Black Caps giant Kyle Jamieson made a welcome return to the bowling crease in the latest round of country cricket on Saturday while unbeaten Sefton secured top spot over the Christmas break. 

There were wins for Sefton, Weedons, and Darfield in round 10 of the 2022/23 Canterbury Country Premier One Day competition.  

Mandeville was the scene for a return to bowling for Jamieson who has been recovering from a back injury sustained during the Black Caps' tour of England in June.  

Playing for Weedons, Jameson, who has 72 wickets in 16 tests, shared the new ball with Charlie Robson after home side Ohoka won the toss and elected to bat.  

Ohoka were soon in strife and it wasn’t Jamieson doing all the damage. He was overshadowed by Robson who ripped through the home XI’s struggling top order, ending with a six-wicket haul.  

Jamieson snared one wicket and finished with the tidy figures of 1/17 off six overs.  

Ohoka were scuttled for just 80 in 26.1 overs.  

Openers Brad Nightingale (38 not out off 25 balls) and Michael Grafton (42 not out off 24) knocked off the total in just 8.1 overs to claim the dominant win.  

At Sefton Domain, competition leaders Sefton continued on their merry way, demolishing Peninsula-Harbour by 75 runs.  

Batting first, the home side played patiently to the conditions and, as they so often have through their history, got handy contributions throughout the order. 

They posted 165 runs before they were all out with three balls to spare, with Akhil Pant the pick of the bowlers, returning the fine figures of 4/15 from his nine overs. Twenty-five wides also greatly helped the Seals’ cause.  

Canterbury Plunket Shield paceman Fraser Sheat bowled superbly for Sefton, taking 3/6 off six overs, as the visitors never threatened, finishing all out for 90 in the 32nd over. 

A seven-wicket bag for Darfield’s Will Greenslade was the highlight as his side beat Leeston-Southbridge by 49 runs.  

At Leeston Park, Darfield posted 197/4 in their allotted 45 overs, with Jordy Frew top-scoring with a well-made 84 runs off 122 balls, well-supported by Cameron Paul’s unbeaten half-century.  

In reply, a 65-run partnership for the second wicket between Country rep brothers Harry Chamberlain (36 off 34) and Sam Chamberlain (66 off 94) threatened to be promising but they had little other support, and fell short, all out in the 41st over.  

The competition resumes on January 14.  

Short scorecard: 

Ohoka 80 (C Robson 6/21) 

Lost to Weedons 81/0 (M Grafton 42no, B Nightingale 38no).  

Sefton 165 (A Arora 35, M Campbell 33, T Harrison 27, M Smith 22; A Pant 4/15, D Neal 2/16) 

Beat Peninsula-Harbour 90 (H Matheson 24; F Sheat 3/6, M Smith 2/15, M Campbell 2/19).  

Darfield 197/4 (J Frew 84, C Paul 55no, R Foulkes 32) 

Beat Leeston-Southbridge 148 (S Chamberlain 66, H Chamberlain 36; W Greenslade 7/20, R Hughes 2/27).  

Article added: Tuesday 20 December 2022