PREMIER WOMEN BOUNCE BACK (19 October 2024)
The Premier Women bounced back from a season-opening setback, securing their first points with a convincing victory over Lancaster Park on Saturday. The return of Captain Felicity Robertson proved pivotal, as she made significant contributions with both bat and ball.
In the Premier Men’s match against East Shirley at Burwood Park, the team overcame early stumbles thanks to a crucial middle-order rescue from Srirag Harsh, who scored a resilient 92. They ended the first day 70 runs ahead, though four East Shirley wickets remain to be taken.
Next door at Burwood 2, the Championship side faced a tough challenge, trailing by around 70 runs with just one wicket in hand in their first innings against East Shirley (scoreboard details unavailable). Meanwhile, Division 1 encountered similar difficulties at Halswell Domain, finishing 135 runs behind Halswell’s first-innings total and already a wicket down in their second innings.
In the afternoon grades, the Div 5 All-Stars, Cavalier Cardinals, and Div 1 Women all secured wins, with Abe Atherton’s hat-trick in a fine spell for the All Stars, taking 5 for 4 runs off 5.3 overs.
Among the youth teams, the Year 9As stood out as the sole winners on a challenging day, with Jonty Rutherford (44*) and Noah Green (32*) leading a 99-run partnership. Other individual highlights included Nicholas Wilson’s unbeaten 98 for the 2nd XI and Oliver Jones’s undefeated 65 in a narrow 3rd XI loss to NW Youth.
A number of the photos in this publication are also courtesy of Ash Hart’s Hartland Images.
Scott Insurance Brokers Insurance Premier Men
Sydenham’s clash with East Shirley at Burwood Park is shaping up to be another closely fought encounter, with the match finely poised at the end of the first day’s play. The early conditions favoured the bowlers, and East Shirley took full advantage after winning the toss. Although Sydenham’s openers, Max Clarke and Fraser Harding, initially looked comfortable, moving to 21 without loss in the first eight overs, the situation quickly changed.
Fraser was dismissed at that score, followed soon after by Matt McCall in the next over, putting Sydenham under pressure. Aarush Bhagwat’s departure three overs later left the side struggling at 32-3. Debutant Richy Faust joined Max Clarke to steady the innings briefly, but then Max fell for 19 off 43 balls, leaving Sydenham in deeper trouble. Richy and Srirag Harsh battled through the next nine overs before Richy was out for 19 off 37 balls, with the score at 77-5.
Mitch Gardner, Richy Faust, Srirag Harsh & Matt Bell look to regroup
Michael Robinson and Dylan McArdle provided some support to Srirag, who had been anchoring the innings since Max’s dismissal. Known for his reliability in a crisis in the middle order, Srirag once again proved his worth in a tough situation. Displaying his trademark composure, Srirag worked the ball around without taking unnecessary risks, hinting at a total closer to 150 may be possible. With the overs starting to run out, he began to accelerate, forming a crucial partnership with captain Mitch Gardner.
Srirag Harsh
With Gardner’s aggressive support, the pair added a vital 87 runs in 15 overs, propelling the score to 202-8 before the last three wickets fell. Srirag’s gritty knock of 92 off 125 balls was instrumental in giving Sydenham a fighting chance, as he fell in the final over.
Mitch Gardner – important roles with bat & ball
East Shirley started solidly in pursuit of 202 but suffered an early setback when Bruce was bowled by Tom Agnew with the score at 22. Mitch Gardner then struck to reduce them to 29-2. A partnership between Tim Hampton-Matehe and Jeremy Duncan steadied the innings, but then Agnew dismissed the East Shirley captain at 53, a crucial breakthrough. Gardner claimed his second wicket shortly after, leaving East at faltering at 58-4.
Despite the pressure, Easts reached 100 before Archie Goodrick picked up a wicket at 101-5. Srirag then added to his all-round performance by taking a wicket in the next over, putting East in a precarious position at 131-6 with 11 overs remaining. However, Duncan and Singh managed to see out the day’s play, as Easts finished at 131-6.
Gardner (12-2-38) and Agnew (12-2-36) were the standout bowlers for Sydenham, setting up what promises to be another thrilling finish between these two rivals at Burwood Park.
