Pete Sigvertsen picked up a five-wicket bag. PHOTO/FILE
CRICKET
CHRIS COGDALE
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Burger King Red Star held their nerves to beat Kapiti Old Boys by five runs in a disrupted first round of the Coastal Challenge on Saturday.
Red Star arrived at Weka Park, Raumati for the game, only to find it raining heavily and the game transferred to Donnelly Park, Levin, a further 45 minutes’ drive away.
The game was also reduced to 43 overs each side.
Batting first on the artificial pitch Red Star amassed a useful 185 runs, with the hard-hitting Brock Price leading the way with a typically aggressive 76, which came off 68 balls and included seven fours and five sixes.
Price combined with left-hander Nathan Chaney [37] in a fourth-wicket partnership of 99.
Medium-pacer Caleb Andrews was the best of the Kapiti bowlers, claiming 5-23 off 8.4 tight overs.
Kapiti Old Boys got off to a flyer in response and looked to be cruising to victory at 90-3.
The loss of five wickets for 52 runs had the home team struggling, before a 36-run ninth-wicket partnership between number nine Thomas Harris [10] and number 10 David Schlup [28] gave them a sniff of victory.
Harris was out caught by Stefan Hook off the bowling of veteran medium-pacer Jared Watt with the total at 178, and Schlup fell two runs later to Hook, to seal a solid first-up win.
Captain Pete Sigvertsen was the best of the Red Star bowlers, picking up 5-33 with his medium pacers.
He said the key was dismissing the dangerous Andre Halbert [19] and Michael Newell for a duck in the 21st over.
“They started off attacking, and we dropped a few catches which didn’t help our cause, but we knew when we started breaking a few of their main partnerships that we would be in. Ultimately, that happened, and we put the pressure back on them, and they folded,” Sigvertsen said.
“There were a few hiccups, but you always expect that first game up, but we’re just happy to get a win because those are the types of game in the past we probably would have lost.”
“It’s good to start with a victory, especially against a team we would expect to beat too.”
United had the first-round bye.
BRIEF SCORES
Burger King Red Star 185 [Brock Price 76, Nathan Chaney 37; Caleb Andrews 5-23] beat Kapiti Old Boys 180 [Marty Harrison 47; Pete Sigvertsen 5-33, Price 3-27] by five runs.
