PERFECT START AS MATCH GOES DOWN TO THE LAST BALL AGAIN – 30 NOVEMBER 2024
For the second time in successive matches, the Premier men’s result came down to the last ball of the match, this time with the last pair at the crease as well. Fortunately, on this occasion, it favoured Sydenham, who snuck out of the match with a win against Heathcote. When they managed to beat St Albans later in the afternoon, they had the ideal start to the side’s defense of its T20 title.
However, some players’ other priorities saw the Championship and Division 1 sides both play short, each with only ten men and, in the case of the Championship who only lost narrowly, likely contributed to their two losses. Thanks to the likes of Elizabeth Cohr and youth player Thisum Lawrance, who helped out, not to mention coach Matt Bell, who donned the whites for the first time this season and scored in both matches, with his 67 in the second match not enough to get Division 1 home against Marist.
Whilst no Premier women’s matches were scheduled for the weekend, it was very satisfying to see the Division 1 women win their third match out of five, this week against North West at Barrington Park.
The afternoon grades had a good day as well, with wins to the Division 4 Goats thanks to Joe Taylor’s unbeaten 106 and Tony Danenberg’s 73, the Division 5 Tamils, and The Masters Cardinal’s Paul Mathews 81* taking the points off Hospital in the local Masters derby at Hagley 3. Chase Barnsley’s 58 unfortunately wasn’t enough to get his All-Stars side home in their Division 5 match.
The Youth First XI finished their season on a high with a comfortable win over the Christ’s College 2XI thanks to an unbeaten 59 from the promising Sam Johns. He was well supported by Freddie Winsor, with a 33 in his final youth grade match before his much-awaited move into the adult grades before Christmas. However, the standout performance across the Club came from the other youth team winners, the Colts, where Cameron Fairhall, having narrowly missed scoring a century a few weeks ago, scored the second youth century of the season to date, a magnificent 127 which takes him to the top of the Club’s honours board. Also, we’d acknowledge Year 10’s Luke Griffith, who took 4-11, which is always a great effort in youth cricket where the players widely share the bowling.
Cameron Fairhall
A number of the photos in this publication are also courtesy of Ash Hart’s Hartland Images.
Scott Insurance Brokers Insurance Premier Men
Heathcote
The Premier men got their defence of the T20 title off to a great start on Saturday when they won both opening matches. However, they were very contrasting matches, the first a nail-biter that came down to the last ball against Heathcote and later a more comfortable one against St Albans.
The Heathcote match at St Alban’s Park proved to be one where Heathcote seemingly held the upper hand throughout most of it, with Sydenham just managing to stay in the match and then gritting out the final few overs to take the win.
Heathcote’s early dominance was thanks to another typical punishing innings from opener Daniel Stanley, who scored an unbeaten 90 off just 56 balls after Sydenham won the toss and invited him onto the stage early. Stanley’s innings turned around a Heathcote innings that initially stumbled in the first over of the match when Mitch Gardner (3-19 off 4) picked up his first two wickets, leaving Heathcote at 5-2. Stanley dominated from there and found a lower-order partner in Sinclair who, between them, got their side through to 143-3 before Sinclair’s dismissal in the 18th over.
Mitch Gardner
Heathcote eventually closed with a competitive 162-4, but it could have been far worse for Sydenham. With the score at 131-3 in the 16th over, Sydenham did well to moderate the damage, with Srirag Harish (0-22 off 4) and Ryan Wallace (1-15 off 2) probably being the best of the bowlers alongside Mitch Gardner.
The Sydenham reply lost Lucky Singh early in the second over and Ryan Wallace in the fourth to be 30-2. The resulting short 3rd wicket partnership of 52 between Aarush Bhagwat and Richy Faust was probably the decisive one in the innings. Scored off just three overs, the pair boosted the run rate up close to 12’s, giving the later batsmen the luxury of less overs pressure. Both were gone by the 9th over, Aarush (38 off 21 balls) and Richy (24 off 11). Mitch McCall (29 off 29) and Srirag Harish (11 off 11) got the score to a comfortable position at 99-4 in the 11th over, with their side looking like favourites for the first time in the match. However, it was short-lived as Heathcote’s Louis Andreson then cleaned out the next three wickets in the 16th over to leave Sydenham suddenly very light on wickets at 125-8.
