Wolves poised to pounce on premier title

At the end of day one:

Wolves 283/10(Michael Olsen 105 runs, Joseph O’Connor 52, Liam Hobbs 38, Andrew Beaston 29, Sean Neal 23; Jared Silvester 4/53/13.5, Dylan Eginton 2/24/11, Liam Clark 2/44/6, 2/54/14).

Stoke 113/8 (Darius Skeaping 43, Dylan Eginton 23; Michael Olsen 2/9/5, Sean Neal 2/18/11, 2/20/7, Joseph O’Connor 2/23/12).

Wolves (Wanders/Motueka) hold a commanding advantage over Stoke/Nayland after an action-packed day of finals cricket.

With 18 wickets falling, it looks like the game may be set for a result as play heads into the second day of The Car Company premier grade two-day final tomorrow at Isel Park.

The only thing that didn’t seem to go the Wolves’ way was the toss, with their top-order performing at a high calibre with Michael Olsen’s 105-run century the best of the bunch.

Buoyed by openers Joseph O’Connor (52) and Andrew Beaston (29), as well as a late spark from Liam Hobbs’ 38 runs after coming in at ninth, the visiting side put on a strong 283 all-out.

In the bowling attack, Stoke-Nayland’s Jared Silvester took four wickets at a handy 3.8 average, while Dylan Eginton, Liam Clark, and Tim O'Connor each picked up two.

With seven catches in the first innings and five in the second, Stoke-Nayland has two wickets in hand when play resumes tomorrow as they look to chip into a 170-run deficit.

Darius Skeaping (43) and Dylan Eginton (23) were the bright spots of a scorecard that doesn’t show the true potential of their squad, as no other batsmen made double-digits.

And with another full day of play tomorrow, something the non-representative players are not used to, there is still room for them to turn the game around with another innings to play.

But it will be a big undertaking as Wolves have been the team to beat all season, having lost just twice in 19 games.