The Birdwood Premier Women
Match report courtesy of Linda Pettigrew
Winning the toss, Sydenham elected to bat first. After last week’s efforts, Sydenham were determined to show more stamina with their batting and bat out 50 overs. Target achieved 🙂
Sydenham openers departed early, with Sam Petherick bowled by Jess Simmons and Beth Dodd caught LBW in the first four overs. Felicity Robertson and Megan Meltzer then compiled a stunning partnership taking the score through to 105 in the 23rd over before Floss was out for 43. Megan was trapped LBW soon after for 44. The next three batters did similarly well, with Kate Craig (37), Lizzy Cohr (16) and Rachel Davidson (31*) continuing the start they made last week.
Felicity Robertson
Sydenham finished their overs seven down with 217 on the board, fairly happy with the performance but feeling like they’d left a few runs on the field, especially when facing a Lancaster Park team with three Magicians.
Sam Petherick
Opening bowlers Boadicea Lynch and Lizzy bowled tight up top, with Lizzy collecting the first wicket in the tenth over with the total 1/28. The change brought on Floss who collected 4 wickets in quick succession and Sam from the other end keeping the pressure on.
Lancaster Park was 6/51 at first drinks (17 overs). Having the top and middle order broken, Sydenham proceeded to dispatch the remaining wickets. Lancaster Park’s big hitter Charlotte Craighead showed a brief glimpse of promise with her 16 from 9 deliveries before being clean bowled with Park finishing all out for 94.
The women have a week off now, with their next match 2 November at Burnside Park
Thanks to umpires Matthew Hill and Andrew Moulton
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/ev-power-premier-women/game-centre/1c1293f3
Scott Insurance Brokers Championship
No scorecard or details available – but Sydenham is around 70 runs behind Easts first innings total of 240 odd on Burwood 2 with just one wicket in hand.
Division 1
Match report courtesy of Richard Howe
Sydenham took on Halswell at Halswell Domain 2. Halswell won the toss and put us in to bat on a spongy pitch. Yet another poor start, three down for 5 runs. Shortly after and four down… Gourav Jadhav and Zack Howe put on a 50-plus partnership, with GJ playing positively (and taking advantage of some poor catching) to score 56. Only extras (16), Zack Howe (14) and Richard Howe (12) made double figures as we were rolled for 107 in 37 overs. The pitch was certainly erratic, especially at one end where their spinners were getting sharp bounce, and big turn. However, there was some poor shot-making and “generous” umpiring, which didn’t help our cause.
Their openers started aggressively, especially left-hander Barclay, who hit some massive 6s with the wind over midwicket. The pitch flattened out, and we struggled to bowl enough balls in the right areas to Barclay, who, along with his batting partners, seemed to have a knack for hitting several mistakes lofted shots into space. Isaiah Prasad entered the attack 13th over, no wickets down. He picked up 4 in his first spell, should have been 5 as a very good LBW shout was controversially rejected, following a direct hit by Sam Prasad catching Barclay short of his ground, only for the limping umpire to give it not out, from in front of the wickets, unable to get himself into position. Very frustrating! Gourav (2 wickets) got the wicket of Barclay (97 off 76, damage done), and Zack and Richard took one each as Isaiah’s wicket in his 2nd spell netted him a deserved 5 for 40, a reward for patient effort.
Halswell declared 242/9, well ahead with Sydenham needing to face a tricky final 10 overs, losing 1 wicket. Plenty of work for next week. Congratulations to Manish Rawat on his Sydenham debut.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-1/game-centre/61aa2188
Division 4 Goats – LOST
Match report courtesy of Jon Bennett
The Goats made their way to Edgar MacIntosh 2 to take on Merivale Pap in a battle between two teams who lost in the opening round. The pitch looked good, and Merivale decided to bat after winning the toss. While Paddy picked up an early wicket and the Goats bowlers were generally bowling tightly, the pitch offered little in the way of assistance and combined with some cautious batting we went to the 20 over break with the score at 58-2. Merivale came out after the break, playing a few more shots, and the wickets started to fall. 5 bowlers all picked up 2 wickets each, and Merivale was eventually bowled out for 137, which we thought was very chaseable. We could have been chasing a run or two less after we dropped a number of straightforward catches.
