TWIN CENTURIES FAIL TO CLINCH VICTORY – 8 FEBRUARY 2025
A magnificent 231 third-wicket partnership, accompanied by a century to Ryan Wallace and a maiden one for Aarush Bhagwat, wasn’t enough to tip over one of the 1-Day competition front runners, Burnside West University, on Burnside Park on Saturday.
Century makers Aarush Bhagwat (left) and Ryan Wallace
Saturday morning had been a nightmare for team selections. Ferry cancellations, COVID-19, and other issues saw numerous last-minute defections and a scramble to find replacement players to fill the top three men’s sides – many thanks to the number of players who assisted in filling in or played outside their usual grades.
The disruption saw the Championship boys play one short in a match where that extra player might well have made a difference, as they also lost to BWU on Sydenham 1 despite Eliyas Varghese’s 74. The better news came from the Premier Women’s match where the return of some players, notably sisters Kate and Emma Irwin, saw a good win over Lancaster Park on Sydenham 3, and next to them on No. 3, Division 1 comfortably beat East Shirley.
No afternoon grades were played this week due to Waitangi Day.
Although the Youth 1st XI started their new season with a loss to St Bede’s 1st XI, there were good first-up wins for the 2nd and 3rd XIs and Year 10 boys. Archie Nielsen and Cameron Fairhall’ s first wicket partnership of 51 broke the back of a modest run chase against CBHS, and Daniel Barclay’s half-century was a major contributor to the Year 10 win.
Some of the photos in this publication are also courtesy of Ash Hart’s Hartland Images.
Scott Insurance Brokers Insurance Premier Men
The Premier Men were among the teams affected by the morning’s late withdrawals. They went into Saturday’s match against BWU at Burnside Park without a lot of experience in its lower order batting, reflected in opening bowler and skipper Mitch Gardner being scheduled to bat, much to his dismay, in the unfamiliar no. 6 position.
However, Mitch is very familiar with losing the toss, and when he did so, BWU asked Sydenham to bat first, knowing that if there were anything in what looked like another excellent Burnside Park wicket, it would be early. Their opening bowlers, Latham and Tait, then bowled a ten-over spell between them that went a long way towards winning the match. They consistently beat the bat, and it wasn’t until the 5th over that a run was scored off the bat, and by then, Sydenham was already 2-2.
Ryan Wallace and Aarush Bhagwat then came together and initially found all the same difficulties that openers Nathaneal Paltridge and Matt McCall had earlier and did their own share of playing and missing. With the poor start and recognition of the lack of experience further down the order, defence and survival were paramount, and by the 10th over, BWU had the visitors well on the back foot at 2-26.
Ryan Wallace
In times of adversity, you always hope that your experienced players can take on the burden, and in this case, there was no question that Ryan and Aarush stepped up for their team as the pair proceeded to put on 231 for the third wicket. From about that 10th over, with the ball now getting old, they both started to gain some control and by the 20th over, they were in total command and comfortably scoring at around 6’s with little real risk-taking. The partnership was finally broken in the penultimate cover when Aarush was out for a fine 102 off 139 balls with the score at 233-3.
Aarush Bhagwat
It was Aarush’s maiden Premier century that took him to the top of the grade’s run-getters and further evidence of the growing maturity in this game this season. His dismissal brought Srirag Harish to the crease with nine balls to be bowled, from which he proceeded to pump five of them to, or over, the boundary to collect another 25 runs, with Sydenham finishing on 258-3. Ryan remained unbeaten on 120 at the close, one of the classiest of his eight centuries in Sydenham colours.
Srirag Harish
Those final runs felt vital as, in the superb batting conditions at Burnside, the 259 target felt at best par. The Sydenham bowlers would likely need early wickets while the ball was new, but unfortunately for the visitors, the two Burnside openers started very well. They comfortably scored at 5’s & 6’s initially, and by the time Christie was out in the 9th over, the score was already 71-1. All six of the Burnside top order got starts, and although none of them really ventured above 50, they always seemed to have the match in hand. In common with the Burnside bowlers earlier, Sydenham struggled to contain the run rate or get the required dual breakthrough which would have assisted that – four dropped outfield catches did not help, but such was the Burnside control, that may not have been enough. Mitch Gardner was probably the pick of them with 2-50 from his ten overs, but with 518 runs scored in the match and only seven wickets lost in total, it wasn’t a day to be a bowler.
