day on which the home crowd had been treated to a fantastic start from their team, having North Otago 1/1 and then 12/2 in the first ever Hawke Cup match in Westport, on an artificial deck.
Can Buller hang on?
By lunch North Otago had expanded to 62/2, Buller’s lionhearted captain Tony Scanlon having bowled 14 overs as he took on the challengers, his economy rate dropping below one run per over.
After the break, he played a key role with a demon spell — which stood at 4-2-8-3 when he claimed the sixth wicket — in which he forced the challengers from an ominous 101/2 to a startling 107/6.
Scanlon would eventually haul 4-34 off his 24 overs for the day and he had begun by breaking the critical stand, removing stubborn opener Duncan Drew on 45.
That would prove to be North Otago’s best score as the Buller attack strung together wicket maidens (Scanlon in tandem with Clinton Harvey, who would collect two for nine off his nine overs) to divert the course of the innings.
North Otago wicketkeeper Andrew Grubb put up some resistance to the roaring Lions, however, with a useful 23 before his team was dismissed in 64.5 overs.
Francois Mostert had departed for a two-ball duck, trapped by Scanlon. He was to extract plenty of revenge.
Mostert quickly put himself on a hat-trick (averted) as Buller got off to a nightmare start, 8/3, while Jeremy Smith backed him up at the other end — eventually claiming all the other three wickets to fall in the Buller innings, for a cost of just 10 runs.
It could have been worse for Buller had Troy Adams and Michael Anderson — their only players to reach double figures, just — not launched a tailend challenge from a disastrous position for 30 for eight, when they still trailed by 113.
Harvey then came in and belted the first six of the innings off spinner Stephan Grobler and was unbeaten on eight when the last wicket fell to Mostert next over, after just under two hours of carnage.
North Otago last won the Hawke Cup in 2009 — the first time in history that they had done so. Now they surely fancy their chances again. However, it’s a funny old game, and who knows what adventures day two might bring between the country’s two smallest Minor Associations fighting over the prize.
