The Fergus Hickey Rosebowl two-day match between Bay of Plenty and Hamilton played over the weekend in Hamilton featured a remarkable last-wicket stand of 220 that won the encounter for the home side.
Bay of Plenty bowled first and grabbed their first wicket with just five runs on the board. Sustained attack by Sean Davey, who finished with five wickets, contained the Hamilton batsmen. When Bay of Plenty had the Waikato side 189-9 they looked to be well in control.
However, Hamilton number 11 Freddy Walker had other ideas when he arrived at the crease. In tandem with number three Anish Desai, the pair put up a remarkable 220-run stand for the tenth wicket. Desai anchored his team innings to finish with 165 while Walker put on an outstanding display, hammering 150 runs off just 125 balls with 23 fours and a six.
It was his first century at senior level and enabled Hamilton to declare at 409/9.
Bay of Plenty reached 25-1 at stumps on day one. Things got worse early on day two, with Hamilton having the Bay in a deep hole at 56-5.