PREMIER WOMEN MAKE T20 FINALS AND MEN REMAIN ON TRACK FOR SEMI-FINALS DESPITE FIRST LOSS – 5 DECEMBER 2024
There was much excitement as the Premier Women’s team secured a place in the T20 final on December 21 with a tie and a win on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Premier Men remain in contention for next weekend’s T20 semi-finals despite suffering their first loss of the season — a 13-run defeat to Riccarton in the morning match. The team bounced back strongly in the afternoon game against East Shirley, with Aarush Bhagwat continuing his excellent recent form, scoring an unbeaten 44.
Unfortunately, the Championship and Division 1 sides had a tough day. The Championship team faced challenging conditions on a difficult wicket at Halswell Domain 2, which effectively decided the game early. Division 1 struggled as well, losing both of their matches comfortably.
In the afternoon grades, the Masters teams stood out. The Cardinals claimed an impressive win over the always competitive St Albans side, led by standout batting performances from Chris O’Connell (71*) and Grant Ross (52). Hospital ended a frustrating run with a much-needed victory. Joe Taylor also shone with an unbeaten 83, though his efforts couldn’t prevent the Division 4 Goats from a loss.
The Youth Colts wrapped up their season in style, securing a sixth consecutive win. Quinn Helms delivered an outstanding bowling performance with figures of 5-15, while Harry Durdin laid the foundation for their total with a well-made half-century. Credit also to Jaxson Stove and Lucky Lasiyal, whose 49-run partnership for the last wicket saw the 2nd XI get within three runs of chasing down Rangiora HS’s 235.
A number of the photos in this publication are also courtesy of Ash Hart’s Hartland Images.
Scott Insurance Brokers Insurance Premier Men
It was a case of a win and a loss for the Premier Men.
Riccarton
The loss came in the morning’s match against Riccarton on Hagley Corner 5. Mitch Gardner made one of his rare successful calls at the toss and invited Riccarton to bat first on what looked to be a pretty good wicket. The resultant Riccarton innings never really gained momentum at any point. They started well, taking ten off the first Tom Agnew over, but in his second, Tom took the first of his two wickets with the score at 19. As Riccarton tried to up their rate, they lost successive wickets across the 5th, 6th, and 7th overs, and with the score now 41-4, momentum had slowed.
Mitch Gardner under a catch from Jimmy Dabhi
Dev Flannery and Ghofran Shasawar provided some good middle-order support, with the score up to 85-4 at one point, but too many wickets were lost in the final stages of the innings for Riccarton to really cash in towards the end. It was a solid all-round bowling performance again from Sydenham with the main wicket takers Tom Agnew (4-2-26), Archie Goodrick (4-2-29) and Josh Wedlake (4-2-18).
Tim Johnston
The final score of 116-9 felt gettable on that wicket, but Sydenham then produced a disappointing effort in reply. It was a similar start to Riccarton’s, where they were quickly 36-4 by the 7th over. Aarush Bhagwat was going well, but Riccarton was well in the match when he was out in the 7th over, and Matt McCall the following ball. Richy Faust (17 off 21 balls) looked good for a period but was gone in the 12th over before the innings could be re-established. With a required run rate of only 6’s & 7’s Tim Johnston certainly looked increasingly capable of pulling the game back again, but when he was out for 20 off 22 balls in the 17th over with the score at 88-7, the task was too great for the remaining batsman as Sydenham came up 13 runs short, all out for 103.
Thanks to umpire Darren Thomason
East Shirley
There was then a quick dash across town to Burwood Park, where a slightly delayed start at 2.45pm saw the home team, East Shirley, win the toss and elect to bat first on a hard, dry wicket with a lightning outfield. The Sydenham opening bowlers again did an admirable job, containing well, with Tom Agnew, Mitch Gardner, and Archie Goodrick picking up an early wicket each. When Mitch threw down the stumps from mid-off, Easts were in trouble at 22-4 in the 6th over.
