Multiple defending champions Eastern Suburbs and new One-Day champions Karori continue to set the pace in Wellington Premier club cricket at the completion of the third set of two-day matches on Saturday.
Eastern Suburbs remain atop the points table after taking first innings points in their match against North City, but Karori has closed the gap to just four points following their outright win over Hutt District.
At the same time this pair remain well in front of the other six sides with four rounds remaining before the Premier three-day final between 2-4 April.
Of the other sides, Onslow has moved ahead of Naenae Old Boys and North City into third, but are now eighteen points behind second placed Karori.
The other two Premier matches ended in first innings wins to Taita over Naenae and to Onslow over University.
The Premier points table is: Easts 64.77, Karori 60.36, Onslow 42.49, Naenae 40.99, North City 39.38, Taita 37.33, Hutt 29.62, University 23.54
The top of the Senior standings also remains unchanged with a big gap between leading pair Petone-Riverside (64.64 points) and Collegians (62.08) and the chasing pack after both these sides enjoyed convincing outright victories overs the Taita seconds and Wellington College respectively.
In Premier games, Karori’s 9-wicket win over Hutt was the only outright victory of the round and was set up by a maiden century by New Zealand Under 19 player Tom Blundell and career best figures by off-spinner Jarrad Sewell.
Blundell carried his overnight score from 47 to 106 to boost Karori’s total to 339 for 7 and an overall lead of 153 after the first innings.
In reply, Sewell took 7 for 38 off 26 overs as Hutt were bowled out a second time for 157 to leave Karori just five runs for victory in their second innings.
Easts retained the Cook Shield against North City, making 212 in reply to Norths’ first innings of 191. Ricky Joseph made 60 and Malaesaili Tugaga took 3 for 28 off 18 overs. Norths reached 114 for 3 in its second innings.
Taita earned the first innings points against neighbours Naenae, making 188 to Naenae’s 153. Kyle hitchman took 4 for 40 for Naenae. Naenae finished the match on 217 for 8 in its second innings, BJ Crook making 45 and Mark Houghton taking 4 for 45.
Onslow amassed 277 for 8 to grab a 32-run first innings win against University. At the close of play University were 192 for 4.
In the Senior grade, Petone-Riverside scored 182 for 6 in reply to Taita’s 175 and the dismissed Taita for 105, Sam Blandford taking 4 for 41. They then scored the required 99 runs for victory for the loss of just one wicket.
Collegians beat Wellington College by an innings and 116 runs, dismissing College for 77 and 100 in answer to their score of 293 for 5. Luke Scully played a lone hand with 57 in the second innings for Wellington College, while Sachin Wijewarnasooriya took 4 for 14 for Collegians.
Johnsonville grabbed first innings points against the Karori seconds, dismissing Karori for 176 in reply to their own score of 284. Oliver Redwood and Jono Sole made 68 and 62 respectively. Following on, Karori were 214 at the close of play with veteran Richard Petrie unbeaten on 56.