Local boy Ross Taylor returned to form in emphatic style to guide Central Districts to a five-wicket victory over Northern Districts in a State Shield one-day cricket match at Queen Elizabeth Park yesterday.
CD won the toss and put the Knights into bat. Openers James Marshall and Nick Worsley settled in well and looked to be finding their rhythm when CD fast bowler Brendon Diamanti came into the attack.
He took three wickets in quick succession, making short work of the ND lower batting order.
Scott Styris managed to restore some order to the Knights line up and formed a useful partnership with Joseph Yovich, who scored 23 runs in 2? Balls.
Peter McGlashan batted an intelligent innings with Styris who was eventually bowled by Brent Hefford for 43. McGlashan went on to score the top hit of the ND innings with 65 runs.
The Knights ended their fifty overs with one wicket in hand and a defendable total of 215.
After a strong start ND may have been disappointed with the middle order collapse at the hand of Diamanti's impressive bowling, but some strong batting from Black Cap, Scott Styris and McGlashan managing to post respectable scores with some fine batsmanship.
CD captain and spin bowler, Glen Sulzberger, bowled well getting some bounce and turn from the Masterton wicket, bagging two wickets and keeping the scoring low.
The crowd had swelled considerably by half time and though light drizzle threatened to turn into something more ominous the spectators were in good spirits, with a strong contingent from Wairarapa College making their opinions known to anybody within earshot.
Cricketing legend, Sir Richard Hadlee was among the onlookers. He said he was impressed with the bowling of Brendon Diamanti, who at one stage was four wickets for four runs. Also on hand to enjoy some first class first class cricket was ex Fonterra Chief Craig Norgate.
Local cricketing icon Brendan Bracewell said he was confident in a Central District win after the Northern Districts team came up short of a big total to chase.
"This is great wicket, with great cricketing conditions. Right from half time I thought Northern districts were 50-60 runs short. It is much the same as last year," he says.
The Central Districts Stags lost one of their key strikers early on in their innings when Graeme Aldridge bowled Craig Spearman for six.
Fellow opener, Jamie How went on to form a formidable partnership with local boy, Ross Taylor.
At 25 overs the Stags were cruising to victory, with only 99 runs needed for the win. The Knights seemed to have trouble securing a breakthrough wicket that could turn the tide in their favour.
How eventually became Aldridge's second scalp with another cleaned bowled, on a score of sixty.
Matthew Sinclair was unable to capitalise on CD's commanding position and was caught off the bowling of Daryl Tuffey. Jarrod Englefield put Tuffey sitting on a hat trick when he was bowled out the following ball.
Taylor had become the hometown hero with the crowd willing him on to a century. This was not be, as he finally succumbed to one of Tuffey's deliveries, getting caught behind one run shy of a hundred.
Taylor's dismissal at 99 gave hope to the northerners, but the late charge was too little too late, and CD settled down and closed out the game with five wickets to spare in the 43rd over.
Ross Taylor was born in Wairarapa and played for Wairarapa College and Lansdowne senior team.
After the match he was modest about his role in his team's victory.
"I don't think I am the star, I just got the most runs. We just wanted the win the match."
He said he was happy to be able to put in a good performance in front of his home crowd.
"It's always good to come home, and know where your home is. The pitch was good. I think if you took your time it was easy to get runs."
Bracewell was quick to praise Taylor's efforts with the bat after he was dropped early on in his innings.
"It's fantastic to see Ross Taylor with a little bit of luck and get out there and really dominate the bowlers."
He was also optimistic about Central Districts chances for the remainder of the season.
"This really sets them. They've shown what a good one-day side they are. A lot of depth right throughout the team," he says.
Taylor's father was also in the crowd watching his son bat his team to victory.
"I'm very proud watching him face up to some of New Zealand's top bowlers," says Neil Taylor.
Taylor has just come off a hamstring injury and needed a good performance to show he was fit.
"He's had a bad run lately and this is bound to give him some confidence," said Mr Taylor.
The highest scoring batsman on the ND side, Peter McGlashan, said he also had connections to the Queen Elizabeth Park.
"I've played here a lot in the past, it's my second home ground,"
He said though the ND team were disappointed to lose the match, there were also some good points to be had from the game.
Northern Districts
J Marshall c Spearman b Diamanti...................17
N Horsley c Griggs b Diamanti.........................22
A Evans c Sulzberger b Diamanti ....................10
S Styris b Hefford .............................................43
H Marshall b Diamanti ........................................5
M Hart c Diamante b Sulzberger ...................... 2
J Yovich lbw b Sulzberger ................................23
P McGlashan c Englefld b Hefford ................ 65
D Tuffey b Hefford............................................... 2
M Orchard not out...............................................6
G Aldridge not out ..............................................1
Extras (6b, 3lb, 9w, 1nb) ..................................19
Total (for 9 wkts 50 overs) ..............................215
Fall: 46, 48, 57, 64, 74, 102, 198, 200, 208.
Bowling: L Hamilton 10-1-48-0 (1nb, 2w), B Hefford 10-0-38-3 (2w), B Diamanti 10-2-39-4 (3w), G Sulzberger 10-0-34-2 (1w), A Schwass
10-1-47-0 (1w).
Central Districts
C Spearman b Aldridge......................................6
J How b Aldridge............................................. 60
R Taylor c McGlashan b Aldridge .....................99
M Sinclair c Hart b Tuffey .................................. 7
J Englefld b Tuffey ..............................................0
G Sulzberger not out........................................ 18
B Griggs not out................................................. 8
Extras (5lb, 13w, 2nb).......................................20
Total (for 5 wkts, 42.2 overs).......................... 218
Fall: 11, 183, 192, 192, 192.
Bowling: D Tuffey 10-2-39-2 (1nb, 4w), G Aldridge 10-0-37-3 (2w), S Styris 7.2-0-30-0, J Yovich 7-0-59-0 (1nb, 4w), M Orchard 3-0-17-0 (2w), M Hart 3-0-17-0, A Evans 2-0-14-0 (1w).
Result: Central Districts won by five wickets.
Taylor guides CD to victory
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