Tim Johnston and Josh Wedlake
The experience of Tim Johnston (4-2-23) and the youth of Josh Wedlake ensured that there would be no real Easts recovery. Although the fast outfield provided full reward for good shots, the wicket wasn’t playing as easily as initially expected, and a score of 120 plus would have taken some getting. But the two kept the pressure on and restricted the score as Easts finished all out for 91. Josh was particularly impressive on the day, finishing with 3-14 off his four overs, and for a young player in only his second day of Premier cricket, the excellent figures of 5-33 for his day’s work.
Aarush Bhagwat
Sydenham lost their first wicket with the score at seven, but the 2nd wicket partnership of 41 from Aarush Bhagwat and Ryan Wallace quickly eased any concerns that the morning’s poor batting effort might extend into the afternoon. Aarush and Ryan have complementary skills that gets the best out of each other when they partner up. Both comfortably ticked the score over at run-a-ball and made the match more comfortable before Ryan was out for 19 off 17 balls with the score at 48-2 in only the 7th over. Richy Faust was the final wicket to fall at 67-3 before Aarush and Matt Mcall took the score through to completion at 92-3 in the 13th over. Matt finished unbeaten on 12, and Aarush, another excellent unbeaten knock of 44* off 36 balls.
With the win, the side has won four out of five matches, and it remains on track to next Sunday’s semi-finals. However, to remove run rate from the equation, they would need a win in either of next Saturday’s remaining tough pool matches against Burnside West and OBC.
Thanks to umpire Matthew Hill, who stood alone in both matches played at Burwood on the day.
Some breaking news, there was a reason why Srirag Harish didn’t play on Saturday, and it is now confirmed that wife Chinmayee delivered their first child, a baby girl, in the early hours of this morning – congratulations to both.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/oem-audio-mens-premiership/game-centre/dc8133c6
The Birdwood Premier Women
Match reports courtesy of Linda Pettigrew
Lancaster Park
Sydenham and Lancaster Park were sitting second equal on points in the T20 competition entering Saturday’s matches, with a finals spot on the line. Going head-to-head in the first match of the day, both teams were hoping to push their case. At the end of the match, the equation was the same: Sydenham and Lancaster Park tied the match and remained tied in second position on T20 points.
With some regular players unavailable due to U19 and other commitments, several of our Div 1 players joined the squad. In her debut, Charlotte Clatworthy had a great match, picking up a wicket and scoring valuable runs at the end of the match to finish not out. Julia Manton was an ace in the field in her second premier match. The mum club was also out in force, with new mum Sandy Mitchell joining the team (Sandy took a catch) and old mum Linda Pettigrew taking the opportunity to take the field with daughter Boadicea Lynch. Another change for the week was keeping duty, which was shared between Felicity Robertson and Megan Meltzer, who took the opportunity to bowl when they weren’t keeping. In case you are wondering, yes, Floss can also kept.
Felicity Robertson
Sydenham won the toss and decided to field first. Megan and Boadicea opened, keeping their lines tight. Unfortunately, a hit helmet gave Park 5 runs for free. Sydenham’s bowlers bowled economically, restricting Park to 101/6. Beth Dodd 2/17 and Floss 2/7 were the best of the bowlers, with Rachel Davidson, Charlotte, and Linda keeping the run rate down.
Megan Meltzer
Megan and Emma Irwin opened the batting, making solid progress. The Park bowlers did well to restrict, including Frankie McKay, who bowled a maiden. Floss and Charlotte did well at the tail end to level the score. Needing one off the last two balls for the win, Parks’ bowler stepped up and beat the bat. Floss and Charlotte’s attempt to sneak a run from the final ball led to Floss being run out, with the scores tied. Floss top scored on 27.
Kate Craig
Unfortunately, the scorecard failed to upload to PlayHQ, making commentary difficult (I’m sure there were some other highlights in the batting). Top tip for others scoring on PlayHQ: make sure the primary scorer has uploaded the scorecard before taking over as primary scorer.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/ev-power-premier-women/game-centre/5a597ee7
North West Women
Sydenham remained at St Albans Park for their second match of the day. North West had the disadvantage of moving from a high-scoring wicket to a much more difficult wicket.
