PREMIER MEN QUALIFY SECOND BUT LOSE T20 SEMI-FINAL – 14 DECEMBER 2024
The Premier Men’s team enjoyed twin successes on Saturday, securing their place in Sunday’s T20 semifinal. However, their journey ended there, as they were defeated by eventual champions Burnside West University. Despite the disappointment, the team can take pride in an exhilarating weekend of cricket, highlighted by two last-ball victories over both eventual finalists, BWU and OBC, on Saturday.
Beth Dodd
Saturday proved to be a strong day across the Club. The Premier Women celebrated their first win in the 40-over competition, thanks to a magnificent unbeaten century from Beth Dodd. Meanwhile, the Championship and Division 1 sides, both struggling in the T20 format this season, broke through with their first wins of the competition. For Division 1, it marked their maiden victory of the season. Nathaneal Paltridge was the standout for the Championship side, scoring two unbeaten half-centuries. In Division 1, Ajith Shetty’s all-round performance (4-20 with the ball and a crucial 19 off 14 with the bat) secured the win. Special mention goes to Youth First XI players Alistair Derry (42*) and Cadell Durdin (28*), who impressed in Division 1’s second match, a narrow loss later in the day.
In the afternoon grades, the Division 4 Goats owed their victory largely to Joe Taylor (79 & 3-20) and Daniel Loughton (43). Wins also came for the Cavalier Cardinals, the Masters Cardinals—thanks in part to Kelvin Scott’s key contributions—and the Division 5 Tamils, who claimed victory in a local derby against the All-Stars.
Some of the photos in this publication are also courtesy of Ash Hart’s Hartland Images.
Scott Insurance Brokers Insurance Premier Men
Sydenham went into their final two pool matches on Saturday at Sydenham Park needing one more win to confirm a semifinal spot, as did Burnside West, who was their opposition in the morning match.
Sydenham won the toss, asked BWU to bat first and got immediate reward with Mitch Gardner picking up a wicket in each of his first two overs to leave the score at 14-2. It got worse for BWU as they struggled to 33-4, then 5-59. When Srirag Harish picked up his second wicket, the batting side was in deep trouble at 66-6 with just six overs remaining. However, the latter BWU batsmen did a great job from there to get their side back into the game, with Winter, in particular, striking five sixes in his 42* as BWU clubbed their way at 12’s to a respectable 145-7. Sydenham’s leading wicket-takers were Mitch Gardner (4-2-22), Archie Goodrick (3-2-28) and Srirag Harish (3-2-29).
Chad Bowes
In reply, Sydenham, for the most part, looked on track for the win following a cameo 41 off 24 balls from Chad Bowes as he got the side off to a good start at 58-2 in the 7th over. Ryan Wallace (55 off 39) and Richy Faust (24 off 31) took the score to 131-3, with Richy dismissed needing just 14 off the last three overs. But BWU fought back again with two quick wickets and held Sydenham to just seven runs off the next two overs, leaving seven required off the last for the win.
Ryan Wallace
Another wicket and dot ball off the first delivery didn’t help, but then three singles and a two, aided by a critical dropped catch, left Michael Rippon on strike, requiring two off the last ball. He got the ball he was looking for and smashed it through mid-wicket for the win. However. news had already filtered through that the other challenger for a semifinal spot, Lancaster Park, had lost their match, and BWU was therefore also confirmed as a qualifier.
It was a great game of cricket, Sydenham’s second last-ball win of the competition, but little did we realise that a third one was to come later that afternoon when we took on OBC.
Full scoreboard & video highlights: https://live.nvplay.com/nz?tab=m_scorecard#m5c5f2edb-4fd4-40d7-b089-48f78852fbbd
OBC arrived at Sydenham Park for the afternoon match, and with temperatures now scorching about 30 degrees, they had little hesitation in asking the home side to field in those conditions.
OBC didn’t start well, with Shukla run out in the first over. When Archie Goodrick picked up his first wicket in the sixth over, OBC were 26-2 with little momentum. Nic Clark and Stevens recovered the position to 71-2, but then Clarke was out, followed by two further runouts, that set the OBC innings back again at 107-5 with three overs to be bowled. They took 24 off those remaining overs but lost repeated wickets to finally finish on 131-7. It was a fine performance with the ball by Sydenham, with Archie Goodrick probably the pick of them with his 2-25 off four overs.
