The Whiting Financial Services Wellington Provincial Men's A team have fallen short by just three wickets in a tight contest against Canterbruy A at Burnside Park in Christchurch this week.
Canterbury A 132 (Davey 38, Mariu 23, Hartshorn 4-52, Mann 3-44) and 377/7 (Lortan 71, Hay 69, Johnson 3-104) beat Wellington A 165 (Desai 58, Bhula 50, Shipley 5-42, Davey 4-12) and 343/8dec (Johnson 96, Ridley 83*, Bhula 53, McNicol 2-57) by three wickets
In a match where momentum swung between both sides through until the final session, it was the hosts who were able to snatch the victory thanks to a stubborn batting performance on the final day's play.
Earlier on Day One Wellington found themselves under pressure at 65-6 after captain Luke Georgeson won the toss and elected to bat first.
Andrew Fletcher, Peter Younghusband and Chander Ravi all fell for ducks before Firebirds batsman Jakob Bhula offered resistance, reaching his 50 off 113 balls.
Bhula found a good partner in Nish Desai (58 off 67) but when the pair both fell in the space of six deliveries the Canterbury bowlers wrapped up the Wellington tail quickly - Kings bowler Henry Shipley finishing with figures of 5-42 fromn his 10.5 overs.
With just 165 on the board the Wellington bowlers went to work, bowling the hosts out for 132 - James Hartshorn (4-52) and Josh Mann (3-44) the standouts.
With a 33-run platform to build on Wellington were again put under pressure early in their second innings - openers Fletcher and Georgeson both removed quickly as Wellington found themselves reeling at 9-2.
Jakob Bhula once again proved a challenging wicket for the hosts - he reached another 50 but was removed shortly afterwards by Blake Coburn for 53.
At 5-113 and facing being bowled out for another small total, the Wellington middle to lower order stood strong.
Wicketkeeper Callum McLachlan put on a quick 45 from 42 balls but when he was out caught and Desai was removed cheaply three overs later Wellington were back under pressure with the lead at just 217.
Enter Brett Johnson and Alex Ridley who combined for a 159-run partnership to take their side into a commanding position with a day left to play.
Ridley (87*) was a valuable allie to Johnson who built a composed innings more than worthy of a century.
He was eventually run-out for 96, four short of a deserved milestone and Wellington captain Georgeson declared with the lead at 386.
The Wellington defence started well - Johnson again in the game getting David Wakefield for 15, before Josh Mann removed Tim Hampton-Matehe for 11 late on the second day.
With both openers back in the pavilion Wellington were met with stiff resistance from a stubborn Canterbury middle-order on Day Three.
Johnson picked up his second wicket of the innings getting New Zealand Under 19 batsman Rhys Mariu for 22, but Mitch Hay (69) and Tyler Lortan (71) continued fighting with a 100-run partnership that took the hosts safely past lunch.
The pair both fell before tea but not before they'd batted their side into a winnable position with 123 required from the final session of play.
Wellington just required five wickets but could only manage two of those before the Canterbruy pair of Henry Shipley and Sean Davey held their nerve, chasing down the remaining 61 runs to bring their side home by three wickets.
Article added: Wednesday 26 February 2020
