Cook stars in tame draw

New Zealand A 289 for 6 dec and 218 for 6 dec (Fulton 94, Bhayat 4-60) drew with Lions 175 for 7 dec and 147 for 4 (Cook 76*)
Scorecard

A tense three-day match ended anticlimactically after New Zealand set the Highveld Lions an impossible target of 433 in less than 50 overs. It didn't take much for the Lions to do some quick maths, and they played to draw, scoring 147 for 4 in the little time they had. In that time Stephen Cook scored an unbeaten 76 to keep his team safe, after New Zealand A declared at 218 for 6.

The Lions's hopes of early inroads were eroded slowly as Peter Fulton and Tama Canning (41) added 97 runs in 26 overs, before Derek Crookes finally broke through (165 for 5). By that time, a significant lead had been established already, but New Zealand A went on. Fulton chugged towards his century but fell six runs short, and the team declared at 218.

For the second time, the Lions's start was a bad one. Adam Bacher hung around for 18 balls more than the first innings, but fell for the same score to Richard Sherlock: one. Cook and Justin Ontong then shared a 72-run stand before Sherlock struck again. How? Well, Jamie How then removed Neil McKenzie to have the Lions in some degree of trouble, but realistically, all it needed for the match to end without too much drama was one average partnership. That's exactly what happened. Cook and Hylton Ackerman added 51 runs before Ackerman was done in by How.