Mitch Gardner
With six wickets and four overs still in hand, it was a reasonably comfortable win in the end for Burnside, as it continues to look like it will take a great effort from one of the other sides to pip them for any of the titles this season.
Thanks to umpires Mark Wood and Kaushik Padmanaban
Next week is the final 1-day pool match with Sydenham drawn to play OBC on Sydenham Park.
Birdwood Café Premier Women
Match report courtesy of Linda Pettigrew
LP 129/5 lost to Sydenham 130/6
The premier women had a great finish to the 40 over competition taking down Lancaster Park on Sydenham 3. The match saw strong bowling performances from Shizuka Miyaji 1-5 from 8 overs and Kate Irwin 2-17 restrict LP to 129 in their 40 overs. Charlotte Clatworthy picked up 2 wickets and Kate Craig took two outstanding catches.
Darcy Rose Prasad (keeper)
Emma and Kate Irwin had strong batting performances to chase the total in the 27th over. Emma scored 26 while Kate scored 43.
Kate Irwin
This ends the 40 over competition which has provided an excellent opportunity for developing players to get a taste of premier cricket. Next week sees the 50 over and Div 1 competitions resume.
Emma Irwin
Thanks to umpires Shreyash Kalyan and Alan Hill
Scott Insurance Brokers Championship
Match report courtesy of Tom Agnew
Sydenham took on Burnside West University on Sydenham1. Burnside have dominated both the Premier and Championship competitions this year, so our Championship side knew they’d have their work cut out for them going into Saturday’s contest. Despite this, confidence was high, having produced a 10-wicket win the week before against East Shirley. Saturday morning appeared good for either batting or bowling, with Quinny and his team producing another great wicket to go with the slightly overcast conditions. Captain Tom MacDonald won his third toss in a row and decided to stick to what had worked the previous two weeks and bowl first. It started very evenly. The Burnside batsmen were careful but more than capable of putting the odd bad ball away.
Carl Hooper
Carl Hooper produced a great opening spell, unlucky to pick up only one wicket early on. At the 17-over mark for drinks, Burnside had plenty of wickets in hand but only 59 on the board. Scoring picked up after drinks significantly; a good pairing for Burnside took the score to over 100 quickly after the break. Two fantastic spells from Aki (right-arm leg spin) and Nathan Chin (left-arm orthodox) kept things in check. It was even more impressive that the two young spinners pulled things back so nicely, given the side was fielding with 10, and Burnside had a hard-hitting left-hander targeting the 50 m square boundary with a strong tailwind. Overall, the side can be proud of the short-handed fielding and bowling effort, restricting a strong Burnside batting lineup to 223 on a good batting wicket. Burnsides runs largely came from experienced opener Will Kennedy (94), who survived, shall we say, a very good LBW shout on the third ball of the innings. Another notable performance in the field was an excellent showing by wicketkeeper Mitch Suddaby, who looks better and better with the gloves each week. Only one or two tough chances were put down by the team, a vast difference from a few weeks ago when dropped catches threatened double figures.
Eliyas Varghese
The batting effort started with opener Aki and freshly promoted Zach Howe both receiving good deliveries while the ball was moving. Aki got a good one back through the gate, while Zachs did enough to take the outside edge to a sharp catch at second slip. PK and Eliyas did a great job of reviving the innings. They were cautious with the good balls but put away anything over-pitched while the mid-on and mid-off were up inside the circle. Of particular note was a beautiful straight drive for six by Eliyas, well worth watching on the highlights package. While PK and Eliyas were at the crease, the run rate would never be an issue. Unfortunately, PK was run out to a sharp chance at cover. Captain Tom MacDonald came to the crease and batted patiently through to the second drinks break. At 120 for 3, Sydenham should have been relatively in control, needing less than a run a ball at the back end of the innings.
