North Otago suffered an outright loss by six wickets in its U-Bix Cup elimination match played at Ashburton over the weekend.

North Otago batted first and went through to 202 with the last wicket falling at 27 minutes past four on the first day when Michael Pitches who had held the side together was finally dismissed for 67. The best of the other North Otago batsmen was opener John Wilson who made 45.

Wilson and Robertson added 51 for the second wicket but wickets fell regularly with none of the remaining batsmen able to give Pitches sufficient support. Michael hit eight fours and two sixes in his fine innings.

Bowling for Ashburton Lindsay Stoddart took four for 45 while John Richardson one of the opening bowlers took three for 40 and Peter Burton two for 41.

Ashburton required little over 57 over's to pass the North Otago first innings total with only three wickets falling in the session. Highlight was a fine 96 from Steve Rennie scored in 173 minutes and containing nine fours and two sixes.

Peter Burton one of the opening batsmen was unbeaten on 64 scored in 264 minutes while Denis Mably scored 41.

Bruce McGregor, Ian Chapman and Norm McKenzie all took one wicket each.

North Otago put up little resistance in its second innings being bundled out for 102 with Peter Cook (25) and Graeme Johnson (23) the best of the batsmen. Jenkins took seven for 33 while Burton took two for 14.

This left Ashburton the task of scoring 102 to win in ample time - the final session of play plus 20 over's.

Ashburton faced 27 over's. Houston and Burton added 67 for the opening stand with Houston run out for 53. Ian Chapman took two for 46 in the final innings, with Ashburton scoring 106 for four wickets.

Short Scorecard(s)

Representative - Cyclone Hawke Cup - Zone Series

North Otago vs Ashburton County at Ashburton Domain Oval, Ashburton
North Otago 202 ( M. Pitches 67, J. Wilson 45, L. Robertson 22, P. Cook 21, B. McGregor 19, G. Johnson 13, L. Stoddart 4-45, J. Richardson 3-40, P. Burton 2-41 ) & 102 ( P. Cook 25, G. Johnson 23, B. McGregor 18, N.W. McKenzie 11, Jenkins 7-33, Burton 2-14 )
Ashburton County 203-3dec ( S. Rennie 96, P. Burton 64no, D. Mably 41 ) & 106-4 ( G. Houston 53, P. Burton 21, S. Rennie 19no, I. Chapman 2-46 )
Ashburton County by 6 wickets
Full scorecard for the match

Player Pages:
Ian Chapman | Norman McKenzie | Micheal Pitches | Trevor Robertson | John Wilson |