The Goats made a positive start with Joe Taylor looking good and it was a surprise when he nicked out for just 16. From there, the run-scoring dried up, and wickets fell at regular intervals in the face of steady but far from threatening bowling. When the 7th wicket fell with the score at 82, we still needed another 56 runs, and things were looking grim. However, Jessie Marks and Chris Douglas put on 38 for the 8th wicket to get the Goats right back into the game. Mixing solid defence with some good attacking shots and helped by some deep field settings, the Goats needed 16 off 3 overs when Chris was finally dismissed. Paddy wasn’t going to die wondering and smashed a vital boundary before holing out trying to tie the game. With 5 needed off the last over and the field in now Jon and Jessie ran a couple of quick singles to inch closer to the target. However, one tight run too many saw Jon run out at the bowler’s end to eventually lose by just a single run.
A disappointing result in a game we should have won. There was some poor catching and meandering batting where everyone got a start, but only one player made a score over 20. While the bowlers nearly got the team home, it should have never got to that situation
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-4/game-centre/62cd52cd
Division 5 All-Stars – WON
Match report courtesy of Abe Atherton
The Sydenham Allstars put on a masterclass in their second game of the season at Centennial Park #2, comfortably defeating the Richmond Rhinos by chasing down 86 runs in just 12.1 overs. The Allstars, who have started their season with real intent, were relentless with both ball and bat in what turned out to be a one-sided affair.
After winning the toss on a batter-friendly pitch, Richmond Rhinos opted to bat first. However, their optimism was quickly dashed by Abraham Atherton, the Allstars’ opening bowler, who struck with the very first ball of the innings. Bowling around the legs, he uprooted the leg stump, sending shockwaves through the Rhinos’ camp. That was just the start of what would become a truly special performance by Atherton.
In a remarkable display of disciplined bowling, Abraham Atherton and Mark Flowerday combined for 7 maidens in the first 7 overs, with Richmond unable to find a way through. Atherton picked up another crucial wicket just before the Allstars made a change in their bowling attack, leaving Richmond reeling.
Jacob Koster and Blair Nixon then took over the bowling duties. Koster struggled with his line in his first over but quickly found his rhythm, conceding only 1 run across his next 4 overs, while also capturing 2 wickets. Nixon also struck, dismissing Richmond’s key batter, thanks to a sharp catch from Sumedha Senarathna. By drinks, the Rhinos were in trouble, sitting at 55 for 5.
The post-drinks session saw the Allstars continue to dominate. Flowerday returned for his second spell and grabbed two more wickets, tightening the screws on Richmond. But it was Atherton’s second spell that truly stole the show. With the ball seemingly on a string, Atherton cleaned up the tail in devastating fashion, taking the last three wickets in consecutive deliveries to complete a brilliant hat-trick. The final ball was a pinpoint yorker on off-stump, with the Rhinos’ No. 11 unsuccessfully attempting an ambitious cut shot. Atherton finished with figures of 5 wickets for just 4 runs in 5.3 overs, including 3 maidens and a hat-trick. Richmond were all out for a paltry 85 in 28.3 overs.
With a modest total to chase, the Allstars came out with intent. Jacob Koster and Jaedyn Ward opened the batting, with Ward surviving a first-ball scare when he was dropped. Koster immediately went on the attack, hammering 10 runs from the first over, including some powerful leg-side boundaries. He raced to 18 runs off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Blair Nixon then joined Ward, and the pair steadily built the partnership. Nixon scored 21 from 21 balls, and together they put on 49 runs before Nixon was caught, leaving the Allstars needing just 16 runs for victory. Ward shifted gears and went on a rampage, smashing 5 boundaries in his last 22 deliveries and scoring 37 runs. His unbeaten 39 from 32 balls ensured there was no late drama.
Chase Barnsley, who had an unbeaten knock last week, continued his good form, quickly finding his feet and hitting the winning runs down the leg side to finish 6* from 5 balls, sealing a convincing 8-wicket victory for the Allstars.