Pankaj Bhagat
Unfortunately, the good effort from the top order to set up the chase was not backed up by the middle order. Suddaby and Agnew got out to relatively soft dismissals, while MacDonald and Charlie Finnie got some more good deliveries from the Burnside openers, who returned with second-up spells after drinks. Hooper and Nathan Chin made the score slightly more respectable, but in the end, the total proved to be 30-40 too much, considering the slow outfield. Considering the team was one fielder short against the best side in the competition, it was a much better effort than in previous weeks.
Next week is the last day of the one-day competition, and Sydenham will face an OBC at Sydenham
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-championship/game-centre/0108db48
Division 1
Match report courtesy of Richard Howe
Div 1 Syd has had a challenging season. Sitting last on the table our game today was critical as the Gujarat are one place ahead of us. Lose today and we face an extremely difficult battle to avoid relegation. Initial team selection showed a strong team (one that, on paper, should be too strong for the Lions). But as we know, the game isn’t played on paper and was still a couple of days away. Friday night and the team sheet looked vastly different. Late unavailability for various reasons across all three morning teams meant a real scramble for all teams, and with Belly in and out of range, we had the “fun” of doing what Belly does each week to put teams out. (You do a great job there Matt). For us, five changes, well, six if you include one of the replacements needing to be replaced!
Saturday and the Div 1 team compilation includes some new, some old and some borrowed players!
We won the toss and chose to bowl – let’s roll these guys and chase down their score! Paddy Wickes (borrowed from Goats) and Ryan Lightfoot (“old” or Ex Syd player) opened the bowling, and each took a wicket. 2 down for 10, great start! First change and the Prasad bros of Isaiah and Sam pick up 3. Sam answered our SOS after taking some time off cricket at the end of last year. The Lions 55 for 5, then quickly 7 for 69 as Gourav Jadhav got two, meanwhile some spin from Richard Howe and Sydenham debutant Deepak Kumar (someone “new”) kept things tight.
Unfortunately, we were unable to get the last three wickets cheaply as the Lions finished all out for 157, with Sam taking a 2nd and Ajith Shetty grabbing 2
Our run chase stuttered to a start, with Andy Reynolds run out with the score at 2. Freddie Winsor 31 from 56, and Cam Spriggs 26 from 56 put on 56 before they both perished, followed by Ajith, 69-4.
Gourav and Isaiah set about restoring the innings. Run rate wasn’t a big issue, so we thought at around four per over required. Both batted really well, taking us to 136 when Isaiah was out for a well made 38 from 60 followed by a scratchy 7 from 13 by Richard Howe. 4 required from 11.
Freddie Winsor
Ryan Lightfoot stepped up to the plate, checked out the first four balls bowled to him in several months and then smashed the fifth into the trees for a long-overdue win. Ryan finished unbeaten on 6 off 5 and Gourav 25 off 63. Syd 160-6 off 45
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-1/game-centre/2f3ac8e0
Youth First XI – LOST
Match report courtesy of Allen Hill
Our first game of the 2025 season saw the 1st XI up against St Bedes College 1st XI at St Bedes.
After winning the toss we choose to bowl first on a green grassy wicket renowned for low scores. Our bowlers bowled with skill and control, consistently putting the ball in good areas drawing plenty of chances, particularly with the new ball. Opening bowlers, captain Cadell Durdin and Jamie Ansen, back in the 1st XI after spell with the seconds before Xmas, were excellent, applying plenty of pressure and creating chances. Jamie Ansen took two early wickets ending up with 4 for 29 off 12 overs, while Cadell Durdin took 1 for 20 off 10 but also created more wicket taking opportunities. Pōtiki Hamilton-Morrison maintained the pressure with two excellent spells, taking 3 for 33 off 11 overs. Josh Chapman bowled with his usual tight line and length, while spinners, Henry Hood and Isaac Tutt took a wicket a piece to end the St Bedes innings on 130 all out. This was an excellent performance in the field and a total that was very much achievable.
