Elizabeth Cohr top-scored with 42 for the Wairarapa Korus. PHOTO/JADE CVETKOV
Korus go down to Hawke’s Bay
CRICKET
CHRIS COGDALE
[email protected]
Two former Wairarapa representatives helped steer Hawke’s Bay to a six-wicket victory over the Southey Sayer Wairarapa Korus on Sunday in the first round of the Shrimpton Trophy, the Central Districts’ premier women’s cricket championship.
Esther Lanser and Kerry Tomlinson combined in an 84-run third-wicket partnership as the visitors chased down the Korus’ total of 144 all out with 10 balls to spare on the Queen Elizabeth Park Oval.
Korus captain Melissa Hansen gave the home side some hope of defending their below-par score with the early wicket of Katrina Mair without scoring.
That brought Lanser to the wicket, and along with Sophie Pyott [35], they added 48 for the second wicket. Lanser and Tomlinson then came together for the decisive partnership.
When Lanser fell for a patient 48 off 100 balls and featuring only one four, Hawke’s Bay were on the brink of victory at 141-4.
Tomlinson finished on 34 not out when the winning run was brought up off a wide.
Earlier, the Korus made a bright start after winning the toss and deciding to bat, with Hansen and Gemma Sims putting on 39 for the first wicket.
However, once Hansen fell for 23, the home side struggled to develop partnerships – the best being a 41-run fifth-wicket stand between the Korus’ top scorer Elizabeth Cohr [42] and Ocean Bartlett [13].
The Korus lost their last six wickets for 17 runs in eight overs, and coach Simon Roseingrave said the inability of the middle-lower order to assess the game situation left them about 20 runs short of a competitive total.
“Some of the players played a few rash shots when they didn’t need to, and we had a few overs up our sleeves,” he said.
“It was just one of those things, where again the middle order – and we’ve had this issue for the past season- and-a-half, didn’t quite kick on as they should have.
“The top order had set us a bit of a foundation and instead of making those scores that are par, we need to make it 20 or 30 runs more.”
Despite the loss, Roseingrave said there were some positives.
“Elizabeth Cohr batted very well for her 42, and our bowling line-up still shows that it’s one of the best around.”
“We actually had them under the pump early on, and they were 21-1 after 11 overs, and they couldn’t hit Mel, Olivia [Roseingrave], and Monique [Rees], so it was a really tight start.
“We just let it slip from there, and some of that is probably due to a lack of cricket for some of the players, just due to the weather etc.
“Esther and Kerry assessed the game well and did what they needed to do, but we still kept them under pressure all the way through, we didn’t put down any catches, and the fielding and bowling effort was really good.”
Roseingrave said the team haven’t quite got the killer instinct or that awareness when to put the foot down, and they need to develop that to win the tight games.
The Korus host Manawatu in the second round of the Shrimpton Trophy on Sunday.
BRIEF SCORES
Southey Sayer Wairarapa Korus 144 [Elizabeth Cohr 42, Melissa Hansen 23; Kirsty Dawe 2-21, Marjorie Kirby 2-31, Esther Lanser 2-17] lost to Hawke’s Bay 145-4 [Lanser 48, Sophie Pyott, Kerry Tomlinson 34no; Hansen 2-17] by six wickets.
