TPL Round 5 review

Big Wins in Reduced Overs Matches

Two comfortable victories were the feature of round five of the TPL cricket competition in Nelson on Saturday.  The third match was abandoned without a ball being bowled as a reluctant Falcons team took one look at conditions at Victory Square and decided to head back over the hill.  It was something of a strange decision as a second grade match was played on the pitch instead.

The matches that did go ahead both started late and were restricted to 35 overs maximum.

Stoke Nayland v Nelson College

After the late start it was business as usual for Stoke Nayland at the Marsden Rec as they crafted a winning score against a tenacious Nelson College attack.  The youngsters stuck to the task well and although there were a number of useful contributions only Darius Skeaping amongst the top order really got going.  Dylan Eginton displayed his customary hitting prowess to extend the total from a reasonable chase to a formidable one. Both Skeaping and Eginton then displayed their all-round talents as they were the pick of the bowlers in first restricting and then eliminating the College batting with controlled aggression. They claimed five scalps between them to keep the pressure on the batsmen.  Only the exuberant Fergus Hughes appeared capable of gaining the upper hand in the run chase but even he allowed the rate to get out of hand.  As it was the tail was cleaned up relatively quickly as the red machine marched on.

Stoke Nayland  170/7     Darius Skeaping 44, Dylan Eginton 32, Finn Restieaux 2/23, Mason Lund 2/42

Nelson College 110         Fergus Hughes 35, Darius Skeaping 3/26, Dylan EgintonJ 2/12, Tim O’Connor  2/18, Ben Howman 2/26

Stoke Nayland won by 60 runs

ACOB v WTTU

ACOB recovered well from a disastrous start of three wickets down for a solitary single to post a creditable tally that appeared par for the conditions at the Botanics.  A gnarly one hundred plus partnership between Ben’s Gully and Hazlett seemed to wrest the initiative away from WTTU.  Skipper Sam Baxendine then came back to claim a couple of wickets to further restrict the home team’s effort. Tidy left arm spinner Sam Halsey took those first three wickets to fall.  WTTU made a mockery of the run chase.  Belligerent opening batsman Tom Ingham continued his fine recent form with some huge bombs amongst his four sixes in an incredible 27 delivery onslaught.  He was well supported by the more sedate Joe O’Connor and when Ingham departed he was replaced by the temerity of Tom Cross. Cross launched three sixes himself to go with five boundaries as he raced to his fifty in a comparatively pedestrian 33 balls.

The run chase was completed in just 14.1 overs for the loss of only the two wickets.

ACOB                    148/7     Ben Gully 61, Ben Hazlett 49, Sam Halsey 3/20, Sam Baxendine 2/30

WTTU                   149/2     Tom Ingham 58, Tom Cross 52*, Joe O’Connor 27

WTTU won by 8 wickets

NELSON, NEW ZEALAND – NOVEMBER 24: Stoke / Nayland v Nelson College on November 24 at Marsden Rec 2018 in Nelson, New Zealand. (Photo by: Evan Barnes Shuttersport Limited)