In the end, Sydenham Allstars chased down the target in just 12.1 overs, securing their second win of the season in commanding fashion. Atherton’s incredible 5-for 4, including a hat-trick, was a highlight, but it was an all-round team effort that saw them through to a dominant victory.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-5/game-centre/baf74336
Division 6 Tamils XI– BYE
Bye week for the Tamils XI
Cavaliers Cardinals –WON
Match report courtesy of Ben Larter
Sydenham played Parklands Patriots at Parklands Reserve 1A with 3/4 of the team made it to the ground on time. Woolfy forced us to reinstate the dick of the day award by travelling from Halswell to Yaldhurst Domain, rather than Parklands on the completely other side of the city. Look forward to seeing him playing in a Beetlejuice outfit next week. We won our 2nd toss in as many weeks and chose to bat.
There is something spooky about can CAM. Stokesy got it and like Cam the previous week did not get a bat, bowl and kept wicket without troubling the scorers. Stokesy also managed to get the pouty Cam lips impression down perfectly.
AB (13 off 14) & Larts opened up and went at 6’s before AB fell caught having just played a glorious cover drive for 4. Geo (44* off 24) came in and he and Larts (47* off 32) put on about 80 runs for the 2nd wicket before both retired in the 12 over. Livo (2 off 8) came and went after pitch suddenly became a minefield. Then out of nowhere the pitch settled down, but Parklands brought on their best bowlers and tied us down a bit. However, we didn’t lose another wicket and Colin (11* off 10) (having previously answered our last-minute SOS) & Dilshan 26* off 22 took us thru total of 165.
Bowling was pretty tough at the start as they got away on us. AB came on and used his variation to take the pace off and change the tempo. Then wickets to Dilshan (1), Geo (1) & Larts (2) kept them in check.
The boys had good energy in the field and left some good chunks of skin out there. It got pretty close at the end, but we closed out the last over as they fell 7 runs short as we won by 6 wickets. Like Camo last week Stokesy insisted we mentioned he played in the game, and also well done to Camo for coming down in full kit to support.
A good win, great day out and we all survived.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/cavaliers-section-red-t20/game-centre/a4a6c861
Masters Cardinals – LOST
Match report courtesy of Paul Rapley
A rough day at the office. Winning the toss against Burnside, the Cardinals elected to bat with a stiff easterly breeze blowing across Sydenham Park. Stumps and Hardy opened the batting and got the Cardinals off to a solid start on a good-looking batting wicket. It was looking promising however, due to some tight accurate bowling from Burnside along with some good catches, Cardinals started to faulter. Walker, O’Connell, Ross, Rapley, Mackay all got starts but failed to take advantage and put a decent score on the board. At the 32 over it was left to Ralphy, Wazza, Gibbens and Fleming to try to get the team through to 40 overs. There was some good grit displayed by the Cardinal’s lower order to get through to 38 overs at which point we were all out for 100. Most likely 80 runs short on a par score for this wicket.
Dave Hardy
Burnside came out to bat full of aggression. The bowling and fielding was tight and tidy restricting Burnside to a slower start than they wanted. At the 10 over mark, Burnside dipped below the required run rate but with wickets in hand they started to find their groove. There was a glimmer of hope when Chris O’Connell had one of the Burnside openers caught behind followed by Ralphy trapping the other opener McKeen LBW. Dave Flemming took a great one-handed catch for the second week in a row. This one was a caught and bowled. From this point the Burnside number 4 really took the game away from us with a good display of timing and power hitting on his way to a quick fire 48. Burnside reached the target in the 21st over with 3 wickets down and took the Frampton shield.
Phil Walker
A drink was enjoyed by all at the after match in the clubrooms. The 100 and 200 game caps were handed out to those players that had achieved this. Well done guys!
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/joes-garage-masters/game-centre/9cb59ede
Masters Hospital – LOST
Match report courtesy of Bruce Day
Hospital hosted Burnside Foxes at Sydenham 3, team was a bit depleted but managed to get Chid and John from the Tamils to help out. Toss won by Burnside who decided to bowl. Hospital in on a good track and heavily grassed outfield. Openers Jinto Mathew and Mark Crawford of to a good start getting to 39 before the first wicket, at which time we lost 4 wickets for 3 runs. A slow recovery then took place with the mainstay John Hampton finishing with 35. A brief flurry before being bowled out for 118 in the last over.