North West won the toss and elected to bat first. Sydenham repeated the pattern of the morning match, opening with Megan and Boadicea with Floss keeping. Again, the openers kept the scoring in check with tight lines and built pressure on the batters. Rachel came on for the sixth over, continuing and capitalising on the pressure to pick up the first of her two wickets, both stumpings (nice work Floss).
Linda Pettigrew
Sensing North West batters were struggling with slower bowling, Linda was invited to join the party. The hunch was correct, with Linda picking up four wickets in her four overs thanks to the safe hands of Emma Begg, Julia and Boadicea (mother-daughter wicket 🙂). North West finished up 87/7, with Rachel 2/14 and Linda 4/15, the best of the bowlers.
Knowing the chase would be difficult, Sydenham took a slow and steady approach. Emma (22) and Kate Craig (17) both made valuable contributions, reading the pitch so well. Floss made her usual contribution, finishing the match on 25*. Sydenham chased the score in the 19th over.
Bo Lynch
The win puts our Prem Women into the T20 final to be played at Hagley oval on 21 December. Next week the Prem Women play 40 over cricket in the first round of the development cricket series which runs over January, while the domestic players are away.
Thanks to umpires Andrew Moulton and David Herber, who stood in both matches
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/ev-power-premier-women/game-centre/73640e92
Scott Insurance Brokers Championship
Merivale Papanui
This match, and the one after it, was played on a Halswell Domain 2 that was borderline dangerous at times over the day. Unfortunately, Sydenham lost the toss and had to bat on it at its worst. Opener Mitchel Suddaby did well to get to 17 off 12 balls but he was the only one to reach double figures as balls exploding from just short to length accounted for most. To their credit, two youth players, Alistair Derry and Isaac Tutt, battled hard for 25 oddballs each, but runs were hard to come by as Sydenham was bowled out for just 54.
A difficult day for batsmen
Merivale Papanui, with the benefit of a known low score, batted well, and although taking a few hard knocks themselves, they reached their target just two down in the 10th over.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-championship/game-centre/0e6432f5
East Shirley
In the second match on the same wicket, which provided some of the same challenges, East Shirley put in a very good batting effort, scoring a very competitive 138-7. Carl Hooper was a degree unplayable, with 2-11 off his four overs, and Zack Howe had the best figures, 3-30 off his.
There is no batting scorecard available for the 2nd innings, but as we understand it, Sydenham in reply completed a disappointing day, being bowled out for about 80.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-championship/game-centre/c38ca2c0
Division 1
Match report courtesy of Richard Howe
East Shirley
The Tridents won the toss and decided to bat. The Tridents started solidly, with the short straight boundaries and quick outfield rewarding any shots into gaps. It took a run-out from Gourav Jadhav and keeper Andy Reynold to break the partnership at 87, but also charging along at close to 10 an over thanks to very aggressive batting from their left-handed captain, who was out later from an excellent catch by Sam Johns off the bowling of Ajith Shetty, Tridents 2 for 123,
Sydenham struggling to contain them as their number 3 was also aggressively advancing and timing the ball well, eventually cleaned up by Ajith for 92 off 40, a big part of the Trident’s 231 for 31. Ajith was the only wicket taker with 2 for 40 off his 4, with late call-up Kasey Short being the only bowler to go at under 10 an over, going for 29 off his 4.
Fast outfield and short boundaries, we still needed a good start and someone to go reasonably big to get close to 231. 2 down for 14, with both openers gone, not a good start! Nearly all of our batsmen struggled to get strike rates above 100%, and with a top score of 23 we were always going to be well short. Best of batters were Nadun Seneviratne with 23 off 21, Sam Johns 21 off 19, Kasey Short 18 off 13 and Andy Reynolds 17 off 17. 130 for 9, we finished 3rd out of 2 teams
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-1/game-centre/bfda4fc9
Halswell
We won the toss and decided to change up to batting first. Some new personnel joined us with Gourav Dudeja, Conway Andrews and Cam Spriggs replacing Ajith (off to the Champs), Kasey and Nadun.
Gourav Dudeja skied one early and was out for 4 with the score at 10. Isaiah Prasad joined Manish who was next out after a typically aggressive knock 28 off 2, 68 for 2 off about 11 overs was a solid start, and the challenge was to up the run rate and push on.
