The stop-start Dunedin premier club season started again with a full round in chilly but otherwise (mostly) reasonable conditions on Saturday.
University-Grange 198/3 beat Albion 195 by seven wickets
Morgan Duffy and Venkat Kotte had differing approaches but complemented each other nicely as University-Grange overcame some early stumbles to cruise to victory at Logan Park.
The Spartans chased down Albion’s target of 196 in the 47th over.
Duffy played the anchor role as he opened the innings and stayed cool while three colleagues came and went.
He finished unbeaten on 78 off 132 balls, including six fours and one six.
Duffy found the ideal partner in Kotte, and the pair added an unbroken 115 runs for the fourth wicket to lead University-Grange to victory.
Kotte was the aggressor with 71 not out off 73 balls, belting seven fours and a six.
Albion great Matt West celebrated his 300th appearance with the tidy figures of two for 17 off 10 overs.
Earlier, Albion were slightly guilty of wasting a good start as they were dismissed for 195 in the 50th over.
Opening batter Dylan Fletcher blasted 77 off 84 balls (nine fours, one six) but Jack Soal (28) and Taylor Cumberland (22) were his only team-mates to get starts.
Kotte grabbed three for 16 for University-Grange, and both Vinay Chandrappa and Shiv Achary nabbed two wickets.
North East Valley 217/5 beat Green Island 216/8 by five wickets
Will Hamilton was one wicket and a handful of runs away from a rare individual all-round milestone at Sunnyvale.
Hamilton nabbed a four-wicket bag and the of the day, 93, to lead North East Valley to a five-wicket win over Green Island.
The Swans needed 217 to win and got there in the 48th over with five wickets to spare.
Hamilton, who missed last season after having wrist surgery, led the way with a brutal 93, facing 110 deliveries and smashing seven fours and four sixes.
He received solid support from Henry Dobson (50) and Michael Williams (36 not out).
Hamilton had earlier led the Valley bowling attack as Green Island battled early but got some handy contributions at the tail.
The right-arm seamer ripped the top off the Swamprats with four for 27 off eight overs.
Joel Meade was the saviour for Green Island, whacking 74 off 75 balls, including eight fours and one six, while Navi Deol dug in for 47 off 81 balls to help get the score to respectability.
Taieri 289 beat CDK 165 by 124 runs
Taieri are the only team with a two-from-two record in the Dunedin premier competition following their shellacking of CDK at Brooklands.
An excellent all-round effort with the bat was followed by a consistent performance from the home bowling attack.
Discarded Otago Volts spinner Ben Lockrose led the way for Taieri with a forceful 81 off as many balls, hitting six fours and two sixes as his side pushed to 289 in the 49th over.
There were also handy contributions from Beckham Wheeler-Greenall (53) and Ruben Clinton (49), while both Nick Tapper and Ishaan Silva grabbed three wickets for CDK.
Taieri bowlers Kyle Hastie (four for 16) and Wheeler-Greenall (two for 18) then applied the screws as CDK tumbled to 165 in the 39th over, lone resistance provided by youngster Ashton Hansen (43) and captain Thomas O’Connor (36).