Aarush Bhagwat
It was two old heads and a youngster that got Sydenham home. Matt McCall and Mitch Gardner worked the score to 150-8 before Matt was out midway through the 19th over at 149-9. That left 14 runs required off nine balls. Archie Goodrick struck two decisive blows, a four off his first delivery and then another off the first ball of the 20th over. The match was tied on the penultimate ball, and then Archie scrambled a single off the last to bring the game home – Archie (11 off 7) and Mitch (10 off 10).
It was an excellent game of cricket where Heathcote probably deserved better, but Sydenham can be proud of its fight and ultimate result.
Thanks to umpires Matthew and Bernie Dodwell, the latter, an English umpire out in NZ to follow the test series whilst fitting in some club matches on his journey around the country.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/oem-audio-mens-premiership/game-centre/f1b3a1a6
St Albans
There was a frantic rush across town to Burnside Park to play St Albans on Burnside 2, a match that, thankfully, turned out to be less stressful. Saints won the toss and, not surprisingly, elected to bat first on a flat-looking wicket.
It wasn’t the start that Saints would have wanted, with Tom Agnew striking in the second over of the match with the score at 1-1. Mitch Gardner took one in the next over, and then Tom another in the following one, leaving the batting side at 12-3. Archie Goodrick followed that up with another in his first over, the 7th over, and Tom another in the next, extending the pain to 30-5.
Tom Agnew
Tom Flavell (49*) and William Southby (20*) then batted well and recovered the situation somewhat later in the innings, notably taking 19 off the final over. But, the final score of 118-7 looked to be well short on a wicket that had generally played well. A parsimonious Tom Agnew with 2-8 off his four overs was probably the pick of the Sydenham bowlers, with Mitch (4-2-22} and Srirag Harish (4-1-15) not far behind.
Richy Faust (left) and Matt McCall
An unbeaten 3rd wicket partnership between Richy Faust (56* off 42 balls) and Matt McCall (29* off 40) drove the successful Sydenham run chase. The St Albans bowlers started well with a wicket in the second over and then picked up two more in the 6th to have Sydenham faltering at 27-3. However, as he did so well in the earlier match, Matt McCall used all his experience to get his side back on track and found an excellent partner in Richy Faust, whose 56* was his best contribution since joining the Club at the start of the season. Together, the pair took their side comfortably through to the win at 119-3 with four balls remaining in the match.
The side’s next match is on Thursday night, starting at 5.30pm against Lancaster Park.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/oem-audio-mens-premiership/game-centre/cbef9644
The Birdwood Premier Women
No matches
Scott Insurance Brokers Championship
It was a case of so close yet so far away for the Championship boys when they started their T20 campaign. Hobbled by unavailability, they played both matches with ten men, matches where the closeness of the scores suggests that the extra man could have been crucial.
Heathcote
In the morning’s match on Sydenham 1, Heathcote won the toss and batted. The opening pair put on 36 for the first wicket but were then teetering at 56-4 in the 9th over after Carl Hooper and Eliyas Varghese took their early wickets. However, their middle order recovered the situation well for them, as they made their way to a 117-8 at the end of their 20 overs. Carl Hooper (4-3-25) and Eliyas Varghese (4-3-29) were the pick of the bowlers, with some good support from Zack Howe (2-0-9) and Ajith Shetty (3-1-12)
Charlie Finnie
The Sydenham run chase got a poor start at 9-2 and struggled through to 44-4 by the 12th over. Tom McDonald chipped in with 22 from 29, but at 59-5, the side was well off track. Eliyas Varghese (25 from 23) and Charlie Finnie (32* off 22) then put it back on it with a 33 run partnership for the 6th wicket to take the side to 92-6, but then the next ball, 92-7. With three overs to go, they still needed 40, then 23 off the last over before falling short by 14 runs at 117-8.
