Canterbury/Otago teams claim over-50 cricket titles

A superb century by former first-class cricketer Andrew Hore guided the Canterbury/Otago Mainlanders to the New Zealand over-50s Interprovincial division one title at Horton Park this afternoon.

Hore racked up 145 from 136 balls, belting 12 fours and six sixes along the way. He opened the innings and had early trouble finding a partner. At 51-4 the Mainlanders were struggling for traction before Paul Henry joined Hore and the pair carried the score through to 258 in the 43^rd over of the 45-over clash. Henry scored 34 before retiring hurt, then Brent Fleming took over, hammering 45 from 41 balls to help his side post a very respectable 288-5.

With so many big scores being registered in the five-day tournament, the Mainlanders’ total was far from out of reach, but their attack had other ideas, most bowling economically while picking up key wickets at key moments.

Adil Somani steadied the ship for Districts after some early damage, scoring 89 from 77 and putting together a 128-run partnership with Bert Horner, who ended on 57. When the pair were dismissed the asking rate was nearly three runs per ball, an equation that proved well out of reach of the Districts lower order, their side finishing on 249-9 to lose by 39 runs.

On Horton Park three, the local Wellington/Tasman Firehawks side ended their tournament on a high with a four-wicket win over Auckland Cavaliers.

In the third and fourth play-off match, Auckland registered a competitive 264-8 batting first, 84 from Adrian Dale the Cavaliers’ highlight. Navindra Herath, 3-42 from nine, was the most successful Firehawks’ bowler, while Richard Petrie and Simon Clarke both bagged a brace.

Wellington/Tasman reached their target with seven balls remaining. Their reply was based around a patient 85 from 126 balls from opener Mason Robinson, the former Marlborough rep being the final wicket to fall with the score at 222 in the 40^th over.

Earlier, Jason Campbell belted a quickfire 48 from 27 balls to lift the momentum, while Petrie’s 38  from 36 also contributed to the successful run quest.

Amertej Randhawa’s 3-51 spearheaded the Auckland bowling effort.

The division two title was also won by Canterbury/Otago, who came out on top of a thriller against Auckland at Oliver Park.

Auckland posted 299-5 batting first, Stuart Jenson scoring 118, but the Mainlanders, helped by 114 from opener Tom Music, kept the runs flowing. Needing 18 runs from the final over the equation was slanted towards Auckland, however Wayne Robbins and Pierre Flavell got the job done, Robbins hitting four consecutive fours to clinch the title.

The third/fourth play-off was won by Wellington/Tasman, who defeated Districts by four wickets.