Cadell Durdin
On a pitch that was difficult to bat on, we got off to a bad start losing a wicket in the first over. From there our opener, Isaac Tutt and No.3 Al Derry worked hard to see off the very good new ball bowling attack of St Bedes, although run scoring was difficult. Batting at 4, Will Herd worked hard in one of his best innings for a while, getting through to 24 before a ball kept low and bowled him. At 6, Jaxson Moynihan applied patience while waiting for bad balls to punish ending on 18 off 48 not out. Unfortunately, we couldn’t establish enough partnerships to get us to the total we needed, eventually being bowled out for 78.
Although we are disappointed not to get the win, there are plenty of positives for us to work from. There was not a lot of difference between the two teams, and we know we will be very competitive in our upcoming games.
Youth 2nd XI – WON
Match report courtesy of Paul Durdin
The 2nd XI lined up against Christchurch Boys HS 5th XI in the season’s opening game. Winning the toss, Sydenham sent Boys High into bat and that proved to be an excellent decision with opening bowlers Quinn Helms (4 overs 1 for 11) and Jaxson Stove (4 overs 2 for 3) both striking early. First-change bowlers Louie Harris (4 overs 1 for 19) and Yahya Shasawar (6 overs 4 for 30) continued the pressure, with Yahya proving a real handful for the opposition. At 27 for 7 the game looked as though it would be heading for a very early finish, however some good hitting from the Boys High tail saw them through to 83 all out. Lucky Lasiyal, the only other bowler used, picked up the final wicket (2.3 overs 2 for 18).
In reply, opener Cameron Fairhall (30) and Archie Neilsen (43) put on 51 for the 1st wicket before Cameron was caught behind. Archie continued in strong form at the other end and, despite losing a couple of partners without score, took Sydenham through to level scores before falling to an excellent catch. Thomas Wedlake (5 not out from 2) hit the winning runs in the 19th over. Sydenham won by six wickets.
Overall, it was a comprehensive win for the 2nd XI who simply outclassed their opposition.
Youth 3rd XI – WON
Match report courtesy of Bevan Williamson
Today, we played Shirley Boys High School 3rd XI on a beautiful sunny summer day at Burwood Park.
SBHS won the toss and sent us in to bat. After a reasonable start, we got the wobbles at 2/16. Neil Thakar came to the crease and started what was a very patient, anchor-type innings and began to rebuild the innings along with the assistance of Samuel Wild and Daniel Barclay. After Neil was dismissed for a very well-earned and hard-fought 39, Daniel took it upon himself to bring the ship home and was eventually the final wicket to fall with a very impressive 53 from 56 ball knock. We managed to post a total of 180, which we felt was definitely defendable on this wicket.
The SBHS run chase was off to a shaky start, with Zacharia Nicholson removing one of the opener’s third ball with a peach of a delivery. The rest of the SBHS batting lineup seemed to have no answers to our boys’ fantastic bowling. They bowled tight and miserly, with very few extras given up. This strangling meant that only 3 of the SBHS batsmen managed to get to double figures, with 16 being their highest individual total. Some outstanding figures all around such as Neil Thakar 4-0-13-0, Reuben Williamson 5-0-10-0, Callum Walsh 5.4-0-17-3, and the figures of the day for Samuel Wild 6-4-5-3. The boys were all very vocal and positive in the field, encouraging our bowlers on every ball from start to finish. Along with that, the fielding was on point, with all of the boys putting in the effort for their teammates.