Eliyas Varghese
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-championship/game-centre/66a4f59a
St Albans
The second match against St Albans, again on Sydenham 1, was an even closer affair. The visitors won the toss, batted, and lost early wickets to the bowling of Zack Howe (4-2-10) and Ajith Shetty (4-2-39) to be 26-3, then 63-5. However, the Saint’s middle order all contributed to right the ship. The Sydenham bowling started to struggle, compounded by an injury to the critical bowler Carl Hooper, who could not bowl in the second match as St Albans eventually finished on 124-6.
Todd Ward (left) and Shevon Perera
The early Sydenham batting in reply seemed to be setting up the win, with the first wicket falling in the 5th over at 21-1 and the second one in the 8th at 53-2. However, the pressure came on in the 11th over when the skipper Tom McDonald went early for five, and more importantly, so did the established batsman Eliyas Verghese, who was going well with 24 off 16 balls. Nadun Seneviratne (21 off 18) and Charlie Finnie (18* off 27) got the score to 100 before Nadun was the 5th wicket to fall. With three overs to go, Sydenham required 25, but the remaining batsmen couldn’t quite get their side over the line, finishing six runs short at 118-7.
The side’s next match is Thursday evening against Halswell on Sydenham 3.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-championship/game-centre/311f6fc9
Division 1
Match report courtesy of Richard Howe
Sumner on Sydenham 3
Div 1, although bolstered by Matt Bell, Lizzie Cohr and Alistair Derry, similar to the Championship team, was only able to muster ten players on the day. The Champs were already underway when the toss was taken, and Captain Belly had a cunning plan to help both teams – win and bowl first. That would allow Champs to give us a fielder while they were (already) batting, and we could reciprocate when they were in the field, toss lost – new plan!
Manish Rawat (pulling) and Matt Bell with half-century partnerships in each match
Sumner got off to an unspectacular start, losing their first wicket at 28. However, their 2nd wicket partnership was spectacular, 165 runs. There was a dubious ‘not out’ on a run out, but some excellent striking by their number 3 in particular, who ended up with 125 off only 46 balls. Several balls hit over the fence, one unretrievable. Isaiah Prasad ended his innings and those of two others as he took three wickets in 4 balls. The non-wicket ball in that four ball group hit the stumps, but the bails stayed stubbornly in place.
The young fella’s still got it – Matt Bell
Sumner ended their innings with an imposing 235/5. Our wicket takers were Isaiah Prasad with 3 for 25 off 3, Ivon Cheruvathor with 1 for 17 off 2, and LIzzie Cohr with 1 for 33 off 4 – she also took a great running catch.
Our openers, Belly and Manish Rawat, got us off to exactly the start we needed, running at around ten an over for the first six or so overs until Manish got a big top edge and was caught for an entertaining 32 off 17, which included some wonderful 6’s. Belly (34 off 27) was next out with our score on 77 and run rate pressure building. None of our other batters could score at better than a run-a-ball, and only Isaiah Prasad (14 off 15) could join the openers with a double-figure score, as we were all out for 98 of 16 overs.
Thanks to Zack Howe for fielding after the Champs had finished their 20 overs.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-1/game-centre/baccad5b
Marist at Redwood Park
The second game was a rush to Redwood Park to play Marist, who had just lost scoring in a close, low-scoring game against Riccarton – the latter nine down for 83, overtaking Marist’s 79.
Belly won the toss and chose to bat, and the same ten players had a chance to redeem themselves from the first game loss. Again, Belly and Manish got us off to a great start with a 53-run opening partnership at a run-a-ball (well ahead of the average run rate for the earlier game on this pitch). Manish was out for 17 off 17, but Belly played a classy knock (no surprise!) on the slow and low wicket. When he was out for 67 off 63, other batsmen struggled to push the run rate forward as we got through to what we thought was a defendable total of 121 for 3.
In the field, we struggled to keep the Marist batsmen tied down. 19 wides when defending 121 will never help, but most of the bowlers didn’t quite hit their straps. We were a bit unlucky with some nicks going just wide of the keeper, but we couldn’t buy any luck. Lizzie bowled well again with no luck. Ivon was also good as he picked up a wicket< with Gourav grabbing the other as Marist chased us down in 15 overs, only two down.