Josh Wedlake
The target probably felt a bit short in the conditions, but Sydenham certainly didn’t cruise to the win. They lost regular wickets throughout the journey, which stymied their ability to try to accelerate and shorten the match. However, with scores from the likes of Lucky Singh (22 off 21), Srirag Harish (15 off 14) and especially Richy Faust (45 off 36) they kept in the hunt. The required run rate was becoming a problem though, and with four overs remaining, at 94-7, they still needed 38 runs. When Richy was out off the last ball of the penultimate over, Sydenham needed 12 off the last, and OBC were well motivated.
Richy Faust
Tom Agnew eased that anxiety when he stepped outside off on the first ball of the over and pumped a six over backward square leg. Quickly, it was three are required off the last two, with the No. 10 Archie Goodrick on strike. Archie sneaks a single, and Tom goes down the track off the last ball and strikes a two through mid-wicket to take the win.
A special thanks to umpire Altamash Askari, who, due to last-minute changes, had to stand alone through these two matches on Sydenham 1 in sweltering 30+ degree heat (not to mention with the added pressure of two last ball deciders).
Full scoreboard & video highlights: https://live.nvplay.com/nz?tab=m_scorecard#ma6203bfa-4c6a-4a9b-9a90-87591bb56aca
The OBC win was Sydenham’s third last-ball victory in the competition (indeed, the fourth of the season, considering the same situation earlier in the two-day loss to OBC at Elmwood). Unfortunately, Sunday’s semifinal turned out to be well short of that, as BWU dominated much of the return match.
Archie Goodrick
Temperatures had dropped dramatically by the second day, almost half of Saturday’s 30-plus. However, batting conditions looked excellent on the Hagley Nursery Ground, where Sydenham took on BWU in the semifinal. BWU won the toss, batted first, and dominated most of the innings. With a bouncy wicket and lightning outfield, Sydenham struggled to contain a BWU side that looked to dominate from the start. Mitch Gardner got the early wicket of Oscar Jackson at 12-1, but that was the only real encouragement. Two important dropped catches near the boundary by a couple of the side’s better fielders didn’t help, and with five overs remaining, BWU’s 134-2 was projecting a score somewhere above 200. A couple of latter overs at sixes and sevens limited the damage, and threatened something under 170, until a big final over of 20 saw BWU finish at 184-5. Mitch Gardner (I4-2-27) and Michael Rippon (4-2-38) were the better performers, but it wasn’t a day for the bowlers.
Michael Rippon
The target was not out of bounds in the conditions but required a good start, and that came initially when Chad Bowes stroked a straight drive boundary off the first ball of the innings and raced to 16 off his first nine balls. But when he feathered a ball to the keeper standing up. The next three batsmen failed to get set, with the side falling to 47-4 into the 7th over. Michel Rippon (31 off 22) and Srirag Harish (32 of 29) tried hard to resurrect the position, but when they fell, the required run rate saw the remaining batsmen perish, with the side falling 49 runs short at 136-9.
Our thanks to umpires Matthew Hill and Darren Thomason
It was a disappointing end for Sydenham’s defense of last season’s T20 title, but it was still a solid effort, winning six of their eight matches. Congratulations to BWU on the title win. While it was nice to get the Saturday win against them, they did dominate the semi-final and went on to win the final later that evening in equally dominant fashion against OBC.
The Birdwood Premier Women
Match report courtesy of Linda Pettigrew
Our prem women entered their first week of the 40 over, development, cricket playing OBC on Elmwood 1. This is a five-week competition spanning the middle of the season when player numbers are reduced due to domestic cricket and the holiday season. We’re using this competition to introduce some of our div 1 players to a higher level of cricket.
Beth Dodd
Darcy Rose Prasad returned from the U19 tournament to her first opportunity to captain the side. She was well supported by Beth and other senior players and did a great job of applying pressure and managing a week with tight bowler numbers. Losing the toss, Sydenham batted first. This proved to be a good outcome as the heat quickly sapped OBC energy levels.
Kate Craig and Darcy opened the batting cautiously, going at 3 an over for the first 5 overs. The pressure brought a wicket with Kate bowled after facing 2 wide balls. Sydenham continued to accumulate runs with Charlotte Clatworthy (42) and Beth Dodd combining for a valuable 71 run partnership for the fourth wicket. With the heat affecting OBC, Sydenham’s batters turned the pressure up a notch and found more scoring opportunities. The final finish saw Lizzy Cohr hit her first 6 in a quick 24 off 11 balls and Beth Dodd raising her bat in a well-deserved 100 not out.
