Batting second proves to be big advantage

Soggy pitches meant players who batted second, like Marist and Manawatu's David Meiring, had by far the best of the conditions in club cricket on Saturday.

All captains bemoaned the state of the premier one pitches, which hadn't been covered when the morning rain fell and were described as "wet, green and soft".

They were drier when Meiring added yet another century, 126 not out, as Marist beat Palmerston by six wickets with plenty of time to spare.

Chasing 207, Meiring and fellow rep player Roald Badenhorst (46) came out blazing and most scoring shots went to the boundary.

They hit the ball cleanly and Meiring survived being dropped in the late 90s off a screamer to the fine-leg boundary.

Marist had won the toss in their game and put Palmerston in.

Despite an aggressive 78 from opener Jimmy Kirk, which included five sixes, it paid off when the redcaps were 110 for six.

Two recalled veterans, David Hands and Rob Robinson, saved Palmerston with a stout last-wicket stand.

Also back for Marist was former Manawatu spinner Luke Toynbee.

The Palmerston North Boys' High School batsmen found life treacherous on the wet pitch against Freyberg and also lost by six wickets.

In a short game, Boys' High were rumbled in just 28.5 overs for 85, their top three batsmen not getting past 14 as rep squad bowler Johnny Lash and Willie Murrie shared nine wickets.

Freys took just 19.5 overs to get the runs, Dane Cleaver continuing his fine Hawke Cup batting until run out for 36.

Freyberg are top of the table with six wins to Marist's five, Old Boys' four, United's three, Palmerston's two and Boys' High's one.

United stayed in the top-three chase by beating Old Boys by four wickets after Old Boys had been dismissed for 94 in 29 overs.

None of the Old Boys' batsmen went on after making starts on the difficult pitch.

The same applied to United, which won in the 35th over, but it would have been close had Old Boys taken all of their catches.

Scott Davidson was the best of the attack with four wickets.

SATURDAY'S SCORES

PNBHS 84 (Sam Vanderkolk 14, Robbie Yule 14, Cameron Rowe 14, Mitchell Renwick 10; Johnny Lash 5-28/10, Willie Murrie 4-16/7) lost to Freyberg 85-4 (Dane Cleaver 36, Tim Hall 20*; Daniel Barr 3-31/6) by 6 wkts.

Old Boys 94 (Scott Davidson 18, Josh Jaques 17, Vili Tosi 15,Robbie Laird 1-; Jason McGregor 3-53, Jarred Cunningham 2-10, Matt Ball 2-16, C Harris 2-11) lost to United 95-6 (A Holland 23, Cunningham 15, McGregor 18; Davidson 4-25/10, Bryn Templeman 2-37) by 4 wkts.

Palmerston 207 (Jimmy Kirk 78, David Hands 27*, Rob Robinson 39; Cameron Fenton 2-30, David Meiring 3-47/10, Luke Toynbee 3-24/10) lost to Marist 211-4 (Roald Badenhorst 46, David Meiring 126*; Russell Swindells 2-34/7, David Hands 2-29/7) by 6 wkts.

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