DAY THREE
It was a gripping last day of a thoroughly gripping season.
In true Hawke Cup style, Hawke’s Bay and Bay of Plenty fought each other tooth and nail on the last day of battle at Nelson Park.
Having been well behind on the first innings, Hawke’s Bay was well aware they needed to dig big to get themselves in any position for an outright to hold onto the hard-won Cup. They certainly gave it a good nudge.
Number four batsman Graeme Tryon led the way for them with an unbeaten 143 off 159 balls, pushing the pace as Hawke's Bay angled towards a necessary declaration.
He had nuggety support from almost all his batting allies, the locals making BOP work hard for their breakthroughs and Rupert Young having reached his half century before he was run out by Joe Carter.
Image courtesy of Bay of Plenty Cricket facebook
After 60 overs, the captain declared at 361/5, setting Bay of Plenty a tantalising chase of 206 in a session and a bit to reclaim the Cup they had held just a couple of seasons ago.
And, despite the loss of captain and usual opener Peter Drysdale to injury and then a nervy start that saw big Tom MacRury dismissed second ball by Liam Dudding with nothing on the board, and then Sean Davey follow him smartly back in to a Dudding caught and bowled; in another 40.1 overs, the jubilation would belong to the raiding Bay of Plenty as they settled it with six wickets in hand.
Ben Musgrave had coasted to his maiden century for Bay of Plenty off just 115 balls, and what a time to do it; while Brett Hampton shared a 145-run stand with him and would ultimately provide an unbeaten 63 to make sure of the result in the last session. They could lock up the Cup once more.
Image courtesy of Joe Carter
DAY TWO
Stumps score: Hawke's Bay 82/2 (Edmondson 35) in the second innings, trailing by 74 runs. Earlier: Bay of Plenty 318 all out (Jono Boult 94, Campbell Thomas 45; Liam Dudding 3-54, Ben Stroyanoff 3-52, GC Pretorius 3-98)
Them's the breaks.
Jono Boult went to tea sitting on 89 not out for Bay of Plenty, in sight of a possible Hawke Cup century to go with his aesthetically pleasing haul of 5-3-5-3 in Napier.
He had helped stretch Bay of Plenty out to 284/7 for a significant lead of 122 by tea time, assisted by Campbell Thomas, who had gone in for an unbeaten 36.
But the last session would see Hawke's Bay quickly remove both offenders to their cause, Boult caught on 94 to close his resilient innings just shy of five hours, then Thomas trapped very next over by Liam Dudding.
They had added 98 for the eighth wicket, and the scoreboard had just clocked up the 300 when Boult fell to Rupert Young.
Three more overs and Hawke's Bay would finally have the other Bay all out for 318, now requiring an outright to hold onto the Cup on account of Bay of Plenty's first innings lead of 156.
By stumps they had lost two second innings wickets, 82/2 after the loss of both openers.
DAY ONE
Stumps score: Bay of Plenty 111/5 (Tom MacRury 40; Ben Stroyanoff 3-17), trails by 51 runs in the first innings. Earlier, Hawke’s Bay 162 all out (Indika Senarathne 33, GC Pretorius 32; Brett Hampton 3-41, Tommy Clout 3-69, Jono Boult 3-5)
It began with a moving tribute to Martin Crowe, on the day of his service far away in Auckland. It ended with Hawke’s Bay fighting their way back into the action-packed first innings with the ball — getting Bay of Plenty’s fifth wicket by stumps, a 51-run buffer remaining if they are to come out tops on the important first innings.
With a star-studded bowling attack, Bay of Plenty had been pleased to put Hawke’s Bay in that morning, at a crisp and breezy Nelson Park — then they proceeded to rip through their hosts’ top order to give the defenders a case of indigestion by lunch: 90/5 at the break.
Devon Hotel Central Stag Indie Senarathne, batting at five, played a pivotal hand in attempting to restore some order, gathering the top score of 33 in positive fashion at almost run a ball pace.
Rupert Young and then Graeme Tryon had attempted to hold on to the other end against SKYCITY Northern Knights pace man Brett Hampton, the main attack weapon whose 3-41 cost only slightly more than two runs per over.
When fellow Knight and seasoned spinner Jono Boult came on, he produced a star turn that ruined Hawke’s Bay’s promising late recovery.
Five overs, three maidens, five runs and he had put Senarathne (caught on 33), GC Pretorius (bowled on 32) and Scott Schaw (caught on 24) all back in the sheds.
Tommy Clout helped him wrap up the innings in 44.1 overs with two quick tailend wickets to put Hawke’s Bay in the field in the middle session.
The response from the locals started well, Liam Dudding quickly getting rid of BOP captain Peter Drysdale to have the challengers 5/1. Then Knight Joe Carter’s dry season continued when he became the first of seamer Ben Stoyanoff’s three victims.
Stroyanoff claimed 3-17 from 10 overs at first change to have BOP 100/5, and that included the dangerous big hitter Brett Hampton.
At stumps Jono Boult was unbeaten on four and wicketkeeper Tim Clarke on eight to have the side sitting on Nelson's. Hawke's Bay will be hoping tradition delivers an early wicket on 111 on day two.
