They might not have won, but the Tech Stags came within a whisker of causing the upset of the South Canterbury cricket season on Saturday when narrowly losing to competition leaders, Pleasant Point.

Without a number of key players due to representative duties in Invercargill, the Stags travelled to Pleasant Point with hopes of at least being competitive with the competition’s only unbeaten side, and while they were unable to get maximum points from the match, they pushed their rivals harder than anyone has so far this season.

Pleasant Point won the toss and elected to bat, and an 83-run opening stand set them on the path for a big total.

But regular wickets throughout innings changed the path of the game, and they limped through to 218 all out in the 42 second over.

Bevan Richan was in miserly form, taking 3-17, but it was an all-round bowling effort from the Stags with Sam Hurley, Harry Jones and Bevan Ravenscroft all taking two wickets each in a good effort with the ball.

Chasing just over 200, the Stags would have felt themselves a big chance of causing the upset with the bat despite some heavy hitters being out of action.

A 43-run opening wicket between Jason Morrison (33) and Bevan Richan (15) set a solid platform, but while many players at the top of the order got good starts, they failed to kick on and wickets fell frequently.

Richard Print chipped in with a solid 36 in the middle order to give the Stags a sniff, with Sam Bennett (24) also contributing.

Bevan Ravenscroft and Dave Morrison attempted to see the side home and did a good job for the final wicket, batting for 10 overs. But with runs needed off the last five overs, they tried to push on and Ravenscroft was the last wicket to fall with the Stags 27 runs still required for victory.

The Stags managed to maintain fourth spot in the competition despite the loss, as the competition now heads into a two-week break for the first representative window before they resume against Timaru at home on December 19.

While they’ve struggled at times through the first stage of their foray into the South Canterbury scene, the Stags have still made their presence felt after the first eight matches.

Morrison, who has been solid as a rock at the top of the order, is the fourth highest ranked batsman in the competition, with 292 runs from his eight innings at an average of 36.5, while Kruger is the eighth highest ranked batsman with 223 runs from six innings at an average of 37.1.

With the ball, Ryan Bell who was in good form for Mid Canterbury on the weekend, sits third on the bowling leaderboard with 15 wickets from his seven matches at an average of 18.4.

By Matt Markham © The Ashburton Guardian - 2 December 2020