Sport 16
Ashburton Guardian
Monday, February 26, 2018
www.guardianonline.co.nz
In brief Aussies win warm-up Australia warmed up for their four-test series against the Proteas with a five-wicket win over South Africa A in Benoni. Set 140 to win after dismissing the hosts for 248 on Saturday, Steve Smith’s side chased down the total in just under 30 overs, with 27 balls to spare. Shaun Marsh top-scored with an unbeaten 39 while Tim Paine was not out 17 at the end. Usman Khawaja (eight) and Peter Hanscomb (five) fell cheaply while Cameron Bancroft (22 off 91 balls), Smith (25 off 26) and Mitch Marsh (14 off 17) contributed. - AAP
Test cricket in danger England one-day skipper Eoin Morgan fears the opportunity to salvage test cricket’s primacy over short formats may already have been missed. At 31, Morgan played the last of his 16 tests six years ago, and has already publicly acknowledged more than once that his international future is exclusive to 50 and 20-over fixtures. He is nonetheless a notable voice in the debate about test cricket’s status, and appears in little doubt that the threat from lucrative Twenty20 domestic franchise contracts is no longer a mere talking point but present and future reality. - PA
Radical sail design
The bails are off: Tech’s Callum Gallagher is bowled by Coldstream’s Kalum Edirisinghe in Muirhead Rosebowl action at the weekend. PHOTO TETSURO MITOMO 240218-TM-0109
■ CRICKET
Stags crush Coldstream By Linda CLarke
Linda.c@theguardian.co.nz
The Tech Stags are unbeaten at the top of Mid Canterbury Cricket’s Muirhead Rosebowl after a 164-run demolition of Coldstream on Saturday. Batting first on their home wickets, Tech was 234 for 10 – number 11 batsman Morgan Gallagher out on the last ball of the 45th over. The runs came in the last 20
overs, with Sam Bennett (38) the only batsman in the first six to reach double figures. Tom Small at seven started the comeback, scoring 20 before being caught; Josh Colgan at nine scored 33, Morgan Gallagher on 37 and Hayden Sinclair 44 not out formed an impressive tail. Richard Print was the best of the Coldstream bowlers with 3/17 off his nine overs. Kalum Edirisinghe also took
three wickets while Jay Houston took two. Coldstream’s chase started promisingly with Bo Houston scoring 11 before being caught by Morgan Gallagher, Jay Houston scoring 18 and Richard Print adding 12. But there were no other big contributors and Coldstream, with only nine players, was all out for 70 in the 22nd over. Harry Jones took four wickets for 13 runs, while Jason Morrison
and Sinclair claimed two each. Tech take a well-deserved break with a bye in the fifth round this coming Saturday while Coldstream face Methven and Allenton face Lauriston. Those four teams will have to scrap it out for the other three semi-final spots. The Tech-Coldstream match was the only senior cricket game over the weekend with Allenton defaulting to Methven because of a lack of players.
Concept testing of a new mainsail design to be used in the America’s Cup is under way. After months of designing and simulating, the concept was put on the water in Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour last week with a scaled down version of the sail rigged into a 22-foot nonfoiling trimaran. The prototype was about a third of the size it would be on the AC75 vessel. “For us to see it in reality even in a small scale like this is a big step,” North Sails and veteran America’s Cup sail designer Burns Fallow said. - NZME
Revenge in mind The Tall Blacks have vowed to atone for a nervous display against South Korea when they play their World Cup qualifying return match in Seoul. New Zealand lost their opening group match to the lowerranked Koreans in Wellington in November. They’ve since notched wins away to Hong Kong and China,and coach Paul Henare hopes they repeat the dose in Seoul today. - NZME
Auckland bowlers come to the party in trophy final How things change in the span of a week. Last Saturday, Central Districts looked heavy favourites for the New Zealand one-day title, having comprehensively beaten Auckland by seven wickets at Pukekura Park to take home advantage into
the final. On Saturday, the same teams met again, and this time Auckland completely rewrote the script, producing a stellar bowling display to claim a six-wicket victory, and raise the one-day trophy. They were led by Lockie Fer-
guson and Tarun Nethula, who bowled with a restraint and economy rarely seen before at the diminutive Pukekura Park ground. It was necessary, after CD were in a strong position at 128-2 through 24 overs. Nethula came to life in his second spell, dismissing
Will Young for 49 to halt a 101-run partnership. Young’s ally for that partnership – Tom Bruce – fell next, also for 49, caught in the deep by Nethula. From 128-2, CD’s next eight overs saw them collapse to 135-7. Nethula’s figures went from 4-0-
19-0 to 10-3-24-2. CD were eventually rolled for 197. Auckland weren’t troubled by the chase. Jeet Raval (47) and Glenn Phillips (63) added 84 for the first wicket, and Auckland claimed their first one-day title since 2013. - NZME
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