Huge thanks to Matt Bell, Lizzie Cohr, and Al Derry not only for filling in and enabling us to put together a team so we could play but also for their excellent contributions!
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-1/game-centre/1874b197
Division 4 Goats – WON
Match report courtesy of Andrew Douglas
The Goats played Heathcote at Hillsborough Domain. The last time Joe reached dazzling heights in the middle, we had a precise timeline for documenting Jacob’s morning. This time, we won’t be so lucky. I was there and can confirm it’s not worth the ramble. There was some early morning scrolling, capitulating Cavs, followed by homemade burgers. Nothing that hinted of what was to come.
With Jon’ full attention on consuming copious cocktails at 3 o’clock, Ollie was in the hot seat. Fresh off his first defeat as captain he had something to prove. Joe ever eager and clearly not trusting the stand ins ability to toss a coin proceeded to jump the gun, lose the toss and be sent in to bat. All as Ollie trudged in stating he wasn’t late. Joe’s response, “we would’ve batted anyway”.
In we went, Tony fresh off a Bradford 20 (that’s as good as 50) and Joe with a toss to make up for. The 50 partnership came at good clip. “One shot” Tony (or so they claimed) cutting for fun. If he only had one shot, why keep bowling there? Drinks came and went, Tony raised his bat followed by Joe. 134 would be the opening partnership with Tony reaching 73. All the momentum, and wickets in hand we had freedom, Sameer and Jacob getting a front row seat to the Joe show, and Dougy trying to catch up to Joe added to the total. Joe carrying his bat for second 106 in as many seasons. Tony feet up on the boundary enjoying the 226/3.
Fidgety bowlers came out eager, P. Wickes bowling dot after dot with Chris getting unusually hit for 18 in his first. This lit a fire and he’d get his own back removing the danger man, caught, or should we say juggled by Jesse. One became two. Two became 4. With Ollie spinning up a storm the wind picked up and with it the whispers… “We’re not going to drop a catch”. Joe Taylor again jumping the gun. It was too good to be true, Paddy stepping up to keep our egos in check. Is it a drop if he used his body instead of hands? Ollie 3/15 leading the way, Chris 2/25, and George the villain of the day coming on late to spoil Jacob’s one bowling opportunity. 2/3 and on a hat trick going into the next game.
The Goats finally piecing it together and notching win number one on the back of Tony’s one shot and Joes dodgy toss. Discussions of what cocktails JB would be devouring capped what was a long awaited win.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-4/game-centre/a1f77818
Division 5 All-Stars – LOST
Match report courtesy of Abe Atherton
At Centennial Park #2, the Sydenham Allstars faced OBC SNCC in a closely contested match. OBC won the toss and opted to bowl first. The Allstars struggled early, losing Ward at 5. B. Nixon showed intent but fell to a stunning catch. Koster (26) and Barnsley began rebuilding before Koster was unlucky to play on. Barnsley anchored the innings with a brilliant 58 off 80 balls, including 11 boundaries, while Geordie Dann added a quick 32 from 45, including two massive sixes. Contributions from the lower order saw the Allstars post 187/8 in 40 overs.
OBC began their chase confidently, aided by a quick outfield and missed chances from the Allstars. Flowerday led the bowling effort with 3 wickets, while Atherton, McCormick, and McClelland took one each. Ward, Barnsley, and Koster held catches, but fielding lapses proved costly. OBC successfully chased the target in 32.2 overs, securing a solid victory. The Allstars need to regroup, with fielding improvement a priority to find their winning touch.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-5/game-centre/7823a4fb
Division 5 Tamils XI– WON
Match report courtesy of John Emmanuel
Sydenham vs Richmond Rhinos @ Centennial Park Rhinos won the toss and decided to bat. Rhinos started the innings steady. But Tamil XI capitalised their loose shots and took a couple of early wickets with Chidu (2-16/7) & Arun (1-22/5). The next batsmen kept the innings steady. Even though the score is slowly growing, and occasional boundaries here and there. Tamil XI were bowling tight and picking up wickets in decent interval. During 1st innings break Rhinos were 70/4 with Calvin (3-19/8) & David (1-12/7). Tamil XI wanted to keep the tight bowling and restrict them. Taking up the skipper role today Niranjan (0-9/5) opened the 2nd half with a very tight spell supported by Vicky (1-19/5) & John (1-8/3). Rhinos managed to stand their ground for the full 40 overs innings and put 110 as the target.
