THE SILVER LINING – 1 MARCH 2025
Other than the result, there was much to like about the second day of Sydenham’s Premier Men’s match against Heathcote at Heathcote Domain. It was an evenly contested day with the new Sydenham youngsters again impressing – but the problem for Sydenham was the first day, a 111 run 1st innings deficit that proved too big a hurdle to overcome.
The real highlight out at Heathcote Domain was the dismissal of Heathcote opener Calab Donaldson, caught by Jacob Cotter, who became Mitch Gardner’s 500th Premier wicket. Mitch is one of only two in the club’s recorded history to surpass the 500 mark, with the top spot currently held by another legend, Dave Gallop, with 535.
Mitch Gardner
The Championship side, in a commanding position after the first day, completed their match inside of an hour thanks to an excellent bowling performance from Josh Wedlake who backed up Tom Agnew’s first day effort by taking three of the remaining four wickets. In contrast, the Division 1 side were in a big hole after the first day and couldn’t recover their match. The Premier women also couldn’t repeat last week’s victory and were well beaten by five wickets by North West Women at Burnside Park
It was a very productive day for the afternoon grades and the youth section – of the six afternoon grade sides, only the Master Cardinals lost, although disappointingly, two of the matches were won through forfeit by the opposition. Chris Douglas and George Wrigley both took four wickets apiece, and contributed with the bat, in the Division 4 Goats win over Hornby, and Chase Barnsley’s 5-23 accounted for the Div 5 All-Star win. Tim Suddaby’s 86 set up the Hospital side’s victory out at the Mandeville Sports Centre.
All three top youth sides had wins across the 1st XI, 2nd XI, and 3rd XI, with Cadell Durdin and Henry Hood, a prolific wicket-taker this season, both picking up three wickets to bowl CBHS out for 61. The 2nd XI has Samuel Wild’s unbeaten 82 to largely thank for their win whilst Dylan Tullett’s 4-21 featured in the Year 10’s loss to Shirley Boys HS.
Some of the photos in this publication are also courtesy of Ash Hart’s Hartland Images.
Scott Insurance Brokers Insurance Premier Men
Sydenham had a big job on its hands as it started the 2nd day of its match against Heathcote, behind on the 1st innings by 111 runs after a batting collapse on the first day. However, it couldn’t have asked for more from last week’s debutant openers, Jacob Cotter and Akshan Gulati, who again fronted for their side.
After combining for an opening partnership of 68 last week, the pair went further on the second day by putting on 114 for the 1st wicket. With a slightly dryer wicket not providing the same encouragement to the seam bowlers as it did on the first day, the pair were comfortable settling into their respective innings and were generally untroubled throughout. With no time pressure other than to just bat, the pair defended well, scoring around three an over for the first half of the innings before upping that into the fours towards the end.
Jacob Cotter
The openers did a great job bringing the game back into balance and setting Sydenham up to try to set a target in the remaining time available. But then both were gone by the 28th over, Jacob, top scorer again as it turned out, with 68 off 93 balls, and Akshan for an excellent 43 off 80 balls. However, when Ryan Wallace was then out cheaply, the 1st innings wobbles returned. Despite Aarush Bhagwat (17 off 18) and Michael Robinson initially trying to stabilise the innings, they both followed soon after, and at 149-5, Sydenham was effectively 38-5 and looking at an early finish.
Heathcote’s leg spinner Boissevain was bowling very well and starting to beat the bat consistently with both spin and bounce. Playing his first innings since his return to Christchurch, Dylan McArdle looked most assured at the crease with his 29 off 23 balls and It was a real surprise when he top-edged a pull shot off Boissevain to be out caught at slip with the score at 175-5.
Cullen Crowe
However, in only his 2nd Prem innings, young Cullen Crowe was looking good at the other end. He had initially supported Dylan well in their partnership and, although a little set back by being involved in the run-out of his skipper, grew in confidence as his innings progressed. Working well with the lower order, Cullen was the rock as the remaining five wickets put on another 77 runs before he was last out for a half-century in his debut match (57 off 96 balls), Sydenham finishing all out for 252.