Sydenham entered the field with slightly cooler conditions and a big total to defend. Boadicea Lynch and Lizzy started the bowling well before OBC capitalised on some width. This flourish didn’t last long with Lizzy bowling Hayley Aburn soon after. OBC’s other opener was dispatched in the 17th over with the score at 75/2, starting a run of wickets that saw OBC all out for 115. This was a great effort in the field, with high energy levels, in spite of a larger than normal number of wides. Boadicea, 3-28 the best of the bowlers with 2 wickets each to Beth and Lizzy. Another fielding highlight was Abby Laird taking her first Premier wicket, combining with Darcy for a well-executed stumping.
Next week, the team play in the T20 final at Hagley Oval. 2pm start.
Scott Insurance Brokers Championship
Still looking for their first win in the competition, the Championship side took on the eventual T20 champions Burnside West University on Burnside 2. The home side won the toss and then took full advantage of the excellent batting conditions to set the match up for themselves. BWU put on 121 for the first wicket at a run rate close to ten, and although they lost a few wickets from there, they maintained a sterling run rate to finally close at 198-5. Sydenham’s wicket takers were Eliyas Varghese (3-50) and Charlie Finnie (2-34)
Carl Hooper
Despite Nathaneal Paltridge’s unbeaten 59 off 50 balls, and run-a-ball efforts from the likes of Eliyas (23 from 21) and Taylor Irie (23* from 19), the required run rate close to ten proved too much as Sydenham finished their 20 overs at 142-3
Eliyas Verghese
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-championship/game-centre/3faa2440
The afternoon’s match against OBC on Elmwood 2 was a different story. OBC won the toss and, in the heat, elected to bat first. However, Carl Hooper (2-2-16) and Shevon Perera (4-2-13), on this occasion, got early breakthroughs to set OBC back at 14-2. The batting side recovered 55-2 but then started losing wickets consistently. Connor Williams (4-3-19) took out the middle order, and others chipped in as OBC struggled through to be all out for 99 in the penultimate over.
Shevon Perera
In an inspired move, Carl Hooper joined Nathaneal Paltridge in opening the innings and that proved to be enough to do the job. Nate was having a very good day and again finished unbeaten 53 off 31 balls. Likewise, Carl walked off unbeaten with 40 from 26 balls as Sydenham chased down the total in 10 overs without the loss of a wicket to give the side their first T20 win.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-championship/game-centre/1784613d
Division 1
Match report courtesy of Richard Howe
Sydenham won the toss and decided to bowl in their match against East Shirley on Sydenham 2. Several youth players were merged with our Div 1 team, and we are excited about the opportunity. We opened with the left arm pace of Cadell Durdin and left arm leggings of Makenzie Thomson. Both bowled well, with Cadell picking up an early wicket; Isaiah Prasad replaced Cadell and created an opportunity as a sky-er went up into the sun, bobbled and dropped, the smartly tidied up and the batter sharply out by a direct hit by Mack. Isaiah followed that up with an LBW. Ajith Shetty came on and made a big impact with 4 for 20 off his 4 overs, and Isaiah picked up another in his second spell. Richard Howe chipped in with 2, and the Gujarat Lions were all out for 91 on a good pitch and fast outfield!
Bowlers were economical – 5.0 to 6.5 RPOs and wicket takers, Ajit 4 for 20, Isaiah 2 for 20, Richard 2 for 14 and Cadell 1 for 16.
Ajith Shetty
Could we do the jobs with the bat and get that elusive win? with Todd Ward and Ajith Shetty both off to Elmwood Park to play the 2nd game for the Champs, and (for whatever reason!!) Div 1 starting our games 30 minutes later, we bumped them up the order.
Todd and Manish opened, with Todd was caught out for 10 and Manish run out for 14. 2 down for 31. Youth players Sam Jones (14) and Freddie Winsor (27) ran well together, both scoring at a run a ball until Sam nicked one, and Ajith joined Freddie. His 19 off 14 kept us moving forward well until Ajith was out with our score on 65 then 5 for 86 when Freddies attempt at an inventive shot only resulted in a mess of his wickets. Isaiah Prasad and Gourav Jadhav didn’t have too much to do but got us safely home to our first win of the season with 4.3 overs remaining and keeper Andy Reynolds wasn’t even required to bat! It was an excellent effort in the searing hot conditions, and as a bonus, Todd and Ajith got to charge off early to their second game for the Champs.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-1/game-centre/1da23361
Riccarton
What a luxury, no travel between games! Riccarton won the toss and elected to bat. Our team had three replacements: Sam Prasad, Conway Andrews and keeper-batsman Alistair Derry.