Tamil XI had a solid start with the bat as Monty (24) & Arun V (26) kept the initial run rate going at 6per over. Tamil XI lost both their openers in a very quick succession, giving Rhinos some life in the game. John (12) & Arun R(38*) decided to apply break on the wickets and the runs. After settling in, they started rotating and the score started moving forward. At the end of 20 overs Tamil XI were 90 requiring just 20 more for the finish line. And with his classic six Arun brought the scores to level. Kella (6*) finished the game. It was a dominating game by Tamil XI with the ball and the bat. Player of the match: Arun Ravindrananth
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-5/game-centre/6414495f
Cavaliers Cardinals – LOST by default
Unfortunately, the Cardinals had to forfeit the match
Masters Cardinals – WON
Masters Hospital – LOST
Match report courtesy of Paul Smith
On a fresh, breezy afternoon, the Cardinals faced Hospital on Hagley 3. Hospital won the toss and elected to bat. After some good, tight bowling, Hospital was 54/1 at the 20-over mark. They slowly picked up the pace after drinks but continued to lose wickets, which stopped them from getting going.
At the 40-over mark, Hospital set us a target of 155 for 6. Pick of the bowlers Ralphy 2 for 24 off 8 overs
Paul Mathews
In walked Mathews and McKay to open the innings, nudging the ball around, putting up a good opening partnership of 52, setting up the run chase nicely. Mathews being the mainstay throughout the innings
At drinks Cardinals were 95 for 3 and in control of the run chase. Although some quick wickets gave Hospital some hope. Eventually, Grant Ross and Mathews put on a partnership of 52 to bring the Cardinals home to a well-earned 6-wicket victory. Top scorers, Mathews 81, McKay 19 and Ross 19
Dave Fleming
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/joes-garage-masters/game-centre/2ca7c2ec
Women Division 1 – WON
Match report courtesy of Linda Pettigrew
North West Development 67 (19.1) lost to Sydenham 69/0 (13.1)
Div 1 women returned to Barrington Park, this time to take on the North West development team. Fielding first opening bowler Sophie Harrison had an excellent start picking up a wicket with her second ball and completing the over with a wicket maiden. Abby Laird continued the great work, picking up a caught and bowled soon after. The bowling change brought on Caitlin Walker who made an immediate impact with two wickets in her first over and one in her second over to finish the match 3/18. Linda Pettigrew, bowling from the other end, kept the run rate slow, bowling two maiden overs and picking up a wicket, finishing with 1/0 off her 2 overs. Dakoda Potter and Sophie (2/16) finished the rest of North West’s batters, taking a wicket a piece to restrict NW to 67 all out in the 20th over.
Catelin Walker 3/18, Sophie Harrison 2/16, Julia Manton 28*, Linda Pettigrew 20*
While 67 felt achievable the word on the street was that the Barrington park wickets are low scoring. Opening batters Julia Manton and Linda were up for the task. Feeling comfortable at the crease the runs flowed with the score chased in the fourteenth over. Julia made 28* and Linda 20*.
First XI – WON
Match report courtesy of Andy Winsor
Sydenham youth 1st XI were playing Christ College 2nd XI on Christ College 1 at Hagley.
Winning the toss Sydenham decided to bowl on a pitch which looked green and suggested it would offer a bit. In reality, that was exactly the case, with the bowlers using the surface to their advantage in a challenging first 15 overs for the batting team. Christ College finding themselves at 33-4 and in all sorts of trouble. However from that point, they settled and started getting some partnerships going. Infact the next wicket didn’t fall until 87 runs were scored after the introduction of Henry Hood. After that, Sydenham fielded very well on the day, putting extra pressure on the Christ College batsmen, who never really got going, although edged their way past 150, with 157 all out in the 42nd over, a total which looked below par, but still required getting.
