After a sluggish start to the season, Eastern Suburbs are on course to make a late charge all the way to the Wilkinson Pearce Cup One-Day final later in the month.

Easts, who earlier in the season lost their first two One-Day competition matches and shared the points in their third in a washout, beat Wellington Collegians with a bonus point on Saturday and are now just five points adrift of second placed club Naenae Old Boys with a game in hand.

With just next weekend’s last round to play, third placed Easts are now on 16 points, behind Karori (25) and Naenae (21). But with Karori and Naenae playing each other in next week’s final set of One-Day matches, and Easts playing bottom placed Taita at the same time and then meeting the Wellington U20s the following Monday on Wellington Anniversary Day, the stage is set for Easts to leapfrog one or both of them and make the final.

After a month off playing One-Day cricket, Easts picked up where they left off in their previous match against North City, charging to a comfortable 6-wicket win over Collegians at home at Kilbirnie Park. Jamie Gibson took 4 for 22 and Nathan Cameron and Lance Dry two wickets apiece as they bowled Collegians out for 141 in the 41st over. In reply, Ben Orton contined his strong form at the top of the order by scoring 56 off 63 balls and Jeremy Dean finished proceedings off in the 31st over with an unbeaten 46 off 29 balls.

Karori and Naenae both warmed up for next week’s big clash against each other with bonus point wins.

At Karori Park, the hosts made an imposing 286 for 7 against North City, Chris Spring top scoring with 86 and Neil Martin, Stefan Allan and Simon Baker all making 40s. North City were never in the hunt and folded to be all out for 161 in the 36th over. Lee Edwards took 5 for 24.

In the big clash in the Hutt Valley, Naenae opener Mark Young top scored in his team’s total of 219. Tight bowling then saw their neighbours Taita dismissed for just  118 in reply.

In the other Pearce Cup match of the round, Upper Hutt ended Onslow’s One-Day final ambitions by beating them by 5 wickets with just over three overs to spare  at Nairnville Park. Batting first, Jimad Khan held Onslow’s innings together with 53 off 59 balls as they finished on 209 for 9 off their allotted 50 overs. Tom Pere took 4 for 26 for Upper Hutt. Opener Llewy Davidson-Powell (59 off 91), Leighton Morgan (20), Sean Eathorne (48) and Jason McKenzie (23) all then contributed in a well-executed win.

In the Hazlett Trophy there were wins for Wainuiomata, Eastern Suburbs, Petone-Riverside and Hutt District, ensuring a tight race to the final in next week’s final 50-over round.

Leaders Wainuiomata cemented their place in the One-Day final with a convincing 141-run win over Karori’s second eleven. They will be joined by either Petone-Riverside, Hutt District or Johnsonville, despite the latter’s 41-run defeat to Petone on Saturday. Despite being bowled out for 145 by Karori (Craig Foster 52, Matt Atkin 4 for 36), Wainuiomata won easily. Jason Logan was the chief destroyer with 6 for 11, including going past 50 wickets for the season, as Wainuiomata dismissed Karori for 40.

Johnsonville suffered a setback for their One-Day final aspirations by being dismissed for a disappointing 122 against Petone. Only Steve Coleman (43) and Scott Mudgway (32) offered meaningful resistance. Kevin Snell and Mark Hewson both took 3 wickets. Hutt District remained in One-Day final contention with a 7-wicket win with over 10 overs to spare over University at Kelburn Park. University batted first and made 165 for 9, but top order batsmen Darren Cudby (45), Tom Robertson (54) and James Colson (42) all ensured victory for Hutt.

In the round’s other match, Easts’ second XI battled to a tight win over their Taita counterparts, Easts making 107 and Taita 103.

Short scoreboards from One-Day matches played on 7 January 2012: 

 Wilkinson Pearce Cup

Onslow 209/9 (J Khan 53, A Thompson 30; T Pere 4/26) met Upper Hutt United 210/5 (L Davidson Powell 59, S Eathorne 48); Naenae Old Boys 219 (M Young 57, K Hitchman 41, P Tunnicliffe 34; P Smith 3/55) met Petone Radiators Taita 118 (A Williams 3/9, G Maher 3/32, C James 3/32); HRV Karori 286/7 (C Spring 86, N Martin 42, S Allan 41, S Baker 40*) met North City 161 (J McDermott 41, H Kyne 36; L Edwards 5/24); Eastern Suburbs 144/4 (B ORTON 56, J DEAN 46*) met Wellington Collegians 141 (J Gibson 4/22);

Wilkinson Hazlett Trophy

Devon & Patterson Johnsonville 122 (S Coleman 43*, S Mudgway 32; M Hewson 3/18, K Snell 3/18) met Petone - Riverside 163 (K Snell 37, R Price Moor 30; S Edgecombe 3/27); Wainui 145 (C Foster 52; M Atkin 4/36, S Kent 3/8) met HRV Karori 40 (J Logan 6/11, R Wilson 3/11); Petone Radiators Taita 103 (A Pollock 3/22) met Eastern Suburbs 107 (L Sullivan 3/12, S Gillespie 3/21); University 165/9 (M Kennedy 3/28) met Hutt District 167/3 (T Robertson 54, D Cudby 45, J Colson 42*)