Onslow Beer View Mirrors: 132/7 (20), A.Couper 3-22, W.Hughes 2-27
Karori Wildcats: 134/3 (18.5), A.Hampshire 44(36), A.Eggleton 38(32)
The Fortress is still standing. The Wildcats are back in the winning groove.
Losing the toss, the Cats were sent into the field. Couper and Nando opened up, and Couper got his usual good bounce and struck early on with their opener chopping it to Stonnell at point. Will struck next, with a well pitched ball going straight through Donut. Vaughan’s reintroduction to the Cats showed real signs of his former glory. Will also picked up the opener, with Vaughan wrapping his mitts around a spinning ball at gully.
After a few of his opening balls of off-spin disappeared into the creek, Wortho came back strong with three fine overs of medium pace. He was rewarded when Nando held one at short fine leg. However, I suspect Wortho will keep trying to make a case for off-spin. Onslow’s innings never took off, and Couper returned with Will and Vaughan at the end: Couper taking a return catch and inducing another catch.
Onslow finished on 132, with sharp fielding and significantly better catching keeping the pressure on throughout. Onslow consoled themselves with their BBQ sausages and bacon.
Adam and Will started the innings in great nick and looked comfortable. They took the total to 43 by the end of the sixth over. Will’s dismissal for 12 brought Alex to the crease for his first 2014/2015 Cats appearance. Adam and Alex kept the score ticking along until the 10th over, when Adam was caught for a solid, better-than-a-run-a-ball, 38 from 32.
The team total was 64, so tracking fine as we had wickets in hand. Tom and Alex’s partnership was the most productive for the Wildcats. Particularly impressive was the 14th over, with Alex turning ‘Paddy-whacker’, scoring two 4s and two 6s.
That set the platform for the Cats to finish strong. With only 4 runs required to win, and 6 runs required for his 50, Alex took aim at Wynton and Vaughan who were standing in the Max Zone. It unfortunately didn’t come off. Alex departed as top-scorer with 44 (36). Stonnell finished off the chase with two 2s and Tom finished with 16* (22).
The perfectly timed chase finished in the 19th over, much to our captain’s relief. A Classic Wildcats performance on Karori #5.