Sam Johns
So, after a BBQ lunch and some music from the Barmy Army enjoying their time at Hagley Oval, the game resumed and it didn’t start well, Fin Hill and Will Herd out leaving Sydenham on 22-2. Then Freddie Winsor and Sam Johns steadied the ship and put their foot down, the total rocketing to 100-2 off 13 overs before Freddie fell in his final youth innings for 33. Sam Johns again looking in complete control passed his 50 backed by Josh Chapman on 21* to get Sydenham to the required total after 22 overs.
Freddie Winsor in his final youth innings
So, a good final outing for Sydenham in the Championship. The team were already down before this match, but will have learnt a lot from the season in the Championship and will hopefully bounce back in the New Year.
Second XI – LOST
Match report courtesy of Allen Hill
The 2nd XI played Mt Hutt College in Methven. With an early start and long drive, we arrived ready to go, looking forward to our last game of this part of the season. Unfortunately, we continued our habit of being able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Bowling first we put on our best bowling performance of the season on a green pitch with variable bounce and plenty of assistance for the bowlers. Our opening bowlers, Jaxson Stove and Qinn Helms who was on his 2nd XI debut, were excellent. The quality of our bowlers continued through the innings and although we couldn’t quite get 10 wickets we restricted Mt Hutt to 127 for 8 off 50 overs. Good bowling performance included Jaxson Stove (3-27 off 10), Quinn Helms (3-17 off 10), Yahya Shasawar (1-0 off 4), Leif Kitto (5 overs for 8 runs), Lucky Lasiyal (6 overs for 14), Isaac Tutt (1-33 off 9).
Our batting innings started reasonably well after the fall of an early wicket. Isaac Tutt and Leif Kitto put on a solid 34 run partnership, with Isaac ending up 27 off 67. After another wicket, Harry Durdin making his debut for the 2nds, came to the crease. He batted superbly to anchor our innings with 39 off 76. He was well supported by Charlie Crang with 13 off 17 and Yahya Shasawar 8 off 34. With the game looking within our reach at 117 for 6, we only needed 11 runs to win. Unfortunately, we lost 4 wickets for 4 runs to bowled out for 121. The boys kept their heads high and were gracious in defeat, a great sign of the quality of our young men in the Sydenham Youth club.
A big thanks to Harry Durdin and Quinn Helms who came up from the colts to play for the 2nds. Both fine young men and excellent cricketers.
To finish, a special mention to yr 13 Jacob Hickman, a fine servant of the 2nd XI, who will now be moving on to other adventures, firstly as a ski instructor in Japan. All the best Jacob.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2024/cricket-express-1st-xi-bowl-one-day/game-centre/5fd6fe4c
Third XI – LOST
Match report courtesy of Debbie Boulton
A beautiful day for cricket at Cashmere High. We had a couple away at the cricket so thanks to James Gross and Andrew Currie for filling in for us. We won the toss and elected to bat. Theres’ not a lot to say about our batting performance, Ollie Jones top scored on 29, and Reshab Notiyal on 10, but our other wickets fell cheaply with us all out for 77 in the 27th over.
We went into our fielding positive, and so did they. We managed to get four wickets, two to Ollie, one to Hirun Clements, and one to Abdul Mateen, but they got our score in the 12th over.
That’s our season over. Full credit to the boys for their positive attitude each week. Thanks also to Christian Walsh for helping manage the team.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2024/cricket-express-2nd-grade/game-centre/982c30f7
Colts – WON
Match report courtesy of Don van Onselen
Colts vs Northwest
With regular captain Harry Durdin away on 2nd XI duties along with Quinn Helms, stand and skipper Oscar van Onselen won the toss and elected to bat.
A changed batting order that resulted from our annual “Pick a can for your spot” saw Samuel Wild opening the batting with Cameron Fairhall.
This pair saw the new ball off nicely with some patient batting before Samuel was bowled on a tricky wicket. This brought regular number 11 batsman Ruben Williamson to the crease, who, to the delight of the crowd, played some great shots and batted well, with Cameron contributing a delightful 17 runs off 28 deliveries before being bowled.