We again opened with our two left-arm youth players, and it only took a couple of overs to see that the Riccarton batsmen looked to be a class above our earlier game. Some good balls hit for 6 prompted one of the youth to say something like, ‘I didn’t think Div 1 had such good batters in it.’
Riccarton were flying along at 10 an over, and it took the introduction of Sam Prasad before we snared the first wicket, after his brother Isaiah had done a good job of pulling the run rate back. Richard Howe picked up two with his leg spin before Gourav snapped up a diving catch for Sam’s second wicket. Mack finally got a well-deserved wicket after troubling many of the batsmen not having much luck, but Riccarton had pushed through to 204 for 5. Sam Prasad 2 for 44, Richard Howe 2 for 25 and Makenzie Thomson 1 for 39.
Cadell Durdin
There was only one way we could bat – with intent and aggression – needing 10 an over. Manish Rawat took the task to heart with the first 45 balls going to 19. Unfortunately, he was out shortly after (20 off 9). Of the next four batsmen, only Sam Johns (11) made double figures, and we were in serious trouble in our large chase. Gourav Jadhav, 28 off 28, helped push the runs up, but Al Derry was the batting star, not out on 42 off 37, including some nicely hit straight 6’s, and well supported by Cadell Durdin, 26 off 17, also not. However, we ended up 57 runs short.
It was an excellent effort by our guys to keep up our efforts in both games. Special mention to Makenzie Thomson playing his debut match for Sydenham, he bowled well. Best wishes to him as he heads off to the national U19’s comp – we are sure you will do well Mack!
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-1/game-centre/3df80f42
Division 4 Goats – WON
Match report courtesy of Sameer Bhandwalkar
Sydenham GOATS vs Marist Harewood Royal Challengers at DIV4 match held at Centennial Park 3 where conditions were very hot, sunny and windy. Toss won by GOATS and decided to bat first as the pitch looked good to bat on.
GOATS started with fearless opener Joe Taylor (79) and calm Tony Danenberg (23). They were looking good and had an opening partnership of 53 runs. Openers really gave solid foundation for new batsman but we lost a couple of wickets in quick succession and GOATS were 61 runs and 3 wickets when Jacob Harrington (20) joined Joe Taylor. Joe was smashing runs from one end and holding the fort for the GOATS. After Jacob, Daniel Loughton (43) played very important and solid knock of 43 runs in 40 balls along with Joe Taylor. Unfortunately, Joe Taylor got out at 79 runs who is in tremendous form, but he delivered such an amazing inning in such trying conditions was very commendable. After losing Joe, George Wigley (25) joined the party and smashed 25 runs in just 14 balls. In the end GOATS put up a target of 214 on the board for the Marist Harewood Royal Challengers to chase.
The GOATS started the bowling line up with speed gun, Patrick Wickes (3 for 32) and spin magician Ollie Philpott (1 for 28) They started to build pressure on Marist Harewood Royal Challengers from the start and soon Ollie Philpott did his magic and got a wicket of Shyam, caught on his own bowling. Marist Harewood Royal Challengers were losing wickets at regular intervals but scoring freely. Patrick Wickes got another wicket of Basil John. Marist Harewood Royal Challenger’s Amrinder Singh was looking strong, so captain Jon Bennett (2 for 32) took the responsibility of bowling and trapped the solid Amrinder singh who was caught by one of the safest hands in the team, Andrew Douglas. Andrew ran hard, trying to look for ball into the sun. It was not an easy catch, but it was only Andrews speed that made the difficult catch possible with a full-length dive. Joe Taylor came to attack with his fearless bowling and took 3 crucial wickets and broke their middle order while Kyle Clarke did amazing stumping with his swift move off Jon Bennett’s bowling to wreck their middle order. While chasing for runs, Marist Harewood Royal Challengers batsman were under pressure which caused confusion while taking a second run and Sameer got the runout from the boundary taking advantage of the scoring pressure. In the end, Patrick wrapped up their innings on 171 runs with 2 quick wickets which confirmed the win for GOATS.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-4/game-centre/32a59286
Division 5 All-Stars – LOST
Division 5 Tamils XI– WON
Match report courtesy of Abe Atherton
The highly anticipated Sydenham Derby between the Allstars and the Tamils took place at Bradford Park. Winning the toss, the Allstars elected to bat first. However, their innings struggled to gain momentum as wickets fell at regular intervals, and the scoreboard ticked over slowly—much like the Tamils’ slow over rate.Jason Ungerer was the standout performer for the Allstars, finding the boundary with skill and keeping the scoreboard moving. He top-scored with a solid 30 runs off 47 balls. Late in the innings, Jordan McCormick provided a brief but impactful cameo, smashing 13 runs in quick time to help the Allstars post a total of 93 runs.
