Semifinal action set to get underway tomorrow
Merit RV New Plymouth Old Boys and Nag N’ Noggin New Plymouth & Marist United will host the Expert Turf Premier 2-day cricket semifinals this weekend.
The two New Plymouth rivals finished the round robin matches ranked one and two respectively, and NPOB will take on 4th placed Stratford at Western Park, while Marist will play 3rd placed Stumble Inn Woodleigh at Lynmouth for a spot in next weekend’s three-day final.
New Plymouth Old Boys will be heavily favoured over the Central Taranaki side, having gone unbeaten through the campaign, and only a no-result when rain washed out their fourth-round match (against NPMU) breaking their run of victories. Stratford on the other hand have picked up just the one win but have had several weather-affected matches. They’ll need to pull something special out of their hats, with NPOB boasting a lineup stacked with current and former representative players.
Marist have also gone undefeated through the round robin, also losing the same game to weather that NPOB did. However, they will come up against a Woodleigh side that has shown steady improvement through the two-day campaign, and who will be out for an upset over their city counterparts. When the two met in the third round the result was an 18-run first innings win to Marist, after a rain affected match and a Woodleigh chase that threatened to take it down to the wire. Woodleigh’s batsmen have been finding runs in recent weeks and they’ll need that to continue if they’re to upset a well-balanced Marist outfit.
The final round of 2-day matches concluded last week with no changes to the top four as a result.
New Plymouth Old Boys were convincing winners by an innings and 95-run over Whitaker Civil FDMC, while Woodleigh also enjoyed an innings and 8-run win over Metcalfe Real Estate Hawera. Marist beat the New Plymouth Boys High School First XI by nine wickets, while Civil Quarries Inglewood enjoyed their first win of the two-day competition, with a 72-run first innings win over Stratford.
Semifinal matches this weekend are scheduled for a 10.30am, start on both Saturday and Sunday.
Full details are available here at Play HQ: Home and Away competition fixtures | PlayHQ
