It could well be the last hit-out of the season for Otago Country in zone 4 of the Hawke Cup competition when it takes on South Canterbury in Timaru starting today.
With an outright loss to Southland in Invercargill first up and then two subsequent first innings defeats to North Otago and Mid Canterbury, Otago Country is essentially out of contention to challenge for the trophy but still has a lot to play for, pride being the main incentive.
Coach Andy Sainsbury has named a strong side for the match. Leading scorer for the season, Scott Paulin is at the top of the order, alongside captain Brendan Domigan and akey pace bowler Ben Purvis returns from injury to anchor the attack. Eric Standfield, of Queenstown, makes his first appearance of the season and left-armer Sean Windle has also been included in place of spinner Ben Brown.
South Canterbury is in a similar situation to Otago Country. It lost outright to Southland in its second match of the season, effectively ending its chance at a challenge, even with an outright win over Mid Canterbury last weekend. A couple of half-centuries from captain Richie Preston and opener Craig Davies will be something Otago Country will be keen to halt while its batsmen will need to watch out for English import Tahir Afridi, who had five wickets for 16 from 11 overs.
The teams
Aorangi Oval, 10.30am.
Otago Country: Scott Paulin, Brendon Domigan(c), James Pyle (wk), Jared Andrew, Cameron Rutherford, Micheal Collins, Eric Standfield, Fraser Wilson, Sean Windle, Kieran Parker, Sean Moran, Ben Purvis.
South Canterbury: Richie Preston (c), Craig Davies, Bill Walsh, Dhananjaya Murari, Dan Laming, Glenn Matthews, Willie Wright (wk), Mark Tutton, Tahir Afridi, Sam Carlaw, Kevin Teahen, Craig Hinton, Jeremy Liddy.
