Takapuna hold on to their lead at the top of the table after another impressive performance, this time on the road at Papatoetoe. The hosts were again given a solid start by Josh Plummer, who hit his fourth fifty of the summer. 

Takapuna stuck at their task as spinners Matt Jones (5-41) and Max O’Dowd (4-27) came into the game. Navdeep Aujla (45*) and Prabjyot Rehal (40) showed they were up for the fight, but seven of the last eight Papatoetoe batsmen failed to register double-figures. Jones tied up the top order, while O’Dowd’s off-spin accounted for the tail. 

Takapuna skipper Will O’Donnell picked up the final wicket, before combining with Ben Beecroft (66) to give his side a first-innings lead by stumps on Day One. O’Donnell hit 16 fours and 2 sixes in his 119, allowing cameos from Ross ter Braak, Ryan Quinn and Mike Sclanders to ensure Takapuna picked up maximum batting points. 

A second Plummer half-century and 69 by skipper Logan Clark took Papatoetoe to safety before rain cut short Takapuna’s bid for a third consecutive outright.

Papatoetoe 202 (J Plummer 54, N Aujla 45, P Rehal 40, M Jones 5-41, M O’Dowd 4-27) and 168/5 (L Clark 69, J Plummer 53) lost to Takapuna 368 (W O’Donnell 119, B Beecroft 66, R ter Braak 43*, R Quinn 40, M Sclanders 39, L Bhardwaj 4-52) on first innings.

Cornwall scraped home in a low-scoring thriller on the back of Amie Hucker’s five-wicket bag. 

Helen Semau’s opening five-over spell went for just six runs as Cornwall lost four wickets inside the first 12 overs. The hosts would only muster 83 runs as Taofi Lafai and Anna Orpin made regular breakthroughs around Claire Crooks defiant 35. 

Papatoetoe’s chase followed a similar schedule as wickets fell early and often. Hucker struck with her second delivery and by the time the right-arm seamer was finished, she had 5-17. At 68/5, Papatoetoe were favourites to go on and win, but Cornwall’s fielding backed up the bowling as Papatoetoe lost 5 wickets for just 7 runs. 

Cornwall 83 (C Crooks 35, T Lafai 3-22, A Lorpin 3-22) defeated Papatoetoe 75 (A Hucker 5-17) by eight runs.