Cricket: Furlong Cup victory nears for Hawke's Bay men's side

Hawke's Bay senior men's coach Dave Castle, whose team have almost wrapped up the Furlong Cup title. Photo / File

The Hawke's Bay senior men's cricket side has all but secured the Furlong Cup and the Hawke Cup challenge that comes with it, with one round remaining.

The Pay Excellence-sponsored side defeated their Wairarapa opponents on the first innings, having posted an unreachable total of 374/6 on Saturday, day one of their Furlong Cup round four match at Nelson Park in Napier.

Captain Angus Schaw declared with Dominic Thompson and Todd Watson not out on 100 and 50 runs respectively.

The skipper had earlier made 70, while opener Bayley Wiggins scored 92 runs.

Leg spinner Brad Schmulian was the star with the ball, picking up 10 wickets over Wairarapa's two innings.

But although Hawke's Bay bowled them out for 105 in the 57th over of their first innings, they couldn't quite repeat the feat, as play was called at the end of the day with Wairarapa on 191/8.

Coach Dave Castle said while it was slightly disappointing not to get the outright win, the 13 competition points they earned were more than enough, with where they are in the standings.

One round of the two-day Furlong Cup remains, with Hawke's Bay due to play Taranaki in New Plymouth on February 13-14.

They are on top of the standings with 50 points, 14 ahead of Manawatū with a maximum of 16 points up for grabs in each match

"We're really happy, we had a lot to celebrate," Castle said.

"It's not a shoo-in, but the boys have worked very hard to get close to an unassailable position."

Nelson lifted the Hawke Cup at the weekend and will be in Hawke's Bay's sights at Saxton Oval.

The Indigo senior women's team defeated Wairarapa by seven wickets to stay unbeaten in the 40-over Mike Shrimpton Trophy competition through four rounds.

Hawke's Bay restricted Wairarapa to a total of 158/9, with Emma Findlay, Flora Devonshire and Niamh Muldowney grabbing two wickets each.

They chased that score down in the 30th over as captain Sophie Pyott top scored with 42.

The team's next match is against Taranaki in Palmerston North this Saturday, where a win would set them up to take the trophy for the third year in a row with one round remaining.

The Hawke's Bay under-19 men's Mavericks team lost the Kirk Cup to Poverty Bay's 1st XI at the Harry Barker Reserve in Gisborne on Sunday.

The hosts were able to chase down the Mavericks' total of 199 having lost just two wickets in a game that finished under the Duckworth-Lewis method.

The Hawke's Bay women's development team also lost a couple of Twenty20 matches against Poverty Bay women in Gisborne, by six and eight wickets.