Eden Roskill batsmen in touch

Photos: FIONA GOODALL

IMPORTANT INNINGS: Eden Roskill batsman Sanjay Patel in action during their two-day match against Papatoetoe at the Papatoetoe Recreation Ground.

NEED FOR SPEED: Papatoetoe bowler Jack Dowd sends one down the wicket during his team’s game against Eden Roskill.

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Eden Roskill continued their recent surge of good form in the Blue Section of the Hedley Howarth Trophy two-day cricket competition, putting together a confident batting display against Papatoetoe on Saturday.

The ever-reliable Brad Staddon, 50, again top scored for his second-placed side, with Sanjay Patel, 43, Azhar Abbas, 39, and Chris Dittmer, 37, providing solid support at the Papatoetoe Recreation Ground.

Their efforts saw the visitors post 295, a score that would have been considerably more if it hadn't been for the efforts of Papatoetoe off-spinner Jack Dowd, who claimed 5-66.

In reply Papatoetoe made a solid start to be 53-1 in their chase for the first innings points they desperately need to press for a top three spot.

Meanwhile bottom-placed Grafton United put up a decent fight against Blue section leaders Howick Pakuranga at Lloyd Elsmore Park, eventually dismissing the home side for 312.

Grafton's Zahir Abrahim led the way for his side grabbing 4-74 and was well supported by Sri Rajasekar who picked up 3-32.

But the Grafton batsmen have a big job ahead when they resume their first innings at 48-2 on Saturday.

In the White section Cornwall is in a tight battle with East Coast Bays for first innings points at Cornwall Park.

Michael Guptill-Bunce, 78, led the way for the home side, who were eventually dismissed for 254.

East Coast Bays will have to show the same kind of application as Cornwall on day two after finishing the day on 40-2.

All games continue on Saturday, while the Jeff Crowe one-day competition play-off round takes place on Sunday.

Cornwall, the only local team who made the cut, will host Papatoetoe at Cornwall Park.

Hedley Howarth Trophy scoreboards:

Blue section: Eden Roskill 295 (Brad Staddon 50, Sanjay Patel 43, Azzhar Abbas 39, Chris Dittmer 37, Jack Dowd 5-66, Eamon O'Brien 4-68) lead Papatoetoe 53-1 after one day.

Howick Pakuranga 312 (Marc Craig 81, Michael Davis 69, Jamie Newth 37, Reza Fuard 33, Donovan Grobbelaar 33, Joe Leach 31, Zahir Abrahim 4-74, Sri Rajasekar 3-32) lead Grafton United 48-2 after one day.

University Ellerslie 235-9 (Matt Selby 50no, Konrad Kurta 42, Shaun Smith 42, Nick White 3-28) after one day.

White section: Parnell 236 (Tim McIntosh 111, Nick Turner 32, Victor Davies 3-35, Lassras Moolman 3-36) lead Suburbs New Lynn 51-3 (Nick Turner 3-12) after one day.

Cornwall 254 (Michael Guptill-Bunce 78, Dave Brown 41, James McCully 4-40, Brad Schmulian 3-72) lead East Coast Bays 40-2 after one day.

Takapuna 114 (James Fuller 4-34, Alex McDuff 3-13) and 27/2 trail North Shore 199/3 dec (Laurie Watson 79, Dan Jarman 48no, Oliver Allen 33no) after one day.

Points table after round three:

White section: Takapuna 37.47, Cornwall 30.92, Suburbs New Lynn 25.43, East Coast Bays 24.12, Parnell 21.16, North Shore 8.33.

Blue section: Howick Pakuranga 37.10, Eden Roskill 34.54, University/Ellerslie 24.51, Wai-takere City 23.17, Papatoetoe 22.84, Grafton United 18.46.

- © Fairfax NZ News