Isaiah Prasad
Isaiah ended up with 58 off 53 and Gourav Jadhav 27 off 29. Sam Johns picked up 7no off 4 as we ended with 136/4. We thought we were a bit light, but some early wickets could change all that.
Halswell came out blazing, but Ivon Cheruvathoor had their opener out for 14 off 4 and then got another – Halswell 26 for 2. Spin was tried but both were taken to with only one wicket reward from 4 overs. Ivon ended up with 3 for 36 as Halswell chased us down in 14 overs, 4 down. It would have been very interesting had it been a 45 over game as we were pulling them back. Conway Andrews, who missed out on a bat had one over and was unlucky not to have a wicket with his medium pacers.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-1/game-centre/22f7e460
Division 4 Goats – LOST
Match report courtesy of Jacob Harrington
The goats turned up to syd 3 for another EV Power Knockout game this time facing div 3 Marist Harewood. Excited by the rare opportunity to have a trott at the home fortress. Pre-game, the track was described as “flat” by Joe using a very dubious smile; with that said, a toss win and an easy decision for Ollie to choose to bat.
It was a sketchy start with the early wicket of the inform Tony. However, Joe coming off a hundred looked in good to knick, and Sameer (15) helped the score to 47 when Sameer fell for the first wicket. Another good partnership between Joe and Dougy (26), helped the run rate as the goats were 77 for 2 at drinks. The next 10 overs saw a couple of wickets and not a heap of runs, but with wickets in hand and Joe still at the crease it was time to put the foot down. There were hopeful whispers from Chris and Jake on the sideline of us going at 10 an over for the last 10 to reach 200, amazingly with some great contributions from Dan (29 off 35) and George (21 off 12 not out), helped by Joe who may have thought 100 was on the cards again as he picked up the scoring, the goats blasted their way to 200 at the end of 40. Joe finishing 82 not out with a really well paced and hard thought innings.
The confidence was high defending 200 and Chris’ (2 for 19) tight first spell helped the confidence by picking up an early wicket and after 10 overs they were 1 for 33. The pitch was still playing well for the batters, so chances were going to need to be taken, it was the last few overs before drinks were things started to go downhill. Ollie came on to bowl and looked likely, a sharp chance with Jake diving to his left at cover was in and then spilt out as he hit the deck. The next few balls blasted through mid wicket for 4 to rub salt into the wound.
George Wigley
A couple of overs later off Ollie’s bowling again, one hit straight to Dan at mid-off, almost gobbled up on the second attempt but not to be. The game then got away, with the goats being punished for the missed opportunities. There was more luck for the batting side with lots of inside edges flying past the stumps. It wasn’t the Goat’s day. Marist eventually chased down 200 off 35 overs for the loss of 4 wickets.
Ollie Philpott
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/ev-power-knockout/game-centre/91e8ca12
Division 5 All-Stars – LOST
Match report courtesy of Abe Atherton
The Richmond Rhinos cruised to victory over the Sydenham Allstars, dismissing them for a mere 87 runs in 24.3 overs in their clash at Richmond Park. Winning the toss, the Rhinos opted to bowl first on a lively pitch with a fast outfield. Their decision paid off as the opening bowlers applied relentless pressure with tight lines and exploited variable bounce, causing early trouble for the Allstars. The bowlers capitalised on their dominance with sharp catches, including a couple of exceptional caught-and-bowled dismissals. Wickets tumbled steadily throughout the innings, with only Jacob Koster (28), debutant Gurinder Singh (12), and Jason Ungerer (13 not out) offering any resistance. The Allstars’ batting lineup collapsed, leaving the Rhinos with a modest target to chase.
