Duncan Drew

North Otago have a fight on their hands to win their Hawke Cup cricket zone after losing to Southland on the first innings in Invercargill during the weekend.

It was a tough learning experience for the visitors, who ventured south with an under-strength squad.

Inclement weather made life even tougher for North Otago, especially after Southland won the toss and asked the visitors to bat.

Opener Dan Meikle and Pete Cartwright could not have been placed in a tougher environment. Meikle lasted 13 minutes, while Cartwright was the second wicket to fall after 33 minutes with the score just six.

From there, Southland were on a high and it was always going to be an uphill battle for North Otago to get back into the match.

Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals and Hayden McKenzie was the last man dismissed with the score on 114.

Captain Duncan Drew top-scored with 25, while Geoff Smith and Steve Halliwell both scored 16.

When Southland started their innings the conditions were still helpful for the bowlers. North Otago bowlers were on target and had the home side under the thumb.

Only a stubborn knock of 59 from No. 3 Dale Cocker allowed Southland to claim first-innings points.

The home side were under all sorts of pressure at 69 for four and the match looked like it could go either way.

But Cocker's knock allowed his side to limp through to 139 all out and with it, first innings points.

St Kevin's College's Raffery Fox put his side in his best performance for North Otago in his short career.

He harassed Southland's lower order with his deceptive pace, claiming four for 24.

Bobby Singh also performed well finishing with three for 57 from 21 overs.

North Otago's second innings of 167 was a better effort, but it gave Southland an outside opportunity of pushing for an outright win.

Once again, captain Drew was the shining light, scoring an invaluable 47, while Cartwright chipped in with 22.

Southland then needed 143 from 20 overs to complete a successful weekend. It was a tough task, but their batsmen gave the victory target a good nudge.

Opener Daryl Williams got his side off to a flyer, scoring 43 form 46 balls before he was run out.

David Hall and Geoff Folster continued the good work with some quick runs before Paul Henry smashed 12 runs from four balls and Brett Freeman notched up 17 runs from only 12 balls.

With one ball remaining, Southland need seven runs for victory, but that didn’t stop Freeman from smashing a six to equal North Otago's score.

North Otago's final Hawke Cup game is against Central Otago in Oamaru on January 24 and 25.

Short Scorecard(s)

Representative - Hawke Cup - Zone Series

North Otago vs Southland at Queen's Park, Invercargill
North Otago 114 ( D.J. Drew 25, S. Halliwell 16, G.D. Smith 16, McClean 3-25, Hodson 3-31, Mauhenui 2-18 ) & 167 ( D.J. Drew 47, P. Cartwright 22, J.B. Crombie 19, G. Lemon 15, S. Halliwell 12, Sutherland 3-23, Donaldson 3-53 )
Southland 139 ( D. Cocker 59, D. Williams 27, D. Hall 16, P. Henry 12, R. Fox 4-24, S. Singh 3-57, W. Moore 2-10 ) & 143-6 ( D. Williams 43, D. Hall 24, B. Freeman 17no, G. Folster 13, D. Cocker 13no, P. Henry 12, J.B. Crombie 4-65 )
First innings win to Southland
Full scorecard for the match

Player Pages:
Peter Cartwright (jnr) | Duncan Drew | Raffery Fox |