Men’s eliminator final, Wellington v Central Districts
Women’s final, Wellington v Northern
Districts
Men’s final, Canterbury v Central
Districts
There was
general agreement among the RA Vance Pessimists that I had not missed much
during our ten weeks on grandparent duty in Canada. This was true of both the
cricket and the weather. A mundane test match against the West Indies finished
in three days (work commitments would have prevented me attending had I been in
the country) and the Wellington men had a shocker in the T20 competiton. Steve
the Scottish stats guy revealed that in 24 home games over five years
Wellington had only three wins, all against Otago (the UK equivalent, with
apologies to my Welsh friends, would be beating only Glamorgan). The women’s
team, the Blaze, provided consolation, as they usually do, winning the
competition for the third time in a row and for the seventh in the last ten
years.
Watching one
of the T20 matches on TV in our Toronto apartment, I noted that the crowd at
the Basin was dressed in much the same manner as we had been earlier that day
when we ventured forth in sub-zero temperatures.
So it was good,
on my return to the Basin Reserve, to find the weather agreeable for three successive
days of 50-over cricket. The men’s eliminator match (second v third) was
followed by the two finals, women’s then men’s.
Watching
50-over cricket is like finding an old friend at the door, with time on their
hands to provide intelligent and amusing company. The pleasure is tempered by the
lurking thought that these days are running out and that soon there will be no
more knocks on the door.
Perhaps this
is too gloomy. The other day I found a piece on Scorecards in which I
speculated that the game I was writing then about would be the last 50-over
game I would see (then the worry was that 40 overs would become the new 50).
That was written more than a decade ago, yet here we were watching a weekend of
50-over cricket.
Great fun it
was, with plenty of classy, bright cricket. Unfortunately, none of it was
played by the home teams. We did not realise it at the time, but the highlight
of the weekend from the partisan point of view was having Central Districts at
22 for two batting first in the men’s eliminator final.
Will Young
and Dean Foxcroft rebuilt the innings with a third-wicket partnership of 165, a
record against Wellington. At first, they were painstaking and for a while it
seemed that a target of not much more than 250 was in prospect. But Central had
a good plan and were sticking to it. They knew that if they could preserve
their resources they could treat the end of the innings as a T20 and that is
what they did. Young’s 50 took 75 balls; moving from there to 100 just 29 more.
The prospective target increased exponentially: 300, 320, 340? Biffers Cleaver
and Clarkson added 76 in under five overs to take it to 350.
That was
always likely to be too much for a Wellington line up that had struggled to
last 20 overs in the recent short-form competition and were anchored to the
bottom of the Plunket Shield table at the halfway stage. But, we told
ourselves, at least they have a template to follow. Do what Central did. Concentrate
on keeping wickets intact for 30 overs then launch an onslaught.
When first
Greenwood, then Robinson were dismissed charging down the pitch in the early
overs it became clear that Wellington had not paid attention to what went on
while they were in the field. There was speculation that Brendon McCullum had
returned home and had taken over as Wellington’s coach.
In The RA
Vance Stand we entertained ourselves by wondering if Wellington could keep
within 200 of the DLS mark; they could not, all out for 138.
In the women’s
final the hope lasted longer, throughout the innings of Northern Districts, who
batted first. Wickets fell regularly and at 94 for seven it appeared that
Wellington had the game was as good as won.
Again, the opposition
had a plan. The last four in the order provided an exemplary display of what to
do. They batted for 21 overs, adding 88 runs with only three boundaries,
working the ball around for ones and twos. Wicketkeeper Holly Topp was last out
with a boundary-free 39 from 61 balls. Nos 10 and 11 supported her well. Kayley
Knight made 14 from 31 and Lucy Boucher 12 from 23 as they reached 182.
I did get
the feeling that Wellington waited for things to happen in this period,
assuming the removal of the top half of the order had been enough and that the
rest was mere formality. When they batted it quickly became clear that it was
not.
New Black
Ferns captain Melie Kerr was second out, for four. So critical is Melie for the
wellbeing of any team for which she plays that her early departure was enough
to embed concern. Run scoring became a challenge akin to speaking an unfamiliar
language, as the usually ebullient Xara Jetly’s 13-ball duck showed. As they had on the previous day, the
Pessimists’ thoughts drifted to a wish for the early bus home. Northern won the
Hallyburton Johnstone Shield by 67 runs.
