WHEN THE CHAMPS COME TO TOWN

December 15, 2017. When I read that Kumeu would be hosting Suburbs New Lynn in their first ever home Premier T20 match, I immediately thought about Auckland’s traffic. I had heard about the facilities at Huapai Domain, but in all my time visiting cricket grounds over the years, I had never actually been there. It had a very English feel to it. Leaves strewn across a quarter of the ground, pints flowing and families milling around. It was a lovely setting for an evening of cricket.

Suburbs won the toss and opted to put runs on the board and runs on the board they put. Junaid Nadir charged in with enthusiasm from the State Highway End to get things underway. Though in the end not statistically, he would be Kumeu’s best bowler. After a couple of wides, his early bouncer showed Suburbs New Lynn that they could trust the bounce and pace in the wicket. Jonny Bassett-Graham then rocked back and swivel-pulled the next short ball over deep square leg for six.

Suburbs didn’t look back from there. Kumeu turned to spin early and Bassett-Graham decided to pepper the straight boundary. Left-arm orthodox spinner Nandika Nandika overpitched and in between three dots came three boundaries – the second a misjudged chance long off should really have taken.

Raj Majithia had his turn in the third over composedly ramping another Nadir bouncer before flaying some width over point for a second boundary in the over. He isn’t the biggest of young men, but he has mightily impressive touch and timing. As Kumeu would find out, his ability to not only use his wrists to access the leg side, but also in guiding the ball to third man makes him incredibly difficult to keep quiet.

Off-spinner Wishwaeh Amaradiwakara combined with William Moss who ran in and dove forward to break a promising opening stand. From a distance I had doubts over the legitimacy of the catch, but Bassett-Graham was happy with what he had seen. Sean Solia entered.

Amaradiwakara’s breakthrough briefly slowed Suburbs before both Majithia and Solia picked up darted deliveries clearing the straight boundary to end the powerplay. Suburbs had raced out to 67/1 after 6 and with a lightning quick outfield a 230+ score looked on the cards.

The pair continued to find the boundary regularly. In fact, Suburbs managed a boundary in all bar two of the twenty overs. Solia raced past fifty to little to no fuss or applause. He then pulled out his slog-sweep. There was an open-wicket feel to his innings; only Nadir looked like troubling him with some shorter deliveries during his second spell.

Having slowed to tick the strike over for Solia, Majithia played a surprisingly ungainly stroke offering a loopy catch to backward point. He fell three short of a deserved fifty, but his departure brought skipper Victor Davies to the crease and that’s when the fireworks began.

Davies and Solia added 53 runs in 17 balls. After four consecutive boundaries and with Solia on 92, he picked out the deepest of deep square leg fielders. There was visible disappointment from Solia as Suburbs' eighth hundred of the season slipped by.

To Kumeu’s credit, they were supportive of each other throughout. Heads dropped late, but not without reason. It is never easy being on the end of such an onslaught.

There were still four overs left to bat. At 190/3, with the Kumeu bowlers all but on their knees, James Parslow ambled out. Davies showed no mercy clubbing five fours and four sixes including a beautifully timed lofted cover drive. He raced to a 16-ball fifty to lift Suburbs to 251/3.

It’s not often you will catch me saying a game is over at the break, but this is one of those rare times. If there was any chance of a chase, it was snuffed out early from Kumeu’s former opening bowler Eli Meenhorst and Josh Presland as the pair reduced the home side to 20/3 inside three overs. A fourth fell soon after to Anas Patel.

Number nine Mitt Amrut offered the most resistance and was duly rewarded with the loudest cheers of the night. His lusty late hitting ended on 25 after two fours and a six. Kumeu were eventually bowled out for 102 as Suburbs won by 149 runs.

The crowd remained throughout as did the general goodwill and buzz of the evening. This wasn’t so much about the result. It was about seeing what Huapai Domain has to offer and with residential development in the area and a picturesque setting, there may be a lot to look forward to for Kumeu Cricket.