Cricket’s prized Newman Shield remains in Marlborough hands after the senior men’s rep side scored a comprehensive five-wicket win over Nelson at Saxton Oval on Sunday.
The home side won the toss and elected to bat, but lost wickets regularly against a steady, disciplined Marlborough fielding unit.
The Griffins found it difficult to establish and partnerships of note, their best being a 40-run collaboration for the eighth wicket between top scorer Michael Olsen, 47 from 63, and George Aerakis, 24 from 54.
Leading the Marlborough attack was player/coach James Bell, the medium pacer taking 3-10 from six overs, and rookie Liam Young, who marked his debut with 3-19 from seven.
Matthew Stretch, 1-26 from 10, Luke Holdaway, 1-17 from 6.1, and Sam Boyce, 1-20 from 9, were also instrumental in turning the screws on their top of the south rivals.
Marlborough ran down their target in short order, reaching 139-5 in the 21st over.
Opener Tom Sloan, also on debut, gave them a rollicking start with a hard-hit 43 from 29 at the top.
Experienced allounder Josh Poole continued the momentum, producing a vital unbeaten 43 from 40 balls to shore up the middle order and guide the visitors to a second consecutive win over their traditional rivals.
Veteran Marlborough seamer Sam Boyce described the win as "clinical".
"It was a good toss to lose as we were probably going to bat," he said. "The wicket suited bowlers of our pace and we operated in short spells. We set good fields and bowled to our plans, plus fielded well. Griffin Carter's run out of their top scorer was a highlight.
"In the end we just kept chipping wickets out and then, when we batted, Tom [Sloan] got us off to a great start with some good cricket shots and Josh [Poole] finished it off with another mature innings."
The second Newman Shield match of the season is scheduled for Sunday, 7 March, in Blenheim.
