Cricket At The Hnry

Wellington’s stadium has gone through several iterations as name sponsors have changed. It started out as Westpac Stadium, then changed to Sky. The latest sponsor is Hnry, a New Zealand tax accounting company. So we now have the Hnry Stadium. Pronounced Hnry.

Whilst international test cricket is played at the Basin Reserve, Twenty20 and ODIs are increasing played at the Hnry, as they have floodlighting for day/night matches. This was the third match in a five match T20 series against South Africa. Both men’s and women’s teams are playing, leading to an eight-hour festival of cricket. 

This match is included in our Gold membership of Cricket Wellington, so we could access the member’s lounge. This is right under the scoreboard, which makes tracking what’s going on a little harder for us, as the screen at the other end of the ground is used largely for advertising, and only rarely do they update the scores there. Indoors, however, they also have several tv screens so we can keep up with the match. Also handy for the action replays!

The White Ferns were up first, starting at 2:45. We’d got there in plenty of time, and ensconced ourselves by the window. The Ferns are 2-1 up in the series, with a WLW record behind them. South Africa won the toss, decided to bat, and amassed a reasonable score of 159, setting the Ferns their highest chase total at home. Losing opener Gaze in the second over didn’t help, and then Plimmer fell for 29 after keeping captain Melie Kerr company for a bit. It was the partnerships of Kerr/Devine and Devine/Halliday that really sealed the deal, and by the time Devine was out for 64 they needed just another 11 runs from 17 balls, which they achieved with nine balls to spare. This sealed the series win 3-1, with one more match to play in Christchurch.

There was a bit of a wait for the men’s game, as it is timed to be shown after the TV News has finished at 7:00pm. We availed ourselves of dinner from the member’s lounge catering…not brilliant.

The Black Caps are also 2-1 up on the series, having lost the first game but absolutely pantsing the Proteas with bat and ball in the next two games – bowling them out for 107 after setting a target of 175 in the second match, and then restricting them to 139/9 in the third – a total they saw off in less than 17 overs. There were line-up changes for this match, bringing in some newer players, and also losing Tom Latham to injury. South Africa won the toss and decided to bat, setting a target of an achievable 165 for the Black Caps.

Unfortunately, the Black Caps failed to dazzle with the bat. No-one really got going and every time they seemed to get settled, another wicket fell. Neesham, in particular, who should have held the lower order together, was found wanting. Having skied the ball twice and been dropped twice in succession, what does he do? Hits it up again, and third time was a charm…caught for 6. Too much was being asked of the rest of the lower order, and South Africa eventually wrapped it up for 145, winning by 19 runs.

This leaves the men’s series tied at 2-2, with the final match on Wednesday in Christchurch. Should be a nailbiter!