Round 6 Preview

TPL Round 6 Preview

Once again all four TPL senior club cricket matches will be played on the Nelson side of the Whongamoa’s as the two Blenheim sides are on the road again. Round six sees some good clashes as the competition takes shape.

The Falcons make the long trip out to Brightwater to take on a resurgent Wanderers/Motueka.  The home team far exceeded their best team total last week as they amassed 265, albeit in a losing effort.  They will have been buoyed though by that improvement and will be anticipating going one better and gaining a W over their visitors.  The Falcons are definitely not easy beats though and have Matthew Stretch and Cameron Collins in great touch with all-rounder Tarin Mason and Nick Weaver also piecing together solid performances. The combined team with need to be truly on guard here or it could be a tough day out for them.

Nelson College host the powerful Dolphins at Ngawhatu.  College hung on by the skin of their teeth last Saturday in a very narrow victory over cellar dwellers Wanderers/Motueka in a patchy display.  Their bowling stocks were a bit low but will hoping that Ronan Restieaux’ s back problem has been sorted. The schoolboys batting has been becoming more consistent with Patrick Wilson last week in blockbusting form.  The Dolphins though have Prabodha Arthavidu who is scoring big runs every week and is well supported by the likes of Josh Poole and Joseph Timms.  They put together a clinical all-round performance last week and are a real threat in this competition.

ACOB will welcome Wakatu to Botanics on the back of a heart wrenching loss to Stoke Nayland last week.  Jake Milton is mister consistency with both bat and ball, and though he was well backed by a number of minor performers, none really boxed on.  They need others to put their hands up with longer innings if they are to be genuine contenders. Wakatu are having their usual struggles although Campbell McLean is having a stellar year and young Damian Aitken is top wicket taker, the club has difficulty getting results on the board. Wakatu has a solid core but, like other teams, needs more regular performances.

Playing through champions Car Company Stoke Nayland have WTTU at Marsden Rec. The Red Machine just keeps on winning and they have again named a potent and experienced line up.  Old stager Kurt Pahl made himself available again last week and he responded with a fine and dominant 65 in what turned out to be a match winning effort.  Their bowling attack is nice and varied with an array of talent to call on with the likes of mediums Ben Stark, Dylan Eginton, Darius Skeaping, Tim O’Connor and Englishman Tom Chambers well complemented by the left arm spin of Paddy Howes.  WTTU in contrast appeared to be a little bit limited with their bowling last week and came up slightly short against the strong Dolphins group.  Tom Cross is becoming an unlikely key in their bowling line up, but they probably require more back up to Sam Baxendine, Joey O’Connor and Josh Newport. They will welcome back left arm spinner Sam Halsey to provide them with more options. Cross and O’Connor lead the more balanced batting line up with Daniel Endersby also returning to give them a boost. WTTU will need to be on top of their game to match Stoke Nayland.

All matches begin at 11:30 am.