Cricket’s prized Newman Shield remains in Marlborough hands after the senior men’s rep side scored a comprehensive five-wicket win over Nelson at Saxton Oval on Sunday.
The home side won the toss and elected to bat, but lost wickets regularly against a steady, disciplined Marlborough fielding unit, being dismissed for 138 in the 48th over.
The Griffins found it difficult to establish any partnerships of note, their best being a 40-run collaboration for the eighth wicket between top scorer Michael Olsen, 47 from 63, and George Aerakis, 24 from 54.
Leading the Marlborough attack was player/coach James Bell, the medium pacer taking 3-10 from six overs, and rookie Liam Young, who marked his debut with 3-19 from seven.
Matthew Stretch, 1-26 from 10, Luke Holdaway, 1-17 from 6.1, and Sam Boyce, 1-20 from 9, were also instrumental in turning the screws on their top of the south rivals.
Marlborough ran down their target in short order, reaching 139-5 in the 21st over.
Opener Tom Sloan, also on debut, gave them a rollicking start with a hard-hit 43 from 29 at the top.
Experienced allounder Josh Poole continued the momentum, producing a vital unbeaten 43 from 40 balls to shore up the middle order and guide the visitors to a second consecutive win over their traditional rivals.
Veteran Marlborough seamer Sam Boyce described the win as "clinical".
"It was a good toss to lose as we were probably going to bat," he said. "The wicket suited bowlers of our pace and we operated in short spells. We set good fields and bowled to our plans, plus fielded well. Griffin Carter's run out of their top scorer was a highlight.
"In the end we just kept chipping wickets out and then, when we batted, Tom [Sloan] got us off to a great start with some good cricket shots and Josh [Poole] finished it off with another mature innings."
The second Newman Shield match of the season is scheduled for Sunday, 7 March, in Blenheim.
TPL derby
It was local derby day in the Tasman Premier League competition on Saturday, with the Blenheim-based sides shaping up against each other.
Boasting rights belonged to the Falcons, an amalgam of the Wairau Valley and Wairau clubs, who scored a comprehensive 73-run win over the Dolphins (a Renwick and Celtic mix).
At Horton Park, the Falcons batted first and put a medium target of 217 all out on the board, Matthew Stretch contributing 52 from 79 balls and Sam Boyce top scoring with 81 from 90. Luke Holdaway’s bowling figures of 5-50 from nine overs provided a shining light in the Dolphins fielding effort.
In reply, the Dolphins were bowled out in the 31st over for just 144.
Tom Sutherland top scored with 36 from 56 while the only other significant contribution came from Liam Young with 25 from 36.
Four of the Falcons’ bowlers bagged a brace or better. James Bell claimed 3-31 from 5.3 overs, Daniel Baker took 2-26 from five, Boyce capped a fine all round effort with 2-20 from seven and Griffin Carter snared 2-16 from five.
Elsewhere wins went to Acob, who beat Nelson College, WTTU, who downed Wakatu and Stoke Nayland, who got the better of Wolves.
Points table after all teams have played four games: Stoke Nayland 19, ACOB 12, Falcons 10, WTTU 9, Nelson College 8, Wolves 5, Dolphins 5, Wakatu 5.