Frank Walsh
A good start with an early run out and then Frank coming on in the 8th over and collecting a wicket in first over. Frank getting another, while Jinto knocked over Kennedy had Burnside in trouble at 36 for 4. But Everest and Ralston slowly but surely started gathering the runs with quick singles and well run 2s, eventually getting to the total on the 32 over. Good game on good pitch enjoyed by all.
John Emmanuel
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/joes-garage-masters/game-centre/46fc2df3
Women Division 1 – WON
Match report courtesy of Linda Pettigrew
Sydenham played Selwyn Wahine at Bradford Park. This was the first match of the season for our Division one women. They were very pleased to welcome Charlotte Clatworthy, Kyla Tilson and Sophie Harrison to the team. These players are from last year’s Div 2 SJCC women’s team. All made an excellent start in the Div 1 grade, fitting in perfectly with a positive attitude and some great skills. We’re really excited to see this pathway grow and hope to have more players in this age group join the team during the season.
Losing the toss, Sydenham was sent in to bat. The subsequent innings alternated between bursts of runs and wickets falling in groups. Notable achievements were Julia Manton, 19, Chelsea Prior, 18 and Charlotte, 15, all scoring very well on a pitch playing quite differently to the training nets. Selwyn bowled well, with the straight ball punishing those who mistimed a shot. Four of Sydenham’s wickets were bowled, the other four caught.
All out for 97, Sydenham were concerned that the total was a little light. Fortunately, Sydenham’s bowling was up to the task, with Selwyn also feeling the difference between training nets and the pitch at Bradford. Sydenham’s bowling started slow with opening bowlers Caitlin Davidson and Charlotte picking up a wicket apiece. An ambitious second run on Charlotte’s arm then cost Selwyn their third wicket with Emma Begg (wk) taking the stumps. Kyla then had a remarkable over, taking 2 wickets, both a catch and a bowled. Julia Manton took the last two wickets with a bowled and a catch off her 4 balls. Jaimee Cartwright took a very low catch, to close out the match. While the win looks convincing the Selwyn team will be one to watch out for as the season progresses. Their bowling and fielding are already up to the standard and it won’t be long until their young batters get the scores they are capable of.
Thanks for the match, Selwyn!
First XI – LOST
Match report courtesy of Andy Winsor
A doubleheader for the 1st team this weekend, a game at STAC and a game at Sydenham Park versus St Bede’s. It was a tough weekend for the boys, but some promising performances in both games.
So, let’s start with STAC. STAC won the toss and decided to bat, and that looked like a good decision from start to finish. STAC, with some assistance from a few dropped chances, got to 86 before the fall of the first wicket and then 181-2 before 20 overs were up. STAC were on fire, with scores at the top of 48, 139, 44 and 37, allowing them to set a Championship record of 366/8 in the 50 overs. It was a long day in the field for the boys, and some bowling figures reflected that. 3 wickets for Potiki Hamilton-Morrison and a good tidy spell of 35-1 off 10 overs from Henry Hood the highlights.
Josh Chapman
So, Sydenham needed 367 for the win and a shuffle to the batting order bought Potiki into open and hopefully get Sydenham off to a good start with fielding restrictions in place. As it turned out Sydenham got off to their best start for probably a year. Sitting on 100-1 at drinks (17 overs) a good effort at keeping up with the required run rate. Wickets did start to fall, though, and the run rate increased despite best efforts. 36 for Sam Johns, 34 for Freddie Winsor and 28 for Isaac Tutt with Sydenham bowled out for 197 in 39 overs.
So, over 500 runs scored. Unfortunately, STAC were well ahead on the day, but it had the boys getting near to the 200 mark.
