The Jags lost the toss but weren't dismayed at being inserted on a coarsely grassed Hagley 5 deck by the Merivale-Papanui skipper. With both of last week's openers unavailable, the makeshift duo of Elliot Anderson-Evans and Duane Pettet assumed the roles. The pair proceeded to negotiate the new-ball period at a soporific pace that would've made even Mark Richardson blush. El departed with the total at 40 in the 22nd over, which brought relief to both umpires who could finally come in to put their feet up after a marathon stint.
Piers Landon-Lane played with his customary freedom at No. 3, upping the tempo to manoeuvre the Jags into a position of strength at 73/1 with nearly 17 overs left to capitalise. However, his leg-before dismissal, which had more wood involved than a keys-in-the-bowl party, triggered an epic collapse of 6 for 6. MP's fiery opening quick had his tail up with a strong nor'easter at his back in a lethal second spell, with poles flying at regular intervals.
Despite the carnage Motueka's finest, Zane Phillips, strolled in without a stress in the world and produced a second rapid-fire cameo in as many weeks, belting an innings-high 32 off 37 balls. He added a crucial 45 for the 8th wicket with George Devine, who proved an ideal Robin to Zane's Batman. The Saints innings came to an abrupt end though, with Zane's dismissal being the first of a hat-trick by MP's wily spinner. Alex McKenzie-Rimmer earned an early nomination for this year's Rod McCurdy Award after shouldering arms to the hat-trick ball, which pinned him plumb in front. With 7 bowleds and 3 lbws making up the 10 Jags dismissals, the coach's notebook for next week was already full by the lunch break.
While 124 was below par, the deck was still offering generous seam movement well into the later overs. El snicked off one of the openers early with a classic piece of twilight-years Glenn McGrath bowling, but an aggressive second-wicket partnership rapidly ate away at the deficit. Kruges was luckless with the new pill, more than once uttering 'sacré bleu' (in Afrikaans) as repeated French cuts shaved past leg stump on their way to the boundary.
We turned to another Mot lad, Blake Barrett, who delivered the vital breakthrough in his first over of Saints morning grade cricket. Left-arm spinner Anant Chaudhuri tied things up at the other end, with the pair combining to throttle MP's momentum. Suddenly it was the visitors' turn to have a middle-order crisis, slumping from 49/1 in the 10th to 72/8 in the 20th, in an uncanny mirroring of the first innings. Blake had the ball talking - both through the air and off the surface - to create plenty of chances, of which most were gratefully taken, including a screamer by El at short midwicket. Walking off at drinks, he had scooped 6-22 off 7 overs - a spectacular early 19th birthday present for the last-minute call-up.
Replacing Blake, Rims induced a nick off the very first delivery after the break, only for the cruel cricketing circle of life to complete, as the goober spilled from the gloves of his twinsy (and earlier 'victim') Piers. In archetypal Rimmy fashion, just an over later he offered up a full-bunger which was charitably spooned straight back to him. A late counter-attack threatened to steal first-innings points out of our clutches, but our bearded twirler Anant was rewarded for his probing Jadeja-esque spell, cleaning up the innings to secure a 16-run lead.
With a niggly 40-minute period to handle at the end of the day, opening bowlers El and Kruges donned the pads, impressively avoiding getting suckered into flashing outside off for 15 overs. The most exciting thing that happened during the last hour was El shouldering arms to a wide which beat the keeper but refusing the extra run on account of 'not having played a shot'. The pair ended the day unscathed, extending the lead to a tidy 31 to set up a tantalising day two. A double tick for El's efforts after volunteering as tribute up top, facing 118 balls for 24 runs and once out. Player of the Day: Blake Barrett. Dick of the Day: Alex McKenzie Rimmer (a rare unanimous vote).