Mitch Gardner
A target of 142 was a chance if everything went wrong for Heathcote, but realistically, it needed to be something well above 200 and time-limited to test the batting side on a wicket that had got flatter throughout the day. There was certainly much excitement when Mitch Gardner picked up the first wicket on his second over, but mostly as it was that 500th Premier wicket for the Sydenham skipper. Tom Agnew picked up the dangerous Dan Stanley a couple of overs later at 23-2, but the experience of Tyler Lorton, in a 72-run partnership with Hacquard, broke the back of the chase. Mitch and Tom finished with a couple of wickets each, and Cullen finished off a good day with a wicket of his own, but Heathcote went comfortably through to their target at 143-5 with 2-3 overs to spare. Heathcote’s bowling performance on the first day had done the job.
The encouragement from the match for Sydenham was the performances of the three youngsters Cotter, Gulati and Crowe, who all delivered. With Michael Robinson also back in the side, and some runs coming again from the established guys who had a rare miss in this match, the batting suddenly has a steelier look to compliment a bowling unit that has held its own all season.
Thanks to umpires Matthew Hill and Kaushik Padmanaban, and also to the Heathcote club. Win or lose, it’s always a pleasure to be hosted and play out at the Domain.
Sydenham’s next match is against St Albans at the Nursey Oval Hagley
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/oem-audio-mens-premiership/game-centre/5c97c632
Birdwood Café Premier Women
Match report courtesy of Linda Pettigrew
Unfortunately, it was a quick match for our Premier women at Burnside Park, with Sydenham on the wrong side of the equation. Sent into bat, Sydenham fell for North West’s juicy bowling, hitting seven catches. Sydenham all out for 68 after 26 overs. Kate Irwin was the top batter with 18 runs (just under the North West’s wides total of 19), and all other batters in single digits.
Zoe Ellerton-Kelly
Expecting and asking for a quick turn around to take advantage of the similar conditions, Sydenham were surprised to find themselves with a 40 minute lunch break before returning to the field. The bowling efforts went well with Sydenham working their way through NW’s top order to get them five down thanks to Rachel Davidson’s 3-7. Sydenham helped NW out by confusing the boundary lines with last week’s and signalling several premature 4s. Another 30 runs would have put Sydenham in the game. A match to learn from.
Izzy Fox
The team farewells Zu who returns to Japan on Monday. It’s been amazing to have Zu in the group this season. Zu always brings such a burst of energy and positivity. All the very best Zu!
Thanks to umpires David Miller and Kenneth Pottinger
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/ev-power-premier-women/game-centre/52b33099
Scott Insurance Brokers Championship
Match report courtesy of Matt Bell
It was a simple equation for the championship side for day 2, get the remaining 4 wickets as quickly as possible and claim an outright win by an innings. The main change for the second day was Tom Agnew being replaced by Josh Wedlake who opened the bowling with Carl Hooper. It had the desired result as Josh picked up a wicket in the first over of the day cleaning out Fergus Salmond middle stump. The trap was then set for the incoming batter in Felix Huston to take on the short ball which he took on and only managed to top edged a delivery from Josh that he caught himself. Next in line was Benji Nation who looked to cut Josh and after a few play and misses eventually played on to his stumps and there was only one more wicket to take to finish off a comprehensive win. Carl Hooper was quickly into his impeccable line and length and continually beating the bat until finally an edge flew to Charlie Finnie in the gully who took a nice low catch to his left to secure the victory. Carl showed his true class the whole game and ended up with suburb match figures of 4/18 from 19 overs including 9 maidens and Josh Wedlake made the impact of taking 3/9 of 5 overs.
The Championship team won by an innings and 61 runs on the back of some of the best partnership bowling and team catching to claim maximum points. The team song was blasted out in the sheds in celebration and the team looks forward to the next challenge of facing Saints at the Hagley Nursery Oval.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-championship/game-centre/96815018
Division 1
Match report courtesy of Richard Howe
We were well behind the game and our hopes hinged on either knocking Sumner over very cheaply, or them declaring and allowing us a sporting chase. Sumner still had all second innings wickets in hand, and a 142 run lead. Debutant Harry Restieaux opened the bowling along with Isaiah Prasad. Harry created a few chances and was rewarded with his first wicket for Sydenham. his 5 overs yielding 1 for 23, before a few aches and pains set in. Unusually Isaiah was struggling to find his rhythm and not having his usual success, and with a tender calf, he was happy to be rested after 3 overs.
