Sean Eathorne

North Otago captain Sean Eathorne continued his fine form in zone matches from last season with a record equalling 172 against South Canterbury at Aorangi Park in Timaru during the weekend.

South Canterbury won the toss and elected to bat on what looked to be an excellent batting wicket in hot sunny conditions. Their openers of Davies and Preston got the home side of to a good start putting on 47 before Preston was caught by Paul Odell of the bowling of Chris Ware for 27. Ben Cant was then bought on to bowl and dismantled the top order taking the wickets of opener Davies (28), D. Laming (5), Liddy (13), and J. Laming (16), leaving South Canterbury in trouble 5-110. After lunch was taken the situation quickly turned from bad to worse as they lost the wickets of Matthews (28) and McKenzie (7) as they looked to be in danger of being all out for less than 200. A good partnership of 74 between Naylor and Carlaw bought a little bit of respectability to the total but after the loss of Carlaw for 41 of the bowling of Jordan Horrell, Horrell cleaned up the tail taking the last wickets. South Canterbury was all out for 213, Naylor left stranded on 41. Ben Cant (4-31) and Jordan Horrell (4-37) took four wickets each while David Sewell (1-52) and Chris Ware (1-30) took the other wickets.

In its chase for a first innings lead North Otago started badly losing the wickets of Jeremiah Shields and Matt Machan early before Ben Cant and Sean Eathorne combined for a record breaking 109 run third wicket partnership. Despite the loss of Cant late in the first day, North Otago still held a strong position finishing 145/3, Eathorne 58 not out.

Eathorne started day two eagerly, and quickly pushed on from his overnight score of 58, as the South Canterbury bowlers struggled to contain him. With the loss of Duncan Drew early in the first session, Eathorne was joined at the crease by wicketkeeper Mitchell Clarke and the two moved past the South Canterbury total and taking the first innings points. Clarke was dismissed just before lunch for 59, combining in a 119 run partnership with Eathorne. With the start of the second session, North Otago looked to increase the pace, looking to push for an outright victory. Three wickets fell before the declaration came, Eathorne the last man out for 172, tying with Ashe Flannery's 21 year old record of highest individual score by a North Otago batsman. The away side declaring on 363, a lead of 150.

Opening bowler Chris Ware gave his side the started they needed, taking the wicket of Davies (0) early in the innings, however as the day wore on the South Canterbury batsmen dug in as they tried to overt and outright loss. With the score at 76/2, the away side still had a slight chance of pulling of a victory but despite taking the wicket of Preston for 54, the match was heading towards a draw. The game was called of just before the start of the last hours play, Naylor and D. Laming in an unbroken 56 run partnership.

Short Scorecard(s)

Representative - Hawke Cup - Zone Series

North Otago vs South Canterbury at Aorangi Park, Timaru
South Canterbury 213 ( J. Naylor 41no, S. Carlaw 41, C. Davies 28, G. Matthews 28, R. Preston 27, J. Laming 16, J. Liddy 13, B.C. Cant 4-31, A.J. Horrell 4-37 ) & 181-3 ( D. Laming 68no, R. Preston 54, J. Liddy 25, J. Naylor 23no )
North Otago 363-8dec ( S.W. Eathorne 172, B.C. Cant 67, M.S. Clarke 59, D.J. Drew 19, A.J. Horrell 13, J.H. Shields 12, Teahen 4-86, Hinton 2-93 )
First innings win to North Otago
Full scorecard for the match

Player Pages:
Sean Eathorne |

Team Pages:
North Otago 2010-2011 |