A roundup of premier club cricket games played in Dunedin at the weekend.
Green Island 286/2dec beat Albion 139 by 147 runs
Mayank Malhotra and Brad Kneebone should take a holiday more often.
The Green Island opening pair marked the return of the Dunedin premier club competition from the Christmas break with a spectacular partnership at Sunnyvale on Saturday.
They combined for an astonishing opening stand against Albion of 208 — and this is the part where we ask local statisticians if any records were broken.
Malhotra made an unbeaten even 100 and Kneebone contributed 118 as Green Island posted 286 for two from 51 overs before declaring the innings closed.
Interestingly, neither batter cleared the ropes, so this was no smash-bash cricket.
Malhotra made his ton off a relatively measured 147 balls, striking eight fours, while Kneebone’s knock came off 138 balls and featured 13 boundaries.
Albion’s sigh of relief when Lahiru Vimukthi dismissed Kneebone did not last long.
Joel Meade came to the crease and flogged 56 off 27 balls, smashing five sixes and one four, to keep the momentum going.
Albion’s reply got off to a decent if unspectacular beginning as Luke Marsh (29), Joshua Olliver (21) and Dylan Fletcher (29) got handy starts.
But when that trio departed, the target seemed very large indeed, and while Albion battled through to the 54th over, they were dismissed for 139.
Daniel Lawrence had a nice day out for Green Island, claiming five for 33 from 11 overs, while Blair Soper had three for 34.
CDK 143 beat University-Grange 98 by 45 runs
Ball very much ruled the bat at Tonga Park.
CDK did not set the world on fire by scoring 143 from 37.4 overs, but University-Grange could manage only 98 from one fewer deliveries.
Lower-order batter Harry Sixton celebrated his call-up to the Volts with 43 off 61 balls (five fours, one six) and Thomas O’Connor’s 39 was the other score of note for the Hounds.
CDK captain Benedict Hardie did most of the damage with the ball, claiming four for 14 in a wrecking-ball eight-over spell, and got good support from Andrew Hazeldine (three for 18 from 11 overs).
Batting conditions were tricky for University-Grange and their reply got off to a shaky start when both openers were removed by O’Connor for ducks.
Jesse Valpy’s 14 was gutsy — he lasted 63 balls — and Joel Pannell provided some late hope with 20 off 24 balls.
There was an inevitability to the result, however, as O’Connor finished with four for 15 from 14 overs (six maidens) and Aansh Amin contributed three for 16.
The game between Taieri and North East Valley at Brooklands was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