The Rhinos’ reply began dramatically as Abraham Atherton struck with the first two balls of the innings, both edged brilliantly to Cameron Hatcher at first slip. However, the Rhinos recovered quickly, capitalising on the quick outfield and punishing any loose deliveries from the Allstars’ bowlers. Hatcher contributed with the ball near the end of the game, taking two late wickets, but the Rhinos comfortably sealed the victory in just 15.2 overs.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-5/game-centre/a3cc061a
Division 5 Tamils XI– LOST
Match report courtesy of Jagannath Radhakrishnan
The Tamils played Burnside broncos @Centennial 3. It was a well fought game with Sydenham setting a target of 111 which they fought hard to defend it and the opponent chased it down around the 28 over mark. We took our opponents a bit too lightly as they were at the bottom of the table. They had some pretty good bowlers and we went on from 74 for 4 in 20 to 110 all out. Great bowling by Player of the Day Ashok taking the first three wickets and Balaji who took two wickets and was very economical.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-5/game-centre/1fa811a8
Cavaliers Cardinals – WON
Match report courtesy of Geordie Dann
The Cardinals took on Halswell at Warren Park. With Cameron Rennell, Ben Norman-Larter, Kieran Williams, James Stokes, Brad Moore, Jamie Livingstone and Nick Smithson all having better things to do, the Cardinals wrangled a new look team. Geo won the toss and AB and Spud opened up the batting well. Once AB and Geo were dismissed and Spud retired hurt, debutant Adam and Colin were brought together for a batting clinic. The boys ran well, milked all the wides and then put the foot down at the end. Colin plundered 20 off an over, including a huge 6 over backward square leg. Both boys retired at 40* ish. Manny tried to run a cheeky 3, but he got run out, damaging his Achilles. We ended up 161-3.
Luke who got cam 9 opened up from and bowled 3 overs for 7. Queenie was strong from the SPCA end and finished with top-notch figures, too. Halswell were now well behind the run rate. Adam bowled tidily and claimed 2 wickets, including a strange one where the batsman missed a leg glance and was bowled and then claimed he wasn’t ready, which the umpire and fielders disagreed with. Manny came onto the field after some ice and then took 2 catches as a keeper. Colin did some great fielding too. Adam had to leave for another function as Halswell were super slow and only had one worthy bat, which they swapped between batsmen after every single! The Spud and Jez brothers came on to bowl and Jez bowled 3 key overs. Geordie got a good one-handed caught and bowled. The cherry on top was AB charging in to grab, dive and underarm a direct hit runout to finish them off for 123 after 19 overs.
Good work from the lads, chipping in with some great moments to get the win. Adam will be keen for plenty more cricket after a very successful debut.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/cavaliers-section-red-t20/game-centre/925a6146
Masters Cardinals – WON
Match report courtesy of Dave Fleming
Here we are at the SCG, where the Cardinals Masters are hosting St Albans, one of the top-three sides in the competition. Cardinals lost the toss and found themselves batting first on what looked like a pretty well-worn pitch, both creases more like dust bowls and the surface well and truly rutted.
The openers got us off to a solid start, cruising along at nearly 5 an over, but then a cracking caught-and-bowled, followed by a sharp catch in the gully, and suddenly Cardinals were 23/2 in the 8th. Enter Chris O’Connell and Grant (Kane) Ross, and they’re the ones to steady the ship. A fantastic 103-run partnership saw Ross bring up his half-century with a well-deserved raise of the bat, while Chris O’Connell, ever the big hitter, took charge. As the pitch started playing lower and slower, Chris kept his head and finished unbeaten on 71. Paul Rapley, trying to run a cheeky one on the last ball, was sent back and run out, leaving Cardinals at 164/4—a solid score on this slowing track with a massive outfield most sides. But Cardinals need to bowl well, as St Albans have got some firepower in their batting line-up.
Cardinals bowling attack opened with Kelvin Scott and Brendan Winder and they did just what was needed, reducing Saints to 23/3. Kelvin sending the New Zealand Over-60s World Cup opener, Craig Gibb, packing LBW for just 5 in his second over. Then Chris O’Connell and newcomer Barry Roache took over, and they were just as good. Two more wickets fell, including an absolute stunner of a catch from Ralphy at mid-wicket off Chris O’Connell, which has to be one of the best catches of the season—definitely up there with Flem’s top four! At drinks, Saints were on the ropes at 40/5, with opener Hampton still hanging around, and we all know he’s dangerous if he gets going.
