North Otago suffered a 10-wicket loss to Ashburton in its final Fuji-Xerox Cup elimination game played on a sub standard wicket at Ashburton Domain in the weekend.
Kel Mansfield was the only batsman to come to terms with the pitch scoring an aggressive 48 after North Otago was sent in to bat. It was a disappointing effort by the North Otago batsmen after openers Aaron Dawe and Craig Hore made another safe start.
North Otago progressed through to 30 before losing its openers but once they were gone only Mansfield offered any resistance. It struggled through to 124 for seven at lunch and was all out early in the second session for 158.
Chris Bell was Ashburton's best bowler taking six for 59 while Dean Harrison got three for 33. Wicketkeeper Jason Overend enjoyed a profitable innings taking five catches.
In improving conditions, Ashburton batsmen capitalised on some loose bowling to make a flying start racing through to 271. Its first 50 runs came in just 30 minutes and the first 100 in an hour as North Otago's opening attack straying in line and length.
John Woodham top scored for Ashburton with an innings of 62 although most of the top order made valuable contributions.
Craig Wilson came back and bowled impressively in his second spell to finish with six for 76 while Mansfield took four for 91.
Needing 113 to make Ashburton bat again, North Otago was dismissed for 123 with Gerry Cunningham scoring 48. John Crombie also batted well scoring 30 before falling to a brilliant one handed catch on the boundary by Warren Eddington.
Ashburton had no difficulty wrapping up the match scoring the 14 runs needed for victory in 4.2 overs without losing a wicket.
"It was a bit disappointing - our batting let us down again." North Otago coach Bruce Sewell said this morning.
"We made a good start and then we collapsed to 49 for four. The guys made a bit of a recovery and I thought our score could have been competitive but we lost in in the 75 minutes after the change of innings" he said.
Despite being on the defensive, Mr Sewell said he told the players to bat positively yesterday to try and set a challenging target. There was no point in batting for time and forcing a draw.
However, North Otago batsmen, with the exception of Cunningham and Crombie let themselves down with poor shot selection, Mr Sewell said.
"Gerry showed he is up to this standard of cricket which was encouraging and John batted nicely until he was brilliantly caught on the boundary. The rest of the batsmen did not play as well as they can though."
North Otago has finished its Fuji-Xerox season without a win while Ashburton narrowly missed winning zone six after Central Otago defeated Southland to gain the right to challenge Taranaki.
Short Scorecard(s)
Representative - Fuji Xerox Cup - Zone Series
North Otago vs Ashburton County at Ashburton Domain Oval, Ashburton
North Otago 158 ( K.J. Mansfield 48, C. Hore 21, R. Duncan 19, J.B. Crombie 18, A. Laming 11, Bell 6-59, Harrison 3-33 ) & 123 ( G. Cunningham 48, J.B. Crombie 30, A. Laming 14no, A. Dawe 11, Forde 4-42, Hooper 2-7, Bell 2-25 )
Ashburton County 271 ( J. Woodham 62, P. Hooper 55, D. Andrews 33, L. Jemmett 31, J. Overend 23, M. Hayes 19, L. Cavill 17, C. Wilson 6-74, K.J. Mansfield 4-91 ) & 14-0 ( )
Ashburton won by 10 wickets
Full scorecard for the match