Photograph courtesy Heddfan Photography

Bay of Plenty Post Two Win – Three Loss Record at ND T20 Tournament

Posted: Friday, 11 December 2020

Craigs Investment Partners Bay of Plenty returned home from the annual ND Brian Dunning T20 tournament held in Taupo 6-8 December 2020, with a two win - three loss record on their ledger card.

Bay of Plenty Coach Daniel Flynn said “On the last day we managed to string together a couple of wins and give the guys a better understanding of how individually and collectively to go about their T20 cricket”.

“We showed a bit of character to turn things around which isn’t always easy to do in T20 cricket. They should come away better players for the experience, particularly the guys that haven’t played a lot of T20 cricket’.

Day three at Owen Delany Park, produced two solid victories including a rain affected rout of longtime Northern Districts rivals Hamilton. In the morning action, the Bay side batted first and posted a solid target at 146 for the loss of nine wickets, against Hamilton. Batting at four, Peter Drysdale led the way with 35 off 30 balls. Fergus Lellman kick-started his side innings with 32 off just 15 balls, with Dominic Crombie at nine, contributing a very handy 24 runs.

With rain clouds lurking around, which threatened to disrupt the Hamilton reply - the Waikato sides batsmen fell like nine-pins, as they attempted to kick start their run rate. When the game was called off after seven overs of the Hamilton innings, they were in real trouble, sitting on 23 for the loss of five wickets. Craig Baldry took three wickets for 11 runs, with Bay new recruit David Hancock returning figures of two wickets for five runs.

The score book will show that the Bay team got the result by way of the Duckworth Lewis method of deciding rain shortened matches.

Northern Districts Under 19 won the toss in the final stanza of the 2020 Taupo tournament and reached 140/5. Peter Drysdale and Dominic Crombie did some real damage with the ball, grabbing two wickets apiece.

Peter Drysdale, who was playing his 111th game for the Bay of Plenty senior representative side, again led the way with 59 not out with Fergus Lellman contributing at the top of the innings with 20 runs. Bay of Plenty got home, with four balls to spare and five wickets in hand, to end the 2020 Brian Dunning Trophy tournament with two wins and three losses.

Bay of Plenty didn’t get the result they wanted on the opening game of the ND Brian Dunning Trophy T20 title race. Opponents Counties Manukau won the toss and elected to bowl first, with plenty of early success. At six down with just 77 runs on the score-board, the Bay side were in some real trouble. Batting at seven, Daniel Price showed plenty of defiance and with the arrival of Iman Singh at the wicket, the Bay pair put on a 50 run partnership to take their side through to 139/8 in their twenty overs.

Two top-order wickets weren’t enough, as Luke Williamson and Sandeep Patel took Counties through to victory with the first ball of the 16th over.

Day two, saw the Bay of Plenty bat first in their two matches and while they posted reasonably competitive totals, they tasted defeat in both encounters.

Top order batsman Taylor Bettelheim and Peter Drysdale, jointly top scored with 46 runs in the morning round against Waikato Valley, with the Bay team finishing at 145 for the loss of eight wickets. The Valley side chased down the required target with five wickets to spare.

Tournament champions Northland, coasted to a eight wicket win over the Bay in their day two afternoon appointment. Bay of Plenty posted their highest score of the competition, reaching 154 for seven wickets. The best of the Bay sides turn at bat, were Taylor Bettelheim and skipper Ben Musgrave with 32 runs apiece. The Northland win came with the loss of just two wickets and three overs to spare.

“Our side didn’t make enough runs in the five games during the tournament. We batted first in all of our games bar one, and were always thirty to forty runs light, which makes it tough for the bowlers and in the field”, said Coach Flynn.

“Even the game against Hamilton we fell short of a par score, but the guys dug deep and showed some real fight to get the win”

Four other Bay of Plenty young men also played in the Northern Districts tournament, after being selected for the ND Under 19 XI, who replaced Poverty Bay in the 2020 competition. Niven Dovey, Liam Collett, Ben Vyver and Tim Pringle added plenty of additional knowledge to their burgeoning cricket experience.

Looking ahead to the second half of the Northern Districts Cricket calendar, the Bay of Plenty coach said, “We are looking forward to the last three games of two-day cricket. The team made a good Fergus Hickey Rosebowl start, with a first innings win against Northland and can hopefully continue that good form”.

ND Brian Dunning Trophy T20 Tournament @ Owen Delany Park, Taupo 6-8 December – Results

Day Three (8 December 2020)

Round Four: Craigs Investment Partners Bay of Plenty 146/9 (Peter Drysdale 35, Fergus Lellman 32, Dominic Crombie 24) defeated Hamilton 23/5 after seven overs (Craig Baldry 3/11. David Hancock 2/5) by way of the Duckworth Lewis method of deciding rain effected matches

Round Five: Northern Districts Under 19 140/5 (Tim Pringle 54; Peter Drysdale 2/19, Dominic Crombie 2/28) lost to Craigs Investment Partners Bay of Plenty 141/5 (Peter Drysdale 59no, Fergus Lellman 20)

Day Two (7 December 2020)

Round Two: Craigs Investment Partners Bay of Plenty 145/8 (Taylor Bettelheim 46, Peter Drysdale 46) lost to Waikato Valley 148/5 (DJ Kelliher 49; Peter Drysdale 2/7)

Round Three: Craigs Investment Partners Bay of Plenty 154/7 (Taylor Bettelheim 32, Ben Musgrave 32, Peter Drysdale 25) lost to Northland 155/2 (BL Hyde 53)

Day One (6 December 2020)

Round One: Craigs Investment Partners Bay of Plenty 139/8 (Daniel Price 35no, Stephen Crossan 27, Fergus Lellman 23; J Naylor 3/21) lost to Counties Manukau (LC Williamson 60no)