Karori cricket's highs and lows

National title sweetener

BY JOSEPH ROMANOS

Karori's senior cricket team went from despair to joy within days at the end of the season.

After dominating the club season by winning the one-day competition and leading the points table at the end of the two-day matches, Karori capitulated in humiliating fashion to Eastern Suburbs in the final.

However, they picked themselves up quickly and had a golden run in the national club one-day finals in Auckland to win the tournament convincingly.

"It was a strange week," said coach Glenn Pocknall. "We had looked forward to the Wellington final for weeks, planning and building towards it.

"Then we played really poorly and didn't do ourselves justice at all."

Karori were bowled out for 67 and 70 and lost by eight wickets in a little over a day of a match scheduled for three days.

"We were rocked at the start and never really got back into it.

"When Easts batted we had them 30-odd for seven I thought we might be okay, but Lance Dry, their captain, came in and hit the ball around. He took the game away from us.

"We were a young team and maybe some of our guys didn't respond well to the pressure of the final. Easts are very good at applying pressure. They've won the competition nine times in a row, an incredible record."

Pocknall said Karori had to quickly put the result behind them because they headed to Auckland immediately for the national club final, which they qualified for by winning the Wellington one-day competition.

In Auckland, Karori lost only one match, to East Shirley of Christchurch, after having already qualified for the final.

They outplayed powerful University Grange of Dunedin by eight wickets with 35 overs to spare in the final.

A highlight of the week was an explosive double-century by Simon Allen against Mt Maunganui.

"It was an amazing innings," said Pocknall. "It was a small ground, but Simon batted so well it still would have been a very big score on a full-size ground."

Karori have introduced several youngsters into their senior team over the past two years, including Harry Boam, Tom Blundell, Tom Gibson, Harry Wright and Tom Logan, and Pocknall said this had led to healthy rivalry within the club.

"Guys can't just get into the seniors and cruise. There are other players pushing for senior spots, so people know they need to keep performing.

"We had seven players score club centuries this season. Our previous record was four."

Karori's top run-scorer during the club season was, once again, Stephen Murdoch with 552, followed by Blundell 464 and Mark Ellison 462. Lee Edwards, swinging the ball at a brisk pace, was top wicket-taker with 56, followed by Sunnie Chan, with 39.

A key to Karori's success was the captaincy of all-rounder Simon Baker. "Simon has become a very good captain," said Pocknall. "He takes a lot of time to ensure the younger guys are looked after and feel included. You don't always see that in club cricket."

- The Wellingtonian