PIRATES WIN DEVONPORT DUSTBOWL DUEL

December 16, 2018. Local derbies, traditionally, are hot and spicy affairs. There is history. There are friendships. There is much more than points on the line. The North Shore and Takapuna rivalry is no different. The sides last meaningfully met in last year’s Jeff Crowe Cup semi-final and would tussle again in the final 50-over match before the Christmas break.

The Friday night thunderstorms had cleared and Devonport – where time is always well spent - hosted this fight for scimitar supremacy. North Shore won the toss and gleefully elected to make first use of a tired-looking pitch. Left-arm orthodox spinner Matt Jones opened up from the clubhouse end and his first delivery stopped, gripped and turned to confirm almost all of the pre-match pitch predictions.

Pirates’ skipper Will O’Donnell brought himself on in the fifth over. On the fourth ball of his spell – one that stopped on batsman Stephen Baard – O’Donnell accepted a simple return catch.

By the sixth over, Takapuna had employed their third spinner of the day. Sam Hinds’ plan was to sweep away his nerves. Takapuna suggested Hinds put the broom away. After overs of persistence and loud shouts for leg-before, Hinds would eventually hit North Shore’s first three boundaries – two firm sweeps and a pull in front of square.

40 overs of spin today, Max O’Dowd passed on to a fellow Pirate. O’Donnell (4-23) rung the changes; the off-spinner returned for a second spell and came up trumps again – this time trapping left-hander Ryan Thomson in front. North Shore, now reduced to 44/2 in the 15th over, required a significant partnership.

Hinds was in and joined by his captain Michael Olsen. Olsen eased into his innings before crunching a drive to the extra cover boundary. Hinds’ inning slowed as the ball got older and softer during the middle overs. Olsen appeared to sense this and took the game on. He came down the wicket and thrashed a violent drive down the ground for four.

Takapuna knew someone would have to play catch up, after such a tight start. Just as Olsen was about to get North Shore on top – after an on-drive described as beautiful, beautiful by teammate Ben Wall – he was caught trying to clear the square-leg boundary.

Olsen’s wicket triggered a desperate collapse. In the space of six overs, 95/3 became 121/7. Max O’Dowd had been introduced to the attack and, while he was comparatively expensive to Jones and O’Donnell, he picked up four important wickets.The slower Takapuna’s spinners bowled, the more difficult they were to hit. Keeper Rob Sehmi backed his bowlers effecting three calm stumpings – all from the bowling of O’Dowd.

Jones would bowl six spells – including overs at the death – to get through his ten miserly overs (1-20). Phillip Badenhorst bowled Tim Duncraft in the final over to complete a first for TWD cricket viewing – spin bowlers having taken all ten wickets. Three classy boundaries from Gus McKenzie and a long straight six from Carl Brungar helped North Shore scrape through to 173 all out. With 37.4 overs of spin bowled, Takapuna rushed through their overs in just over three hours.

All signs pointed towards a tricky chase on a wearing track. Takapuna slid some experience down the order for any possible middle order grind. North Shore’s confidence grew with their wagging tail, and despite wanting more runs, there was still hope they could win the match.

North Shore bowled accurately to keep the clamps on Pirate openers O’Dowd and Guy Harley. It was certainly an intriguing period of play as time and again pressure was built and released. After Harley survived a high leading edge over extra cover, North Shore went searching for wickets. O’Dowd made the bowlers pay to get his innings underway – thrice clipping boundaries through square-leg.

Despite the boundaries, Takapuna’s start was no faster than North Shore’s. Stump-to-stump bowling was generally greeted with risk-free batting. Tendai Chitongo built up dots, brought up his long-off and tossed one up. Harley, who had been circumspect until then, freed his arms and flat-batted it just out of the reach of a diving McKenzie at mid-on.

O’Dowd looked every bit a man with runs under his belt. If it was too straight, he flicked and whipped through the legside. If there was any width, he angled down to third man or drove square of the wicket. Harley cut and pulled short bowling for back-to-back boundaries taking the opening partnership past fifty.

Olsen was through 14 overs of his main bowlers before he decided to roll his own arm over. It took two balls for the part-timer to hit Harley’s pads and have the umpire’s finger raised in his favour. In the same over, he found the outside edge of O’Dowd, but with no slip in place the ball ran away for two.

North Shore had an opening, but Zakk Finlay kept his head through some early struggles. The right-hander took his time before boldly advancing down the wicket and hitting his first boundary over the bowler. He then went back and cut another through point. Olsen went back to the well for a second spell and Finlay was having none of it. He played a straight slog sweep over long on and then punished a full toss over the mid-wicket boundary – back-to-back sixes. Finlay (33) decided not to give Asiri Wickramanayake similar treatment only to gift a catch to Baard straight of the wicket.

O’Dowd was responsible throughout, hitting gaps and keeping out the good deliveries. He batted superbly in trying conditions. Loudly buzzing bees stopped play moments after O’Dowd went past fifty and it was a doddle from there. Takapuna lost one further wicket before the spin twins – O’Dowd (81*) and O’Donnell – took Takapuna home by seven wickets with 13.5 overs to spare.