• Napier Tech Old Boys suffer first loss at national club cricket champs

Napier Tech Old Boys suffer first loss at national club cricket champs

Three teams had remained unbeaten heading into today's midway mark of the round robin, but only Christchurch's St Albans emerged unscathed by the end of a brutal third day of the 2019 NZCT National Club Cricket Championship.

Defending champions Napier Technical Old Boys suffered their first loss of the week at the hands of the "Saints", bowled out just 27 runs shy of chasing down their target of 291.

The "Texans" had earlier done well to restrict the "Saints" to 290 on the smallest of the Cornwall Cricket Club grounds, bowling them out in the 46th over after St Albans had elected to bat.

New Zealand Under-19s rep Todd Watson produced a good double for the Napier club with 4-40 off eight overs backed up by 35 with the bat.

Central Stag Kieran Noema-Barnett got off the mark with a boundary first ball but would not add to his tally after Jack Harper struck a big blow next over.

Player-coach Jesse Ryder made his first appearance at the crease at the 2019 tournament, but his wicket, after having cruised to 45 let the Saints right back into the game.

Earlier, St Albans opening batsmen Dan Sharples (53) and Greg Dawson (50) had got the Saints off to a solid start with a 106-run opening partnership, with useful late contributions from Harper (42) and Ben Langrope (42) in what proved to be a winning team effort with bat and ball.

The full scorecard for the game can be found here.