So, onto Sunday, a game against St Bede’s this time. Sydenham won the toss and decided to bat on what looked like a good track. What looked good soon looked bad, with Sydenham 33-5 with the bat and struggling. This brought Freddie Winsor and Conway Andrews to the crease, and what was looking hard suddenly looked easy, the fall of the 6th wicket 97 runs later, with Freddie Winsor caught for 45. Unfortunately, 130-6 became 171/10, the highlight of which was Conway Andrews getting to 50. Sydenham left 8 overs on the board, only batting 42, and the score looked at least 50 short of par, but something to attack.
Cadell Durdin
Cadell Durdin and Potiki Hamilton Morrison, both put in a great opening spell. Tiki is creating great pressure, but Cadell is getting the early breakthrough. The bowling and fielding were much improved today compared with the previous day. However, another 3 dropped chances were probably the difference. 2 wickets for Cadell, another tidy spell from Henry Hood and real aggression from Potiki Hamilton Morrison, although another day with balls landing just beyond fielders. St Bede’s ended up reaching the required runs in the 35th over and another loss.
Freddie Winsor
However throughout both games, there were good spells of batting and bowling, but 6 dropped catches over two games making a difference. So 1 more game before the league gets split, North West next Saturday at Burnside Park.
Conway Andrews
Second XI – LOST
Match report courtesy of Allen Hill
Our first game for this half of the season saw the 2nd XI travel to Rangiora to take on Rangiora High School 1st XI. After losing the toss, we found ourselves batting first with a lush and damp outfield, typical spring conditions. Perhaps being a bit rusty, our batting order lost regular wickets, which meant we were never able to build momentum. We ended up being bowled out in the 49th over with a total of 172. The star of our batting was opener Nick Wilson, who batted throughout the innings with discipline, accelerating towards the end of the innings. In the end Nick scored a magnificent 98 not out off 152 balls. There were some useful partnerships through the middle and lower order which helped Nick push close to his maiden century. Unfortunately, we weren’t quite able to bat long enough to help Nick to that milestone.
Our bowling innings started well with some excellent opening bowling from Jamie Anson who ended up with 3-20 off his 10 overs. Our fielding was excellent, and the innings ebbed and flowed in momentum. Just as Rangiora started to have the upper hand, Lucky Lasiyal bowled an outstanding 6-over spell and ended with 2 for 10 off six overs. Two other bowlers bowled superb line and length, Zac Nicholson with figures of 2 for 22 off his 10 overs and Nathan Blake with 1 for 17 off 10. Despite great bowling Rangiora were able to hold on for the win in the 50th over with 9 wickets down.
It was a fantastic game, played in great spirit. Our boys never gave up, putting pressure on the Rangiora batters right till the end. I am very proud of our boys. Despite not getting the win, this was a great way to start the second half of our season.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2024/cricket-express-1st-xi-bowl-one-day/game-centre/68cbdc91
Third XI – LOST
Match report courtesy of Debbie Bolton
The day dawned beautifully for our game at the Polo Grounds against North West Green. We knew it would be tough as they are the top team who haven’t lost a game, but the boys were enthused and ready to go. Unfortunately, we didn’t expect to lose our opening batsmen in the first over. Ollie Jones came in at number 3 and batted to the end of the innings scoring 65, a great knock for the captain working with the batsmen around him. We ended up with a score of 123, which we thought we could defend.
Our team doesn’t have a wicket keeper so thanks to Ollie and Nishchay for putting their hands up to give it a go with Ollie doing the first half and Nishchay the second. Our 2 opening bowlers started well
Hirun Clements 3 overs for 14, and Callum Walsh 3 overs for 12 with a wicket maiden which was caught by Enda McMahon. Unfortunately, their batsmen then took off, getting our total in the 16th over.
Roll on next week
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2024/cricket-express-2nd-grade/game-centre/5863d61e
Colts – LOST
Match report courtesy of Paul Durdin
The Colts met Christchurch Boys High School (CBHS) in an away fixture. Winning the toss, Sydenham sent CBHS into bat and it quickly paid dividends with Reuben Williamson (6 overs 1 for 16) making an early breakthrough finding an edge that was safely gloved by Daniel Barclay. CBHS rebuilt well and Sydenham were staring at sizeable target before one of the most brilliant one-handed catches you will ever see by Quinn Helms from the bowling of Sam Wilde (6 overs 1 for 21) broke the partnership. Tight bowling by Lachie Smith (8 overs 0 for 15) and excellent 2nd spells from Quinn Helms (7 overs 3 for 24) and Bayley Gardner (9 overs 2 for 21) saw CBHS eventually get through to 177 for 7 from their 50 overs.
