A polished Hawke’s Bay were too good for Southey Sayer Wairarapa Korus, romping to an eight-wicket victory in the opening round of the Mike Shrimpton Trophy on Sunday.
After being put into bat at Queen Elizabeth Park Oval, the Korus posted a reasonable score of 148–8 off their 40 overs, with Melissa Hansen [34], Olivia Clark [25], and Georgia Atkinson [21] the main contributors.
The Korus needed early wickets to have any chance against the crack Hawke’s Bay batting lineup and achieved that when Aniela Apperley fell to the bowling of medium pacer Olivia Roseingrave for one, brilliantly taken by Vanessa Taylor, a catch described by coach Simon Roseingrave as a contender for catch of the season.
However, that was as good as it got for the Korus, as they had no answer to a superb second-wicket partnership of 130 runs between the Central Hinds pair of Kerry Tomlinson [69] and Tamsyn Newton [66no], with winning runs coming in the 24th over.
“Even if we had scored another 30 or 40, it wouldn’t have been enough the way those two batted together; you have to give it to Kerry and Newton, their partnership was chanceless, they played straight, and they played beautifully,” coach Simon Roseingrave said.
“Making 20s and 30s doesn’t win games at that level; it’s about kicking on, and we were guilty of getting starts and not pushing on, which is exactly what those two from Hawke’s Bay showed how to go about it.
“They outplayed us and played well, but we did not play badly by any stretch,” added Simon Roseingrave, who felt there were plenty of positives to take out of the game, which was the first hit out for the team after a warmup game was called off.
“Not having a game together probably reflected in their performance, but we didn’t play badly.
“Sally Booth kept very well, and it was mistake-free keeping for a young girl. Maddie Brown, I know she only made 14, but she came out and hit the ball really confidently and showed what potential she has got for the future.”
The Korus’ next fixtures are a trip to the South Island to play Marlborough in a friendly before a doubleheader against Nelson on the first weekend of December.
Brief Scores:
Wairarapa Korus 148-8 [Melissa Hansen 34, Olivia Clark 25] lost to Hawke’s Bay 150-2 [Tamsyn Newton 66no, Kerry Tomlinson 69] by eight wickets