The next three wickets fell with the score on 87 which created some hurried preparation on the sideline for the lower order batsmen. Meanwhile, out in the middle Cameron once again bedded himself in as the rock of the innings and quietly move to 50 runs without much fuss and bother.
He was then joined by Bayley Gardner (16 off 36) and they batted sensibly to keep the scoreboard ticking over really nicely & frustrating the Northwest attack.
Bayley’s departure saw the arrival of Archie Nielsen wielding a new blade which he quickly put to the test with great results.
Archie and Cameron rapidly bought up a 50-run partnership which included one of the highlights of the season being Cameron reaching his century & going on to score 127 from 131 balls before being runout. His innings included 12 fours and 2 sixes with a strike rate of just over 96. This season his batting has gone to a new level and this innings typified his growth showing intelligence, maturity, patience and fantastic game sense to again bat almost through the whole innings.
With Cameron’s departure Daniel Barclay entered the fray scoring an aggressive 30 from just 18 balls and continued the onslaught with Archie (46 not out from 35 balls) which took the team to an impressive 296/8 from 50 overs.
The bowling attack jumped into life pretty quickly with 11 overs being bowled before we gave away our first extra. Northwest wickets fell regularly and they were unable to put together any real partnerships.
Nine bowlers were used and the wickets evenly spread with notable performances from Bayley Gardner (5 overs, 1 maiden7 runs for 1 wicket) and Samuel Wild (3 overs, 1 maiden, 5 runs). Liam Kinzett was thrown the ball for a few overs but only took 2 balls to dismiss the last Northwest batsmen giving him the unique figures of 0.2 overs, no runs for 1 wicket!
The fielding effort was again outstanding and a real testament to the way this team is playing (5 wins from the last 5 games). The lads were sharp, backed each other up fantastically & suffocated the runs before having Northwest all out for 121 runs from 35 overs to deservedly remain in clear third spot on the table.
Another outstanding contribution from behind the stumps from Daniel Barclay who has come into his own as a wicket-keeper the season taking 2 caught behinds and sharp glovework resulting in 2 run outs.
With the game against Boys High Black having been cancelled a few weeks ago due to rain, the lads didn’t have the opportunity to take 2nd spot on the table but this has nevertheless been a superb 2nd half of the season and bodes well for the future of this outstanding group of young men – well done guys!!
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2024/cricket-express-colts-one-day/game-centre/1e42fc16
Year 10 – LOST
Match report courtesy of Nicol O’Donnell
Sydenham played CBHS ay CBHS, won the toss and chose to bowl. The opening bowlers of Zarnder O’Donnell and Louie Southworth put early pressure on a strong opening pair from Boys High CBHS Tui surprising them straight from the start with great pace, swing and accuracy, although unfortunately not getting the rewards they deserved. Sydenham were good in the field, Louis and Zarnder working well together getting everyone moving round the field, had the best field set up of the season. The following bowlers all played their part but the standout was Luke Griffith bowling 4 overs 4-11 including a wicket maiden. CBHS Tui were bowled out for 136 runs.
CBHS Tui were confident that Sydenham would not be a challenge with the bat and set their field to surround the batsmen with two under the helmet. Sydenham were 3/13 in 4th over, however partnership between Luke Griffith and Zarnder O’Donnell made CBHS Tui rethink their field set when the boundaries started to flow. Unfortunately, this 35 run partnership ended in the 11th over when Luke was caught and Sydenham were down 4/48. The strategy for Sydenham was to keep the run rate going, but Zarnder’s LBW dismissal (45 off 43) in 20th over saw Sydenham 6/89. The foundation was laid with Sydenham needing 48 runs from 20 overs to win with 4 wickets in hand. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be, the Sydenham batsmen fought till the end but were dismissed 10-125 in 31st over 11 runs short. Luke Griffith contributing 17 runs, Dylan Tullett 10 runs, Louis Southworth 11.
At times it was a little testy at the crease and kudos to our batsmen for keeping a cool head and focus on the game of cricket in a tough environment.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2024/cricket-express-year-10/game-centre/760c37de
Year 9A – LOST
No match report
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2024/cricket-express-year-9-a/game-centre/1681cbce
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