I had long
assumed that Hallyburton Johnstone were the sponsors. Purveyors of fine
sausages perhaps, or a manufacturer of unguents for those of a sensitive disposition.
In fact, Hallyburton Johnstone was the original name of the prize, and had been
since it was first competed for in 1936. It began as a challenge competition
where one province held the shield until defeated by another. New Zealand likes
contests of this kind. Rugby’s Ranfurly Shield still operates this way, as does
cricket’s Hawke Cup, competed for by minor associations. As I write, Bay of
Plenty are defending it against Canterbury Country. Matches are two-innings
played over three days, as was the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield (mostly) until
the 1980s when it became a limited-overs, one-day competition.
This was
Northern Districts’ first time winning the shield. They have been competing for
it only for 26 years, but have had some fine players in that time, most notably
former New Zealand captain Emily Drumm, so it still came as a surprise. That
New Zealand women will one day again have a multi-day competition remains a
dream, unfortunately.
The men’s
final was most enjoyable, dominated by fine performances by the best players. Canterbury
batted first. After the early loss of the dangerous Chad Bowes, Black Caps
captain Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls put on 185 for the second wicket. Latham
is a proud Cantabrian who takes every opportunity to turn out for his province.
Nicholls is no longer in the first-choice batting lineup for the national team,
but made 150 when called up in Zimbabwe last year. This innings supported his
case to be in the party to tour England in the coming May. It was Nicholls’
fourth century of the 50-over campaign.
When Latham
was fourth out (for 80) from the first ball of the 41st over with
the score at 237 it appeared certain that Canterbury, with some notable bashers
to follow, would set a target in the general area of 340. It was in these ten
overs that Central won the game.
Outstanding
bowling by seamers Brett Randell and left-armer Ray Toole meant that six of these
overs went for six or fewer. The final total of 302 for seven will never be a
bad one, but it was Central who left the field happier at the end of the
innings.
Like
Canterbury, Central lost an opener early, but Will Young and Curtis Heaphey
settled into a second-wicket partnership that the description “match-winning”
could be attached to at an early stage.
As with
Canterbury, it was the international batsmen who looked a cut above the rest.
Will Young’s innings was a copy of his effort 48 hours previously in that he started
with circumspection, his first fifty taking 72 deliveries, before putting the
foot down so that the next fifty took only 29 more. The difference was that in
the final he carried on for fifty more at the same pace, taking his team to the
brink of victory. Having made only 14 runs in three innings in the recent West
Indies test series, his place for the England tour is in serious doubt, but hitting
two match-winning hundreds in the pressure of finals weekend is as strong a
case as he can make for retention.
The other
successful international batter was 22 year-old Curtis Heaphey, who made 105 in
a partnership of 257 with Young. The description “international batter” is not
wholly accurate. It has to be conceded that Heaphey has not actually represented New
Zealand at full international level. This is a mere detail. He has the phrase in
his DNA, just as a stick of English seaside rock has Margate, or wherever,
right through it. Unlike most promising young players of the modern era, he
could have come from any time in the game’s history.
After 24
first-class games he averages 46 at a strike rate of 40. In 50 overs it is 53
at 68 and in T20, 25 at 110. The latter won’t do much for his bank balance at
this stage, but he bats as if that doesn’t matter. Here, his innings was
perfect for the occasion and went much of the way to winning the trophy for his
team, just as another century in the final group game got them to the final. The
best reason for omitting Young and/or Nicholls from the tour party to England
is so that Heaphey can take their place. Central’s win was comfortable: by six
wickets with 13 balls to spare.
This was an
immensely enjoyable weekend’s cricket, especially for me, returning to the cricket
for the first time in three months. But it was nothing like any of the 24
domestic one-day finals that I attended at Lord’s from 1967 to 1997. The crowds
on each of the three days were small, even on the two that on which Wellington played
on their home ground. It wasn’t considered worth the rigmarole that goes along
with charging for admission, which was free. The games were not advertised. The
Basin Reserve remains a public thoroughfare when no tickets are being sold, so
hundreds passed through as these matches were being played, mostly oblivious to
the knowledge that they were in proximity to domestic cricket at its peak. The
only concession made to public comfort was the arrival of a chip van for the
last two days. There was TV coverage, but only on TVNZ’s streaming service. When
I last observed so few cameras being used to cover a game, Tom Graveney was playing.
We will
enjoy it while we can.
