The South Canterbury men’s cricket side suffered a loss at the hands of a former All Black to start off their pre-season campaign.
Former All Black lock James Ryan led his Canterbury Country side to a three-wicket win in Ashburton. The former Otago lock hit 133, which included eight sixes and 15 fours.
South Canterbury bowler Kevin Teahen had ripped the heart out of the top order, having initial figures of four for 17 before Ryan came to the crease.
Earlier, South Canterbury had made 214 from their 45 overs, with James Laming scoring 61. Andy Scott blazed 47, which included seven sixes, and Maulik Patel made 21 at the top of the order.
South Canterbury coach Richard Davidson said many of the batsmen got starts, but no one carried on, despite an artificial wicket and short boundaries.
Ryan almost won the game singlehandedly with the bat, with only one other Canterbury Country batsman making double figures.
Teahen finished with 4/35, while Jordan Morrow, who Davidson said bowled well early on, finished with 1/50 and Dan Laming was economical with 1/31 from his nine overs.
Davidson said the bowling was excellent, and he was pleased with the early season form. “I thought the bowling went really well, everyone got starts [in the batting].
“It was early season stuff, but three or four guys put their hands up and played really well.
“Craig Davies took three good catches in the slips and generally the fielding was pretty good.”
South Canterbury’s next warm-up game will be against Christchurch Suburban for the Stoke-Blanchard Cup in Timaru on October 31.