Stan Mair bowling to Chch Metro on his way to taking 3-34
Canterbury Metro sneaked past South Canterbury nine wickets down, in a nail biting finish to their 50-over clash at the Aorangi Bowl on Sunday.
A four from No.11 batsmen Grant Stewart on the first ball of the 48th over secured Metro the Stokes-Blanchard Memorial Trophy.
It wasn’t the batting performance South Canterbury coach Nick Horsley was after with the team’s first Hawke Cup game on Saturday against Mid Canterbury but the bowling unit went well.
South Canterbury had set Metro 196 to win but the target looked to be about 30 runs short on an even pitch.
Sent into bat South Canterbury were in early trouble as Metro’s opening bowler Stewart claimed two early scalps.
Stewart had opener James Laming out leg before wicket for just four and then clean bowled first drop Tim Leonard for just one run.
When Adam Beck fell for 22, South Canterbury had just 43 runs on the board.
Liam Beck and Prabodha Arthavidu then rescued the innings with a 100 run partnership.
Beck put together a tidy, top scoring knock of 68 while Arthavidu also looked comfortable making 58, including six fours and a six.
After they departed South Canterbury showed little resistance, all out 195, after batting 49.1 overs.
Nick Turner was the best of the Metro bowlers grabbing 4-36 off 8.1 overs while Ben Cochrane also impressed with 3-43 off his 10.
South Canterbury’s opening bowlers Stan Mair and Craig Hinton gave their side the perfect start.
Both were among the wickets early, having Metro struggling at 3-20.
A well compiled 47 from James Carr and 46 from Charlie Grey got Metro back on track before they both went back to the pavilion.
With two other wickets also falling quickly South Canterbury looked back in charge with Metro reeling at 7-135.
However a great knock of 55 from No.8 batsman Mitch Dimond swung the game back Metro’s way.
Dimond looked like he was going to see Metro home with a big six off James Laming but was dismissed a ball later on the boundary when he couldn’t quite repeat the same shot.
Ben Cochrane then had a rush of blood and skied a ball off Tom Costley, leaving Metro needing four runs to win, with one wicket left.
Stewart’s well struck boundary then saw his side home.
For South Canterbury Hinton returned the miserly figures of 1-13 off his 10 overs while Mair impressed with 3-35.
Scoresheet
Stokes Blanchard Memorial 50/50 One Day match
South Canterbury v Christchurch Metro 27 November 2016
Toss Won By: South Canterbury who chose to bat first
South Canterbury Innings:
A Beck ct b Cochrane 22
J Laming lbw b Stewart 4
T Leonard b Stewart 1
L Beck ct b Cochrane 68
P Arthavidu ct b Vann 59
G Drake ct Keeper b Turner 1
S Porter ct Keeper b Turner 4
S Carlaw* ct b Turner 2
T Costley b Cochrane 11
S Mair ct b Turner 2
C Hinton not out 4
B 0 LB 3 W 13 NB 1 Extras: 17
Total: 195-10
FoW: 16 (Laming), 19 (Leonard), 43 (A Beck), 144 (Arthavidu), 147 (Drake), 171 (Porter), 176 ( L Beck), 178 (Carlaw), 190 (Costley), 195 (Mair).
Bowling: N Columbus 6-1-11-0, G Stewart 10-2-31-2, D Vann 10-0-41-1, B Cochrane 10-1-43-3, N Turner 7.1-0-36-4, J Carr 6-0-30-0
Christchurch Metro Innings:
D Vann ct A Beck b Mair 7
M House ct Drake b Mair 4
S Van Zanten ct Drake b Hinton 5
J Carr* ct Drake b Blackstock 47
C Grey ct A Beck b Mair 46
J Leech lbw b Carlaw 2
M Newton-Vesty ct A Beck b Blackstock 3
M Dimond ct L Beck b Laming 55
B Cochrane ct Drake b Costley 9
G Stewart not out 8
N Turner not out 0
B 1 LB 1 W 6 NB 4 Extras: 12
Total: 198-9
FoW: 10 (House), 18 (Van Zanten), 20 (Vann), 79 (Grey), 110 (Leech), 115 (Newton-Vesty), 135 (Carr), 185 (Dimond), 192 (Cochrane).
Bowling: S Mair 10-2-34-3, C Honton 10-4-13-1, T Costley 6.1-0-44-1, S Carlaw 10-2-48-1, J Blackstock 8-0-43-2, J Laming 4-1-14-1.
Result: Christchurch Metro won by one wicket.