Pukekohe Metro claimed the first silverware of the 2020-21 Counties Manukau Cricket Association season on Sunday when they won the T20 Inder Lynch Cup at Bruce Pulman Park.
Pukekohe proved too strong for newcomers Weymouth in a battle of the two stand-out sides through pool play.
Young Northern Knight, Katene Clarke and experienced former Counties rep Matt Wilson set up the victory as they amassed another 100-run opening stand, before the Weymouth finished the innings well through their mix of canny medium pacers and quality spinners.
The Weymouth response got off to the worst possible start with star batsman Jay Dee Sandhu caught off his first ball. As they had done all tournament, the Puke-Metro spin trio of Marcel Marconi, Cameron Hardwick and Kurt Barnes proved challenging to get hold of and at 51/7 the game was all but over. Weymouth showed plenty of fight to get to 133, but Pukekohe Metro had done enough to claim victory.
Pukekohe Metro skipper Hardwick collected the trophy and spoke graciously about the impact the Weymouth boys had made on the tournament, and the pride he had in his own team.
Earlier in pool play Pukekohe continued their unbeaten run with a convincing win over Manukau City.
Having restricted Manukau to 101/6 Pukekohe had to work to chase the lowly total. They eventually reached their target five down and with a little more than an over to spare. Simon Lal produced a composed knock to see his side home.
Pukekohe completed their undefeated pool stage with a wins over Papakura and Weymouth.
Pukekohe smashed 193/5 as they set Papakura a huge task in round 4. Corey Hunter led the way with an impressive 82 off just 35 deliveries while Wilson 48(30) and Leon Marconi 37(40) chipped in as well.
Barnes, in his 100th game for Pukekohe, chipped in three wickets in what was a strong weekend for the spinner.
Wilson (63) and Clarke (63), in his 50th game for the club, put on 100 runs for the opening wicket as they set a competitive total of 186/1 against Weymouth in their final pool game. Weymouth managed 172/5 – Mohit Thakur 42(30), Karminder Thiara 42(40) and Sachin Kaushal 47(23in the runs for Weymouth as they came up a few runs short.
Earlier Weymouth extended their winning streak when they beat Papakura by seven wickets as they chased down 189/7. Aggressive opener Jay Dee Sandhu’s 60 off 29 again set up the Weymouth run-chase while he got help from Pankaj Sharma (48) and Ravi Singh (29).
The new boys edged the fellow newcomers the Manukau Fearless XI in a tight contest that went right down to the wire, before closing out pool play with their loss to Pukekohe Metro.
Karaka collected their first victory of the three-day tournament when the beat Manukau City Fearless XI by 27 runs.
Luke Williamson (50), Sam Varcoe (35) and Nav Sran (32) powered the Karaka innings.
Williamson then took 3/19 to restrict Manukau to 133 all out.
It was a reversal of fortunes for Karaka as they lost to Manukau City Premiers by five wickets in what proved to be a dead rubber encounter.
Williamson (45) continued his strong for by top scoring for Karaka but 141/9 always looked a few runs short.
Manukau’s all-round trio of Sandeep Patel, Stan Skinner and Dhruvit Patel were the key factors in this game with contributions with both bat and ball. The game came down to the last ball with one run needed for victory. Patel hit the ball through mid-on for four to the raucous applause of his team mates on the side line.
Karaka finished their campaign with a solid run-chase that saw them edge Papakura by three wickets.
Souvik Dutta 45(26) and Parmjit Singh 61(30) helped Papakura post 176/9 before an all-round team run chase helped Karaka home.
Manukau Premiers kept bragging rights as they edged clubmates Manukau Fearless XI in a low-scoring but tight affair to complete pool play.
Round 3
Karaka 160/4 (20 overs) – Luke Williamson 50(29) , Sam Varcoe 35(32), Nav Sran 32(16) , Rajan Bhatia 2/38 beat Manukau City Fearless XI 133 (19.1 overs) – Randeep Gaur 42(53), Luke Williamson 3/19 BY 27 runs
Manukau City Premier 101/6 – Le Shur Vermeulen 40n.o (58), Marcel Marconi 2/17, Kurt Barnes 3/12 lost to Pukekohe Metro 105/5 (18.4) – Matt Wilson 41(55), Simon Lal 22(11), Sandeep Patel 2/16, Le Shur Vermeulen 2/29 BY 5 wickets
Papakura 189/7 – Parmjit Singh 46(32), Jaggy Singh 57(25), Simar Virk 2/13, Pankaj Sharma 2/31 lost to Weymouth 190/3 (15.5 overs) – Jay Dee Sandhu 60(29), Pankaj Sharma 48(29), Ravi Singh 29(13) BY 7 wickets
Round 4
Weymouth 136/7 – Sam Whimp 28, Varinder Singh 3/28, Aman Parhar 3/16 beat Manukau City Fearless XI 134/9 – Rajan Bhatia 32(31), Randeep Gaur 24(20), Simar Virk 2/13 BY 2 runs
Pukekohe Metro 193/5 – Matt Wilson 48(30), Leon Marconi 37(40), Corey Hunter 82(35), Nikhil Verma 2/27 beat Papakura 118/8 – Varinder Virk 40(38), Rupinder Gill 33(30), Kurt Barnes 3/12, Declan O’Brien 2/15 – BY 75 runs
Karaka 141/9 – Luke Williamson 45(29), Stan Skinner 2/16, Dhruvit Patel 3/18 Lost to Manukau City Premiers 145/5 (20 overs – Sandeep Patel 40(25), Stan Skinner 31(29), Dhruvit Patel 20(11) BY 5 wickets
Round 5
Manukau City Premier 110/8 – Le Shur Vermeulen 20(27), Dhruvit Patel 20(12), Parveen Kumar 2/15 beat Manukau City Fearless XI 103 all out – Suraj Gupta 27(26), Parveen Kumar 27(16), Ram Tirth 4/9 BY 7 runs
Papakura 176/9 – Sam Singh 34(26), Souvik Dutta 45(26), Parmjit Singh 61(30), Sam Huriwai 3/27, Michael Schofield 2/21 lost to Karaka 177/7 – Terrence Otterson 34(20), Michael Schofield 29(14), Nav Sran 27(17), Daniel Power 27(13), Vishavjot Gill 3/36 by 3 wickets
Pukekohe Metro 186/1 – Matt Wilson 63(38), Katene Clarke 63(38) beat Weymouth 172/5 – Mohit Thakur 42(30), Karminder Thiara 42(40), Sachin Kaushal 47(23), Declan O’Brien 2/21 BY 9 runs
Points after the Round Robin stage
Pukekohe Metro 30
Weymouth 24
Karaka 12
Manukau City 12
Manukau City Fearless XI 6
Papakura 6
INDER LYNCH T20 FINAL
Milestone Homes Pukekohe Metro 163/6 – Katene Clarke 65(39), Matt Wilson 59(53), Ravi Singh 2/25 beat Weymouth 133/9 – Mohit Thakur 35(38), Marcel Marconi 2/23, Kurt Barnes 2/33, Cameron Hardwick 3/21 BY 30 runs
Recent Comments