Overall rating for the game: Great first-up hit out that the boys can all be proud of – 8/10
Youth Colts – LOST
Match report courtesy of Callum Green
The Sydenham played North West Colts on Burnside Park 4. Losing the toss we were put into bat on a very good-looking batting wicket at Burnside Park 4. Openers Braithan Davies and Reuben Peterson did a fantastic job seeing off the new ball and opening bowlers. It has been a while since this group of boys have had a solid opening stand. With Davies being new to the team, it looks like his influence has paid dividends already! At 32 Davies departed for 15, playing at a wide one and feathering it to the keeper. Our captain, Kahn Stanbury came in, but went back straight away getting a great yorker first up. Coming in on a hat trick, Rupert Nielsen saw of the hat trick ball, but in over 17 with the score on 54, his partner Peterson departed for a well compiled 15, plum LBW to a faster arm ball. In came Noah Green, but an over later he lost his partner and Nielsen departed, playing on their leg spinner after looking very comfortable. Keeper Rutherford came in at 6 and he and Green steadied the ship for a while before Green departed for 19…out to the same, fast arm ball that Peterson got out to.
With the score at 84 in came Ruan Diederiks and in usual style he scored quickly, but he hit one too many aerial balls and hit a long hop straight down the throat of deep mid wicket and was out for a quick 11. In came James Gross and from the outset Gross looked calm and in control. A usual quick scorer, Gross withheld his natural instincts and played conservatively because the team needed it. In the 37th Rutherford went and in came Austen Grant. He looked great, but similar to Diederiks, he hit aerial and was caught at a deepish extra cover for another quick 11. Will Johns was next in in the 41st over and he and Gross did a fantastic job. Playing for the team, they smothered the NW bowling and in the last few overs quickened the run rate. Sydenham ended up on 167 and batted out all 53 overs. We were pleased with this effort as at the end of last year we were consistently getting bowled out in around the 30th over.
Austen Grant
Opening bowlers Green and Grant, battled hard and Grant got the break through in the 6th over with the score on 18. But, NW batters were patient and waited for the wides and bad balls, putting them away and accumulating. First change was Joe Wilke and he bowled full and accurately. Nielsen took over from Green and he bowled really well and eventually snared their no3 through a loose lofted shot to short cover where Peterson took a comfortable catch. Benji Williams (highest wicket taker in all 9A last year) was brought on to make the game swing our way and he bowled magnificently, but with no luck. With at least a dozen play and misses, Williams bamboozled the NW batsman, but couldn’t make the break through. It was captain Stanbury, who eventually got one and then two with his accurate off spin. Johns chimed in with a wicket, but, the NW batsman paced themselves well and with wickets in hand eventually won with 4 overs spare. Other notable bowling was Diederiks and Gross, who bowled very accurately.
Overall, we didn’t get the win, but our batting effort was incredibly pleasing and we never gave up in the field. Good signs for the rest of the season. Thanks to the NW parents and boys, the game was played in a great spirit.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2025/cricket-express-colts-declaration/game-centre/9ea7d1e3
Youth Yr 10 – WON
Match report courtesy of Pim de Monchy and Mark Williams
A few year 9 nerves jangled at Bradford Park as the team assembled for their first game of 2025 on a fine afternoon, with some boys playing college cricket for the first time. Unfortunately, Rolleston turned up with just 7 players and forfeited the match, but because our extra-large squad has 14, we agreed to play 11 vs 10 anyway.
Rolleston batted first and was reeling at 27/6 after some excellent opening bowling. Benny Wilkinson and Angus Ferguson picked up two wickets apiece on a grass wicket that offered both seam and swing, and the subsequent bowlers kept the pressure on. An excellent catch on the mid-wicket boundary by Luke Griffiths and a sharp runout plus a catch by Angus contributed to.
Thanks to the three Sydenham players, Luke Bloomfield, Fletcher Newlove and Benny, who batted for Rolleston and combined with their last player to bring the score up to 94 all out in the 20th over.
Three of our batters decided to hit full tosses aerially to the same fielder at cover, which left Dylan Tullet (28/25), Luke Griffiths and Nakul Singh to get the runs for the loss of five wickets—a good hit-out to start the term, with plenty to work on as well. Next week looks like a tougher assignment up at Rangiora.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2025/cricket-express-year-10/game-centre/e3fc64a1
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