Cricket: Former Black Cap Hamish Marshall turns out with son in Whanganui club competition

On Saturday, Marshall senior, who is based in Wellington, jumped on with Saracens to assist his son as they had a real chance of upsetting the perennial powerhouses United – four bowlers getting two-fors as the town club was dismissed for 204 in 52 overs.

United’s leading lights were veterans Tom Lance (48), Brendon Walker (47) and Robbie Power (32).

In reply, the game came down to a knife-edge as Saracens reached 190-8 from their 55 overs – only two wickets from defeat and only 15 runs from victory.

Lance (4-28) had done what he could for United with his spin, including snaring the prized wicket of Hamish Marshall off a great low catch by Logan Symes, while Daniel Hussey took 3-22.

The Keenans, Josh (35) and Collegiate student Joey (45 not out), were top scorers for Saracens, as the game finished a draw.

That result guaranteed the title with one round remaining for the unbeaten Wanganui Vet Services Marist – unsuccessful finalists in last season’s inter-district Coastal Challenge – who played out a draw against Awa City Combined High Schools on Victoria Park No 2.

Awa City – a club entity made up of players from all the local secondary schools – reached a challenging 292-6 from 55 overs, led by a superb 145 from 124 balls by Oliver Blyth and supported by 50 from opener Nick Burroughs.

With only 45 overs available, Marist made a game run chase at 281-6, their top scorer being Hadleigh O’Leary with 95, supported by his brothers Timothy (51) and Connor (29 not out), along with opener Nick Harding (49).

Marist now have a 4-0-1 record while the four other teams have 1-1-2 records going into the final round robin of games this Saturday. Marist and United meet in their Victoria Park derby, while Saracens take on Awa City.

The Jurgens Demolition Premier 2 and 3 Twenty20 tournaments have also been under way, with Awa City having teams in both grades.

There were more family connections in the Awa City versus Property Brokers United P3 game. Awa’s Blanche Cloete captained the side which included her son Nicolas, while Hadleigh Slade-Jones played with his twins Hadleigh and Isabel Slade-Jones.

There were four female players in the team – Cloete, Slade-Jones, Addison Whiteman and Leone Joubert.

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