LPW makes history

We won't elaborate on Garry MacDonald's opening gambit, but it's fair to say that Lancaster Park-Woolston were in a celebratory mood after his team clinched the national club cricket title in Auckland yesterday afternoon.

It wasn't just the winning which delighted him either. The manner of LPW's victory was also hugely satisfying, finishing the week-long tournament unbeaten to become the first Canterbury team to take sole possession of the national crown.

The hard work was done on Saturday, when Auckland's Howick-Pakuranga were beaten by four wickets, to set up a decider against Hutt Districts on Wellington yesterday.

"We were quite pleased that we were playing Wellington (Hutt) because we thought, without being arrogant, that we could beat them," MacDonald said.

"Auckland (Howick) could've powered up a little bit today [by including players from Auckland's State Championship-winning team], so we wanted to keep them out of the final."

It's one thing to be confident, but quite another to hand Hutt the seven-wicket hiding that ensued. Left-arm spinner Marty Kain took four for eight from his 10 overs and off-spinner James Baxendale two for 22, as Hutt were rolled for 120.

With Keryn Ambler making 60 not out, LPW cruised to their target of 121 with 26 overs to spare.

"Marty has been outstanding all tournament," MacDonald said.

"Andrew Ellis has been our leader, with bat and ball, Simon Allen has done very well with the bat, along with Andrew Duncan and everyone's done their bit really.

"It's nice to go through unbeaten. It's only been done twice in the 17 years of the tournament, so we've played pretty well and I think it's fair to say we deserve the title.

"I think East-Shirley may have shared the tournament [title] on a couple of occasions, but I'm absolutely sure that we're the first Canterbury team to win it outright."

- © Fairfax NZ News