The Rep cricket season finally got underway for the Hamilton Senior Men’s team as they took on Northland in their first Fergus Hickey Rosebowl game of 2022.
A strong Northland side made the trip down to Hamilton and were put in to bat first up by new Hamilton captain, Matt Whitley.
Northland openers Rory Christopherson and Todd Beehre got their innings off to a steady start, frustrating the Hamilton bowlers in the 1st session and putting on a 70 run partnership off 137 balls. Freddy Walker made the much needed breakthrough, bowling Beehre in the 23rd over with a classic left-armers delivery before lunch.
The Hamilton bowlers found a more consistent line and length after lunch and Nick Farrell was rewarded when he nicked off Banicevich which was brilliantly caught by Bocock. Runs became hard to come by for the Northland batters and when Cooper Rowell picked up the crucial wicket of Christopherson with the score on 137 honours were pretty even. Contributions from the middle order saw Northland bat right through a stifling hot Hamilton day and ended up on 261 for 6 off 104 overs.
Northland were after quick runs early on day two to give themselves as many overs as possible against a youthful Hamilton batting line up. Henderson played a nice hand hitting some powerful boundaries in his 41 before skipper Ben Hyde declared.
Needing 305 runs in 90 overs, Hamilton got stuck into their work with debutant Alex Clare (11 off 52) looking solid against some testing bowling lead by ND rep Brett Randell. Clare was dismissed LBW in the 18th over just before the lunch break.. Fellow opener Elliot Santner formed a partnership of 47 with Sajith Dhambagolla, giving Hamilton a good platform for their powerful middle order to put Northland under some pressure.
Despite Santners 63 off 130, Hamilton found themselves struggling against some tight bowling lead by captain Hyde. The big wickets of Bocock and Walker had the men from up North right on top.
Just when Hamilton needed something special, Jack Devane stood up and entertained the Galloway crowd with a brilliant match winning 89 off 96 balls, combining with Josh Brown who blasted 41 off 42 as the pair put on 76 to get their team within reach of a great run chase and first innings win against the odds.
When Devanes innings came to an end after being bowled by Brett Randell, it was up to the youngster Kuwyn Price and skipper Matt Whitley to bring their side home, which they did in style with a 4 to win the game.
Northland Cricket 304/7, 115 overs (Rory Christopherson 69, Luke Trigg 47, Ben Hyde 43; Freddy Walker 3 for 68)
Hamilton Cricket 307/8, 87.4 overs (Jack Devane 89, Elliot Santner 63, Josh Brown 41; Ben Hyde 3/57)
Hamilton Cricket won first innings