Sydenham started the chase well getting through to 20 before Cam Fairhall (15) was judged LBW. That started a string of dismissals. The Sydenham boys being their own worst enemy with some average shot selections and were not helped by a couple of dubious umpiring calls against their own teammates. Daniel Barclay was the pick of the batsmen making 23. Sydenham dismissed for 89 in 25 overs.
Overall, there were plenty of good signs in the field, but it is evident that lots of work is needed with the bat.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2024/cricket-express-colts-one-day/game-centre/bfb54a96
Year 10 – LOST
Match report courtesy of Nicol O’Donnell
Hard game for the Sydenham Year 10 team, as they played for the first time together without really knowing each other. As we lost the toss the Shirley Boys team sent us to bat. After 17 overs our team was all out for 42 runs, with average run rate of 2.5 per over. Shirley Boys team played really well and their opening pair reached this target in 7 overs.
However, the team spirit and comradery was the winner on the day. Both teams were keen to play more cricket giving the opportunity for everyone to bat again, when some great shots were played including the only six of the match.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2024/cricket-express-year-10/game-centre/440832ce
Year 9A – WON
Match report courtesy of Callum Green
Win by 6 wickets
Sydenham 9A vs Shirley Boys High School 9A
Sydenham’s first game of the 2nd half of the season vs SBHS was played out at South New Brighton Domain. No sign of the easterly and both teams were keen to get the season going. Winning the toss, Sydenham’s Captain Rupert Nielsen chose to bowl first so as to ease into the game.
Nielsen and Will Johns opened the bowling and immediately had SBHS in trouble. Nielsen’s pace and Johns’s accuracy put immediate pressure on their openers with Johns’s snaring the first wicket. Benny Wilkinson is a panther at point and dived forward taking a very sharp catch. Nielsen’s wicket was a sharp caught behind with Jonty Rutherford taking it comfortably with the gloves. Johns’s got another wicket very shortly after and Sydenham had SBHS 3-8 after 4 overs. SBHS fought back with Benji James and Max Mangos digging in and consolidating. Most Sydenham bowlers were very economical with SBHS not getting away at all. Then after a solid partnership of 67, Benji Williams (our gun leg spinner) came on and was successful! Spinning one around Mango’s legs, Sydenham made the breakthrough in the 17th over. In the 22nd, Ruan Diederiks (one of our new players this half of the season) snared his first victim. Kahn Stanbury’s miserly off spin also stood out. From there it was a procession, with wickets falling every 3 or so overs and SBHS were kept to a modest score of 155 for 9 off their allocated 40 overs. Standout figures were Johns’s and Stanbury’s 2-11 of 4 overs.
Chasing, Sydenham had Reuben Peterson and James Scott opening. Unfortunately, Scott (on debut for the 9A’s along with Diederiks), was the first to go, LBW with the score on 4. Nielsen came in but fell quickly and then Peterson went with the score on 27. In came Austen Grant, and in typical Grant fashion, played some belligerent shots and put the pressure back on SBHS. Partnering Grant was Jonty Rutherford and Sydenham quickly pulled the game back in our favour. Grant departed in the 9th over making a well worked 25 with the score at 57. Next in at 6 was Noah Green and he and Rutherford brought the game home for Sydenham. Both pounced ruthlessly on anything short. SBHS were withering in the heat, and they were chasing the ball continuously around the field. In the 22nd over the total was chased down. Green was unbeaten on 32 and Rutherford nbeaten on 44. An unbeaten partnership of 99.
Thanks to SBHS and their coach Jay Dyer, who, as usual, was a great host. Big thanks to Lucy Williams for scoring and to the rest of our fantastic parents who support our boys each Saturday. We have a bye next weekend, then we play North West on the 2nd November.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2024/cricket-express-year-9-a/game-centre/2d725258
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