About to be caught behind
In came Flem and Phil Walker to bowl, and the Saints knew they had to accelerate. After a quiet couple of overs, Marc Wells decided it was time to go big, smashing Flem for 12 runs in one over. But Flem would have the last laugh—next over Hampo plays one straight to Wildy, calling Wells for a single that was always tight. Wildy, as we are used to, throws in a low and flat dart to keeper MacKay, who does the rest, running out Wells. An over later Hampton hits a six off Flem, but the very next ball, Flem cleans up Hampton for 36 with a full straight ball. A satisfying bit of revenge for Flem. Saints now 91/8, and the tail enders, Brad Smith (38*) and Scott Mason, put up a bit of resistance with Saints finishing on 132/9. Kelvin, Ralphy, O’Connell and Flem all taking 2 wickets each.
Brenden Winder
It was a clinical win, which moves Cardinals up to 4th equal on the ladder, with five of the 14 teams all sitting on 5 wins from 7 games. Man of the Match goes to Chris O’Connell for his brilliant 71* and 2/8.
Sportsman Award to Ralphy for his fine spin bowling to the Saints ageing number 11 bat.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/joes-garage-masters/game-centre/576abbeb
Masters Hospital – WON
Match report courtesy of Mark Crawford
Sydenham Hospital 116/7 beat New Brighton CC 115 all out by 3 wickets. Hospital met New Brighton at Barrington Park, possibly a home venue as many of us had never played there. The ground was a little lush with the line markings helping to distinguish the pitch, and so Bruce Day had no hesitation in putting New Brighton into bat on winning the toss. With Jinto Mathew still to arrive, Frank Walsh partnered with Tristan Pettit in opening the bowling and managed to keep the scoring in check. An early dropped catch in the deep to Murray Seaton could have seen the heads drop, but wickets at the other end and accurate bowling and fielding kept spirits buoyant in the field. New Brighton 74/3 at drinks. A decent partnership between Seaton and Adam Chivers was broken and a steady procession of wickets followed including the key one of Seaton for another well-played 60. New Brighton dismissed for 115 in the 32nd over. Richard McKinlay 3/15 off 6 overs and Pettit 2/13 off 5.2 overs had the pick of the stats.
Into bat knowing the pitch was offering a bit and without much in the way of team totals this season, at 12/2 in the 7th over things were looking all too familiar. However, Tim Suddaby (29) and Eugene Hawyn (36) knuckled down and put on 45 runs for the 3rd wicket. A flurry of wickets had Hospital 7 down still needing 30 odd runs, but Day and Pettit settled the nerves with a partnership that saw the target reached in the 34th over. The wickets were shared amongst the New Brighton bowlers and Chivers and Kris Rowe in particular were a handful.
So, Hospital with a win after what feels like an eternity (round 1). Cheers to New Brighton for the game played in the right way and for joining us for a drink afterwards.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/joes-garage-masters/game-centre/2e4613d4
Women Division 1 – WON
Match unfortunately was won after forfeit by OBC
Second XI – LOST
Match report courtesy of Allen Hill
The 2nd XI played Rangiora High School 1stXI in Rangiora. Mistakenly thinking last week was our final game, we arrived ready to go, looking forward to our last game of this part of the season. We made a valiant effort with almost snatching victory out the jaws of defeat but not quite.
Bowling first we put on a good bowling performance on a hot day on a good artificial pitch with a decent outfield. Our opening bowlers, Jaxson Stove and Jacob Hickman who was on his last game for the 2nd XI had streaks of brilliance but struggled to set in on their lengths early in the innings. The quality of our bowlers increased with great intensity through restricting Rangiora after a hot start. We continued taking wickets through the overs and into the back end of our bowling innings and bowled out Rangiora for 235 off 47.1 overs. Good bowling performances from Jamie Anson (3-29 off 9), Jackson Stove (1-27 off 7), Zachariah Nicholson (2-30 off 8), Jacob Hickman (3-49 off 5.1) and Charlie Crang (1-10 off 3).