Defending a modest total, the Allstars started well with disciplined bowling in the opening overs. However, dropped catches proved costly, allowing the Tamils to keep the scoreboard moving. Atherton captured 3 wickets, while Koster and Hatcher each claimed one wicket apiece. Both Atherton and Koster also contributed in the field with crucial catches.
Despite the Allstars’ efforts, the Tamils successfully chased down the target with the loss of 5 wickets, sealing victory in the derby.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-5/game-centre/122697d1
Cavaliers Cardinals – WON
Match report courtesy of Colin Paintin
The Cardinals finished up their Halswell double header at a sweltering Halswell Dom 3. It was a more familiar looking Cardinals line up that took on the handily placed Blazers. Stokesy won yet another toss and elected to bat. With Dou Bros done the dual left-handed combo of Geo and Camo set off to battle. Camo continued his decent run of form crashing some lofty fours, whilst at the other end Geo’s end of term Christmas function meant he was little scratchier. When Camo edged behind, Wolfy came into to continue to take the attack to the blazers before getting out caught looking to force the rate. Geo and Keza combined in the middle overs to put the Cardinals in a strong position with Geo eventually mightily relieved to retire. Stokesy came in and crashed a few before Keza put down the accelerator seeing out the innings with Smitty. The Cardinals posting 163. Wolfy took the “new” ball and opened with a neck high full toss which clearly rattled their opener as he was cleaned up on the first legal ball of the innings. Tidy stuff from Smitty, Geo, Keza, Stokesy and Jeremy saw regular wickets fall and the Blazers finding themselves in a hole they were never going to get out of. A particular highlight saw one Blazer clean bowled for a golden duck then trip over an empty wine bottle one of the Cardinals wags had consumed. He promptly gave them a serve and stormed off to his car never to play for the Blazers again. Upshot a tidy win for the Cardinals. Special mention to Keza on the BBQ and great to see so many wags and children at the penultimate game of the calendar year.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/cavaliers-section-red-t20/game-centre/9459bed6
Masters Cardinals – WON
Match report courtesy of Kelvin Scott
The Cardinals played Merivale Papanui on Sydenham 3. What started off as a slightly windy and hot day became bloody windy and hot. We lost the toss and were put in the field. MP started with a hiss and a roar with Verna getting MP off to a flyer and Bell being the steady brick wall at the other end. Scott can on for his 2nd spell and cleaned up Verna so that slowed the scoring rate a little. Then a partnership between Hume and Bell steadied the ship. A wicket each to Flem and Ken and the Ralphy came in and slowed things right down. A couple of stellar catches of the season so far with sub fielder Daniel taking a tough catch in the wind with nonchalant ease and the showman Ammar seeming to do a somersault to take an overhead catch were highlights!
Kelvin Scott
On a good wicket, it appeared that they were about 40 short at least. We got off to a good start, with Stumps getting us away with a quick 30 and Kelvin coming in with a quick 46. Grunter and James steadied the ship again with Grunter a solid 30 and James a dogged 27 we got through in the last over. Notable was Ammar’s dogged innings and a sensational cover drive. Great win for the lads and keeps us in the top 4 🙂
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/joes-garage-masters/game-centre/a04f0515
Masters Hospital – LOST
Match report courtesy of Bruce Day
Hospital played Sumner at Barnett Park, Hospital won toss and decided to bat in the heat. Steady start before losing 2 wickets at 45. A 80 run partnership between Richard and Wrik. Wrik out for 41 and Eugene quickly followed so 134/4 at 30 overs. The wind had now got up and a few caps were flying off making it difficult for everyone. Richard departed in 33rd over for 66, some risky running from the lower middle order saw 184/7 at the end of the 40overs, we thought it was a bit short of what we needed but runs on the board.
Sumner came out firing on all cylinders with Will Thomas fresh off his 200 last week and Dan Vann taking to our bowling in blustery conditions. By the time we got them out the score was 132 in the 17th over, the next 2 batsmen cruised to 185 in the 27th over.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/joes-garage-masters/game-centre/442f4eb6
Women Division 1 – LOST
Unfortunately, the side had to forfeit their match
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