“But then they got their act together and they have a good seam attack.
“We couldn’t cope, they were better than us with ball in hand.”
Paceman Jack Harris (6-43) was the chief destroyer, while Matt Rowe, who back in March made national headlines for taking six wickets in one over for Palmerston North Boys’ High 1st XI, finished with 2-22.
Only Ross Kinnerley (41 not out) batting at No 9 was able to both play himself in and then begin to work the bowlers around, but he ran out of tail-enders to support him, being stranded short of a deserved 50.
In reply, anchored by Mason Hughes (82), by the end of the day Manawatu had worked their way to a 97-run lead off nearly the same number of overs Whanganui had faced.
Jerome Robinson (29) and Arana Noema-Barnett (34) combined with Hughes, and after they went, Trent McGrath (75) and skipper Bevan Small (52) took over.
“Clearly, I’m getting sick of saying we’ve got to score runs in the first innings,” said Marr.
“Overnight, we knew they were going to come hard at us this morning.”
Whanganui’s bowling lines had not been too flash on Saturday either, but come Sunday morning they made the hosts work for their runs — spinner Hadleigh O’Leary (2-68) combining with skipper Greg Smith for both a catch and run-out.
Still, sent back in with well over 70 overs left in the day and trailing by 185 runs, Whanganui had a tough task ahead, and while Harris picked up opener Joel Clark in both innings and Greg Smith fell to Brad Fulton, that brought together Ben Smith and Hobbs.
For the rest of the afternoon and into the early evening, the pair thwarted everything that a frustrated Manawatū threw at them — ultimately giving nine players a turn at bowling.
Last year at Tasman Tanning (Victoria) Park, Whanganui had also managed to survive the day by seeing off 87 overs, but they had only one wicket left and were totally defensive, scoring 127 as they simply hunkered down under the barrage.
Smith and Hobbs were different; they defended but still played their shots to break up the bowlers’ rhythm and eventually their confidence — striking 22 boundaries and two sixes between them.
Marr was delighted that Hobbs, in his sophomore season, got to work with Smith, who did not have to protect him from the strike.
The youngster — who gets his pedigree from his father and uncle at the Wanganui United club — played a chance-less innings until his late dismissal, which after 178 balls was more from fatigue than anything else.
“That innings of Carter Hobb’s today, I can’t speak highly enough of him.
“I’m hoping that’s a defining innings for him. That is a seriously decent attack [he faced].
“That partnership saved the game for us. To bat through a whole session without losing a wicket is sensational.
“[Manawatū] tried everything. That’s our duty as cricketers, when we can’t win the game we have to deny the other team from winning it.”
Hobbs deserved a century but when he finally fell to a catch his job was done, with O’Leary joining Smith to see off the last of the 77 overs at 255-3.
Smith, who has committed to Whanganui for the full campaign, raised his record seventh century for the association, facing 195 balls, to once again move ahead of his teammate in veteran Mark Fraser on six centuries.
“Dogger was happy to sit with his feet up and watch it. He had his pads on for most of the day,” said Marr.
“The feeling of the group is still really positive, we know Manawatū and Hawke’s Bay are the benchmark.”
Captain Greg Smith was also pleased his side had the better of Sunday’s play.
“We all had the belief from ball 1 that we could bat the whole day.
“There was a fantastic partnership there, great to see a young player that has potential but hasn’t shown it yet, to [now] show he can play at this level.
“We can take the positives, but we have the disappointment because we know we can do the first innings as well.
“A Whanganui of old would have folded today.”
Result: Draw, Manawatū win 1st innings points.
Saturday also had the second round of games for the Premier 2 Twenty20 competition, with two teams holding unbeaten records at the top of the table.
Matt Burke Engineering Marton Saracens picked up a comfortable 30-run win over Wanganui Old Boys-Tech, while Whanganui Renegades claimed a big 60-run victory over the Whanganui High School side — in the schoolboys’ second match of the day after they defeated Property Brokers United P2′s earlier.
SCOREBOARD
Matt Burke Engineering Marton Saracens 143-3 (D Rayner 68, D Ford 28no, L Burke 20) bt Wanganui Old Boys-Tech 113-3 (D Rayner 3-10) by 30 runs.
Property Brokers United 79-6 (D Keane 21, T Lockett 18no; L Hoekstra 3-16) lost to Whanganui High School 80-2 (N Burroughs 26no, L Symes 23no) by eight wickets.
Wanganui Vet Services Marist 2nd XI 166-2 (Z O’Keefe 82, T Hesketh 41no, K Watkin 23no) bt Kaitoke Knight Riders 105-9 (C Annabell 52, F Edwards 16no; K Watkin 4-7) by 61 runs.
Whanganui Renegades 124-4 (N Sherborne 64, J Donaldson 18, B Heap 15no; H Burroughs 2-15) bt Whanganui High School 64 (N Burroughs 20; R Balsley 3-7, L Brennan 3-20, A Thomas 2-4) by 60 runs.
