After the one day tournament in Taupo, the Bay men's side now controls its own destiny. The Bay is four points clear of the Northern Districts teams vying to get a challenge for the Hawke Cup against Hawke's Bay.

With two matches left the Bay is four points clear of Hamilton and six ahead of Counties.

In the last two rounds there is a maximum of 11 points up for grabs. There is a one day game with four points for the winner and one possible bonus point. There is a two day game left with four for a first innings win and two for outright.

So if the Bay win the one dayer against Poverty Bay and win on the first innings against Counties we could not be caught. Weather is the big factor that could reduce the points we can obtain – or poor performance.

The tournament did not go as planned for the Bay.

We started in very average fashion in the first match against Hamilton. Our bowling and fielding was not quite there although it was not entirely bad. They made 263 against us with some very professional batting at times.

We started well in our chase getting to 60 for 1 off six overs, but then Bruce Martin, the dropped ND spinner came into the attack and really tied things down. He bowled with good flight and control and also made an effort to disrupt the guys' thinking. He pegged us back and then pressure bulit and wickets kept falling.

We fell short in the end by 50 runs. Not a great start. It helps to have a pre tournament game against a side of this calibre with the main team. Guys get used to playing together under the pressure you face in the ‘real' thing. The running by Hamilton was close to first class. Tap and run to fielders in the ring who are not completely charging. It was good, but not as good as the Marshalls. Fielding in higher level matches can be like an acid test. Coming from club cricket where hitting to the fielder and a no call is the norm was a new experience for some of the guys. Unfortunately with injuries, Knights selection and mix-up games between ourselves, we were a little disjointed.

Northland was day two of three. They were fired up after a first day loss. We won the toss and batted on a slightly damp but good looking wicket.

We had a good start again but a clip to the mid wicket fielder followed by a yes call saw the first wicket fall. Another shaky bit of running saw another top order batsman get out. Thereafter, we saw a steady progression of Bay batters going back to the shed. The Northland medium pacers hit great lines and lengths and with guys already in the shed it was hard to be too risky. There was just enough in the wicket to keep the guys in check and also to nick them off.
Fortunately at five down, Te Ahu Davis came in and split the field a bit and then Steve Rae and Daniel Hill got through a tough early part to post us a score that at least we could defend.

Northland started well. There was a psychological battle going on as their older players tried to dominate and get on top of Te Ahu Davis. Every ball they got through pumped them up further. So after four overs we took Te Ahu off to save him for the bunnies at the end who would not be so tough.

Steven Rae came in and hit great lengths and nibbled the ball about. He got a couple of wickets early in his spell and the pressure mounted on Northland as they knew runs would be hard to come by.

We had them five down and then they really fired back at us. A young left hander came in and pasted us all over the field – taking his chances. They only needed about 60 when Jason Trembarth bowled him with a peach of a delivery. It was flighted and curved in the air and had the batsman driving. He was beaten and bowled and this opened up the game for us.

Te Ahu came back on. He bowled quick and straight and even with some lusty hitting and good running we got the win. Steve Rae bowled very well as did Daniel Hill to peg them back. Andrew Gibbs kept it pretty tight from the other end to keep pressure on.

So we won a tight game under pressure. We had a large talking to from Jimmy Pamment after the match as well as during the match to get the boys producing more.

The final game against Counties was another pressure match with the guys knowing our ability to get a challenge depended on it. The groundsman had wet the wicket overnight and we lost the toss. Thirty for five again and the coach and manager were in semi apoplectic states. Ben Williams had faced about three balls in two days from some nibbly seam bowling in semi helpful conditions.

We scraped through to 167 with Richard Rice and Te Ahu Davis having a good fifth wicket partnership.

So to the field again with the boys under the gun – again the opposition tried to front up against Te Ahu. They did ok for a while and went to lunch (we did not bat long enough to get to normal lunch break) two down for 30 runs.

After lunch we left Te Ahu on. By the end of his 10 overs Counties were six down and Te Ahu had five. They still needed 90 to win. But then the new batters got in and some good partnerships developed. They actually started to get in a position where they could win. The pitch had flattened out and we were chasing leather. A Jason Trembarth wicket followed by a vital one from Ben Christenson was the turning point. That was before Steve Rae came back and got the last two to fall. We won with a bonus point and ended four points clear.

The reason we are not equal with Hamilton and that they are four points behind is that they had a shock loss to Waikato Valley yesterday.

Waikato Valley made 261 and then bowled Hamilton out for 250 odd in the last over. The Bay boys had finished their match and had stopped to watch the Hamilton game from the sidelines and due to Hamilton being equal on points were cheering the Valley boys for their first victory over Hamilton. It was a very close thing but it now gives the Bay the opportunity to get a challenge if we play well.