Onerahi Central skipper Todd Beehre will hope to be in the runs come February 14 when his side takes on Maungakaramea for one-day glory. Photo / File
Onerahi Central skipper Todd Beehre will hope to be in the runs come February 14 when his side takes on Maungakaramea for one-day glory. Photo / File
The Onerahi Central premier cricket team will be hoping to break their 50-over hoodoo come February 14 when they line up against Maungakaramea.
Onerahi, also known as "The Corns" on account of their unicorn mascot, won twice over the weekend to qualify first in Northland's premier cricket Lion Red Cup one-day competition and set up a final against Maungakaramea at Whangārei's Cobham Oval.
Playing in Maungakaramea on Saturday, the visitors did well to restrict the hosts to 175 for 8 from their 50 overs. Maungakaramea's Daniel Grimes was the main source of resilience with a hard-fought 61 from 133 balls.
Onerahi paceman Sean Daniels picked up three wickets while Mandeep Singh and Sam Walker grabbed two apiece.
Onerahi's chase was fairly untroubled throughout, besting Maungakaramea's total by six wickets with 11 overs remaining. Number three batsman Fletcher Coutts anchored the innings with 58, alongside Tom Herman (38) and returning Northern Districts batsman Henry Cooper (36).
Northern Districts batsman Henry Cooper returned for his club side on Saturday. Photo / File
On Sunday, Onerahi took on a confident Northern side who had overcome Kaipara Flats the day before. Batting first at Whangārei's Kensington Park, Onerahi amassed 249 for 9 with Coutts in the runs again with 63, supported by skipper Todd Beehre (42) and Jarrod McLeod (40).
In response, Northern struggled to maintain the necessary run-rate after two early wickets. Six Onerahi bowlers picked up wickets as their side claimed the win by 72 runs.
The back-to-back wins now made it seven in a row for The Corns in the one-day format, a promising sign ahead of February 14.
"We've just been growing in confidence with every win, [there's] nothing like winning," Beehre said.
He estimated it had been about eight years since Onerahi had last lifted 50-over silverware. Their last finals win had come in the T20 competition about four years ago.
However, the wicketkeeper/batsman said the team had seen good performances from a range of candidates when crucial players were out with injury.
"It's not just the usual suspects, we've had a few injuries to some key guys and guys that you wouldn't expect have really put their hand up and won the games for us.
"It's been different guys each week."
Beehre said he expected a tough opponent in Maungakaramea come finals day.
"We know we're in for a big challenge with Maungakaramea, it took a really good performance on the weekend to beat them and we know that they'll be hurting a little bit, so they'll come at us strong. It'll be a bloody good game."
Maungakaramea captain Neal Parlane was aware of how dangerous Onerahi could be. Photo / File
Maungakaramea captain Neal Parlane said Onerahi were the form team of the competition and said it would take a solid performance to break their winning streak.
"We've been pretty inconsistent, with bat and ball. In most of the games we've played, someone's put their hand up and dragged the rest of us over the line," he said.
"It'd be nice for something like that to happen in the final, but you need everyone to step up and play a part, especially with a team like Onerahi who, when they're high on confidence, they hunt as a pack pretty well."
