Stoke-Nayland will go in as underdogs to the 110-over club cricket final against Waimea Toi Toi at Jubilee Park on Saturday. Photo: Barry Whittnall/Shuttersport.

Cricket crown up for grabs

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Waimea Toi Toi and Stoke-Nayland will face each other to crown club cricket’s 110-over champion at Jubilee Park on Saturday.

Waimea Toi Toi secured a place in the final with a week to spare, while rain on Saturday washed away Nelson College’s chance of pipping Stoke-Nayland for the other berth after all club cricket was abandoned and the points shared.

Waimea Toi Toi will go in as favourites as they are undefeated in the competition. They have also scored the most runs in the competition and conceded the least.

The teams have met once before, with Waimea Toi Toi winning by one run after defending 161 thanks to four for 28 from opening bowler Jon Routhan. Their other match was rained out.

However, it’s not all one-way traffic when individual player statistics are looked at.

Stoke-Nayland’s hard-hitting allrounder, Dylan Eginton, has the second most runs in the competition with 193, just five runs behind leader Tom Cross from Wanderers.

Dylan also has the most sixes in the competition with seven.

Waimea Toi Toi have two batsmen inside the top 10, with Tom Ingham fourth on 180 runs and Jon in fifth on 165.

Stoke-Nayland’s Ryan Edwards sits atop the bowling ranks in club cricket so far.

He’s taken 15 wickets at an average of just over seven and a strike rate of 20 balls per wicket.

Team mate and right arm seamer Brad Duncan sits fourth with 12 wickets and Dylan eighth with 10 wickets.

Waimea Toi Toi’s lead seamer Amit Dhiman is the second best wicket taker in the competition with 14 wickets at a strike rate of 19 balls per wicket.

Tim O’Neill sits fifth with 10 wickets.

Both teams have enough Nelson rep players to ensure either team can produce a performance capable of securing some silverware before the Christmas break.

With several rounds abandoned due to rain, it’s expected the pitch will still have some life for the seam bowlers to exploit as large totals have been hard to come by this year.