Otago-SC cricket thriller

An opening partnership of 188 runs by Craig Davies with 129 and Jeremy Liddy, 69, put the South Canterbury cricket team in a dominant position against Otago Country in their final Hawke Cup match of the season.

But no-one told Otago Country and the match went right to the wire.

The match began with Otago Country needing first-innings points to tie with North Otago at the top of the table, and win the right to challenge for the Hawke Cup because they had beaten North Otago in pool play. This probably affected their decision to play to their strength and bowl first, but a South Canterbury side soon took control of the game and never looked back.

Davies and Liddy took their time to get used to the bounce at Aorangi, but when they went to lunch, the score was 149.

It was hard work for the Country bowlers, but eventually the breakthrough came when Liddy was out caught for 69. Davies lost his next two partners cheaply, perhaps a reflection on their four-hour wait with pads on, before he finally fell for 129.

Country perked up, but poor catching did not help their cause as Alexander McKenzie made 47 after a couple of early chances.

Glenn Matthews made 21 and Andy Scott made the most of his return to the team with an impressive 45 not out when he ran out of partners. South Canterbury had posted 376 and left plenty for Country to do.

Matthews and Craig Hinton soon made breakthroughs to have Country reeling at 30-3 before finishing the day at 56-3.

Day two dawned even hotter and the South Canterbury side was set for a long day in the field. The first three-hour session only heralded one wicket when Hinton removed Brendan Domigan, the Otago Country captain, for 45 but James Pyle at the other end seemed in little trouble, and with new partner Fraser Wilson, put Otago Country right back in the match when they went to lunch with the score 226-4.

After lunch Wilson played inside the line and was bowled by Todd Elliotte for 91. A few runs later and Pyle played lazily at a delivery outside off and was caught by Elliotte. Matthews trapped Petre lbw and South Canterbury were back in charge.

Cameron Rutherford and Ronnie Kotkamp put on a big partnership, however, and went to tea only needing 46 more runs.

After tea, Elliotte brought his main strike bowlers back on as South Canterbury looked for a breakthrough, but it didn't come until Otago had 371 and only required seven more runs.

Hinton, bowling his 35th over, caught the edge of Kotkamp's bat and it flew low through to keeper Andy Scott who took the catch. Ben Purvis was left to face the last five balls of the over while Rutherford, now 58 not out, could only watch from the far end.

Hinton's first delivery was right on the spot rapping the batsman's pads. The team went up in appeal, the umpire obliged, and Otago Country was dismissed for 371 giving South Canterbury the first innings win.

- © Fairfax NZ News