Our batting innings started, and we lost some early wickets but Thomas Wedlake and Jacob Hickman, batting up the order, put on an amazing 54 run partnership with Tomas Wedlake ended up 26 off 40 and Jacob Hickman 39 of 42. After another wicket, Leif Kitto came to the crease. He batted superbly scoring 49 off 56. With two more wickets in quick fashion, we were looking like we would fall short at 137 for 8 but Jackson Stove came to the crease and formed a potential game saving 46 run partnership with Leif. Our 9th wicket fell still needing 53 off 60 balls. An excellent 10th wicket partnership of 49 between Jaxson and Lucky Lasiyal got us through to 232, before the final wicket fell to a runout 4 runs off winning the game. Lucky Lasiyal scored an almost game saving 23 off 20 and Jackson Stove scored a disciplined but powerful 33 off 73 not out. They made a great entertaining partnership that almost won us the game – well done boys.
To finish, a special mention to yr 13 Jacob Hickman, who had had a great game taking 3 wickets and scoring 39. He has been 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-2nd-grade/game-centre/982c30f7
Colts – Win
Match report courtesy of Paul Durdin
The Colts faced off against Christ’s College in a playoff for 3rd and 4th, despite having won 5 from 6 games plus a washout. Playing on Christ’s College #1 ground the boys were enthusiast to bat and put some runs on the board, and despite not winning the toss, got the chance to bat first.
College struck early removing run-scoring machine Cameron Fairhall for 2. However, fellow opener Archie Nielsen was looking strong and produced a couple of flowing cover-drives to get the scoreboard moving. College struck twice removing Liam Kinzett for 5 and Archie Nielsen shortly after for 17. At 35 for 3, Sydenham were in big trouble. Liam Beck and Harry Durdin steadied the ship and steady accumulated runs over the next hour before Liam was caught behind for a valuable 23. Louie Harris joined Harry in the middle and the pair kept accumulating and built a platform for a late launch. However, when Louie departed for a well made 18 that started a rapid collapse losing 3 more wickets with the addition of only 7 runs, including Harry Durdin who made a fine captain’s knock of 56. Samuel Wild and Quinn Helms combined for an incredibly valuable lower order partnership of 34 runs with Sam contributing an excellent 24 including some big power hitting. Reuben Williamson (5) and Quinn Helms (11) added another 18 for the final wicket getting Sydenham through to 210 – about 20 to 30 runs short of where we wanted to be with the platform built in the middle overs.
Harry Durdin
In reply, Sydenham started well grabbing the opener with the score at one, thanks to a fine slip catch from Liam Beck from the bowling of Bayley Gardener (8 overs 1 for 29). The next pair batted well but were eventually sent on their way thanks to a fine spell from Louie Harris (8 overs 2 for 37). At 39 for 3, Sydenham were feeling good. And that feeling got better when Quinn Helms knocked over the College #4 and Bayley Gardener produced a fine run out. At 66 for 5 College were down and out. However, cricket is a funny game and the next pair of batsmen played superbly to bring College back into the match. At the same time the Sydenham boys appeared to be getting weary both bowling and fielding. As both College batsmen passed 50 the players and fielders could feel the game slipping away. Quinn Helms was brought back into the attack after drinks and made the crucial breakthrough with the score at 188. This left College needing only 23 to win, Sydenham still needing 4 wickets. A roll of the dice by Harry Durdin saw off-spinner Liam Beck introduced to the attack and he made an impact immediately, with the College batsmen edging one through to the safe hands of Daniel Barclay. At 193 for 7 you could sense the energy had picked up again. And so it proved as Quinn Helms produced a magnificent over of bowling grabbing 3 College batsmen (all bowled) in an over to claim the win to the jubilation of the players and supporters. Quinn finished with amazing figures of 5 for 15 from 7.5 overs. It was a fantastic game befitting of a final.
The win sees the Colts finish with 6 consecutive wins! The future of youth cricket looks to be in safe hands. It has been my absolute privilege to have been involved with this group of fine young men.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2024/cricket-express-colts-one-day/game-centre/e533e6fd
Year 10 – Unknown
No match report
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2024/cricket-express-year-10/game-centre/760c37de
Year 9A – Unknown
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/97e592cd
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