TPL Round 9 Preview

TPL Round 9

A few interesting results last weekend has evened up the TPL Senior Club Cricket competition as we enter Round Nine on Saturday.  All four games are on this side of the Whangamoa’s as the two Blenheim based teams are both on the road.

The Dolphins have the longest trip as they travel out to Brightwater to take on a resurgent Wanderers/Motueka team fresh off their first win in this competition.  The home team will take great heart from that achievement and will seek to back it up.  In contrast the Dolphins will feel they missed out on an opportunity when they capitulated against Nelson College.  They will be smarting and the likes of Prabodha Arthavidu and Josh Poole are very good players who will be seeking vengeance. 

ACOB played a couple of fixtures last weekend for a comfortable win and a very tight loss.  They will welcome the Falcons to the Botanics with a strong team and a hunger for competition points.  All rounder Jake Milton is performing well with bat or ball week in and week out while chunky wicket keeper James Graham was at his swashbuckling best last Saturday. The Falcons will be hoping to put their campaign back on track after a surprise loss last weekend so this should be a tasty match up.

Nelson College are somewhat depleted with rep commitments removing a couple of their biggest batting threats in Finn Raxworthy and Finn Restieaux. They take on Car Company Stoke Nayland at Marsden Rec and the Red Machine just keeps on winning. College will be looking for another big effort from paceman Jarrod Mckay who is looking really dangerous as he helped steer the schoolboys to a couple of plucky wins last weekend. The home team in contrast just ooze talent and have numerous players in form with both bat and ball.  It would take a miracle for the College boys to cause an upset here.

Although a Joey O’Connor ton gave WTTU a reasonable enough total last weekend the Tigers are battling a little as they host Wakatu at Jubilee Park. While Tom Cross has generally given them a good start, they have lacked consistency and displayed an inability to get big scores.  Likewise, their bowling does not have its usual edge and they are really missing the left arm spin of Sam Halsey. Wakatu eked out a reasonable enough total on Saturday as Fergus Hughes and Campbell McLean both looked in good touch.  McLean is having a very good season, but he needs more consistent support all round the park.  This will be an interesting tussle as both outfits would be desperate for a win.

Matches begin at 11:30 am.