Levin Old Boys hold on to Hugh Hall Shield in tense cricket final

Chad Law was a key figure in the Levin Old Boys triumph.

Levin Old Boys were crowned winners of the Hugh Hall Shield over a gallant Weraroa team who crowded the batsmen late in the match in an attempt to pull the game out of the fire.

Both sides shook hands when it became obvious Weraroa's hopes of bowling out LOB in the final session of the two-day match were forlorn.

Needing 151 for an outright victory in their second innings, LOB were not content to sleep- walk their way to victory by virtue of a first innings win.

LOB showed they were intent on an outright victory when opener Jamie Pinfold scored 10 runs from the first three balls in what was an aggressive start.

But when Jayden Dawson caught Pinfold the very next ball off the bowling of Adam Simonsen, and Bailey Te Tomo was bowled by Henry Dobson the very next over, the brakes went on the LOB innings.

Weraroa's fielders crowded the LOB batsmen like bees to a honeypot with sunset approaching, hanging on the hope of an avalanche of wickets, and at one stage had LOB reeling at 58-4 with a run out engineered by Carl Trask and Matt Good.

But LOB were too good to throw the game and hunkered down stubbornly for a well-deserved win that continued their mortgage on the trophy - their fourth win in six years.

It was Chad Law and Jarrod Bowick that dug in their toes as the not-out batsmen.

It was a sleepy Sunday morning session by the Weraroa batting line-up combined with some sharp LOB bowling that was a turning point in a match that was evenly poised at the end of the first days play.

Levin Old Boys had won the toss and batted first, setting a target of 229 on the back of a fine knock of 75 from the imposing figure of Law in the middle order.

Bowick chimed in with 35 and Jacob O'Brien with 24 as the LOB middle order steadied the ship after losing their top order cheaply.

Dobson was unlucky not to grab a five-wicket bag and was the pick of the Weraroa bowlers ending with 4-77, supported by Matt Good and veteran Carl Trask who also picked up a couple of wickets.

Weraroa conceded first inning points after bumbling their way to 123 with Fraser Bartholomew (4-38) and Mr X Salkhalker the pick of the bunch with 5-20 off 11 overs for LOB.

When sent back in to bat Weraroa looked to their veteran performer Carl Trask, who wound back the clock with a vintage performance to score 89 runs when looking on target for yet another century.

Trask, as good a batter as Horowhenua-Kāpiti had ever produced, had only played when he was available this season

The 46 year old was caught lbw by Ryan Taylor when playing forward to end his hopes of a deserved tonne, but he had helped Weraroa to reach 257, with Adam Simonsen (47), Thomas Morgan (29) and Locky Spring (25) also chipping in.

Daemon Kennet and Taylor were the best of the LOB bowlers with four wickets apiece.

Meanwhile, Weraroa had to farewell their import player Dobson, as he flew back to England yesterday.

SCOREBOARD:
Levin Old Boys 1st Innings
J Pinfold c TM Morgan b A.W.S Simonsen 9
R Taylor c TM Morgan b A.W.S Simonsen 0
B Te Tomo c JD Dawson b P O'Donnell 14
C Law c J Veerbeek b HB Dobson 75
J Bowick c TM Morgan b A.W.S Simonsen 35
J O'Brien c A.W.S Simonsen* b HB Dobson 24
D Kennett b HB Dobson 4
N O'Brien lbw b HB Dobson 0
L Pinfold c TM Morgan b CT Trask 34
X Sakhalkar lbw b CT Trask 7
FC Bartholomew not out 8
Extras (w 13, nb 4, b 1, lb 1) 19
Total (10 wickets; 63.4 overs) 229
Bowling: HB Dobson 17 1 77 4 A.W.S Simonsen 14.0 3 52 3 JD Dawson 5.0 1 15 0. P O'Donnell 6.0 2 12 1. M Good 15.0 4 53 0. VR Reshoda 2.0 0 13 0. CT Trask 4.4 0 5 2.
Weraroa 1st innings
HB Dobson c N O'Brien b FC Bartholomew 0
A.W.S Simonsen c J Pinfold b FC Bartholomew 30
BD De Burgh c J Pinfold b FC Bartholomew 9
M Good lbw b D Kennett 35
TM Morgan b FC Bartholomew 11
J Veerbeek c J Pinfold b X Sakhalkar 3
CT Trask b X Sakhalkar 1
L Spring not out 8
J Shaw b X Sakhalkar 4
JD Dawson b X Sakhalkar 0
VR Reshoda lbw b X Sakhalkar0
Extras (w 6, nb 8, b 4, lb 4) 22
Total (10 wickets; 48.0 overs) 123
Did not bat: P O'Donnell
Bowling: FC Bartholomew 16.04 38 4. L Pinfold 8.02 27 0. D Kennett 8.0 3 17 1. J O'Brien 4.4 1 13 0. X Sakhalkar 11.0 3 20 5.
Weraroa - second innings:
HB Dobson b D Kennett 8
A.W.S Simonsen c J Pinfold b X Sakhalkar 47
M Good c J Pinfold b D Kennett 16
BD De Burgh b D Kennett 4
CT Trask lbw b R Taylor 89
TM Morgan lbw b D Kennett 29
L Spring b R Taylor 25
J Shaw b R Taylor 4
J Veerbeek not out 3
JD Dawson b R Taylor 10
VR Reshoda not out 0
Extras (w 2, nb 4, b 14, lb 2) 22
Total (9 wickets; 58.0 overs) 257 Declared
Bowling: D Kennett 17.0 4 55 4. N O'Brien 1.0 0 15 0. X Sakhalkar 10.0 3 39 1. L Pinfold 5.0 0 28 0. FC Bartholomew 6 0 26 0. J O'Brien 10.0 0 44 0. R Taylor 9.0 2 34 4.
Levin Old Boys - second innings
J Pinfold c JD Dawson b A.W.S Simonsen 10
L Pinfold run out (M Good/CT Trask) 35
B Te Tomo b HB Dobson 1
R Taylor c J Veerbeek b M Good 7
C Law not out 8
J Bowick not out 6
Extras (w 1, nb 1, lb 2) 5
Total (4 wickets; 26.0 overs) 72 2.77 RPO
Did not bat: J O'Brien*, X Sakhalkar, N O'Brien, D Kennett, FC Bartholomew, C Kennett
Bowling: A.W.S Simonsen3.0 2 11 1. HB Dobson 5.0 1 22 1. M Good 7.0 4 6 1. CT Trask 4.0 1 20 0. B De Burgh 6.0 2 8 0. JD Dawson 1.0 0 3 0.