Aaqib Sharif
Spin of Richard Howe and Aaqib Sharif was introduced and tight overs were punctuated with expensive ones where the Sumner batters’ plans to attack the short were successful. Fortunately, they weren’t always successful and Cam Spriggs took a sharp one handed catch at second slip off an attempt to put the ball onto Brougham St. Unfortunately, an easier one went down in the same position, prompting calls that he should stick to his one good hand!
Todd Ward
In total 24 overs of spin were bowled for 3 wickets, creating chances but also taking some punishment later in the innings as Sumner charged towards a declaration. A late run out and then Sumner, we needed 290 to win off just under 60 overs. Wicket takers: Harry 5 overs 1 for 23, Richard 11 overs 2 for 51& Aaqib Sharif 13 over 1 for 78
With Josh Gard, Cam O’Leary and Todd Ward boosting our batting as well as Carl Quinn (who did a great job keeping) joining Harry in their Sydenham debuts, we were confident we had the batters to make a serious run at the total, even if the pitch was getting more variable. Josh and Carl opened up with Cam O and Harry at 3 and 4. Unfortunately they were all in and then out quickly – 4 down and only 14 on the the board! 290 was looking a way off… Todd Ward and Gourav Jadhav put on around 30 before Todd fell. Isaiah who had been stranded on 42 last week arrived and continued where he had left off.
Ajith Shetty came and went for a quick 9 after Gourav had perished. The remaining batters offered little support to Isaiah, who was last man out on 34 and Sydenham a pitiful 91, nearly 200 short!
Only Isaiah 34, Gourav 17 and Todd, 14 made double figures. The pitch was certainly tougher to bat on in the afternoon, but the damage was done last week when we were 140 runs behind. Unfortunately, we were a good 140 runs behind on today’s effort as well – 91 vs Sumner’s 227 for 5.
We look forward to starting with a clean sheet next week and hopefully getting our first 2 day win for the season. Congrats to Harry and Carl on their Syd debuts and Cam O and Josh’s first game for Div 1. We hope if you get another chance to join us that we can all hit form and bring home a win!
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-1/game-centre/db3126c8
Division 4 Goats – WON
Match report courtesy of Jacob Harrington
It was the best of the worst facing off as the Goats turned up to Denton Park to play the EV Power Knockout Bowl Final. With a post-game BBQ planned and the sun shining, the vibes were good. 26 degrees and a dry pitch made the toss win an easy decision as JB said we will have a bat. The message from the Billy Goat was “value your wicket today boys” (more on that later). The Goats got off to a quick start with Joe (37) and Tony getting the score to 42, as Tony was the first to fall. The outfield was lightning quick so there was good value for shots and Joe was showing how to make the most of it. Starts were a common theme of the innings as Kyle fell, 71-2. Dougy came in and failed to adhere to Jon’s message – no surprise because he hasn’t really been listening to him the last couple of weeks, as Dougy hits a 6 and then runs himself out soon after. Joe is out very shortly after and the Goats good start and target of a big score is looking in jeopardy. At 103 for 5 around the halfway mark Ollie (30) and Jacob (29) put together a partnership with some sensible batting to steady the ship and laying the platform for George (18) and Chris (15) to tee off in the last 5 overs and getting us through to 196.
Thoughts of cold beers and $130 of Peter Timbs meat (thanks to Ollie) had the Goats get off to a flyer with the ball with Hornby 3-12, with Paddy and Chris bowling tight. A couple of mini partnerships formed but wickets were falling steadily, with George bowling really well, including arguably one of the top two balls of the Goats season. As the 9th wicket fell comments of being able to taste the sausages were heard from the huddle (not sure who would say that), Jake was made to wait a bit as the last wicket partnership put on 20 runs. Hornby eventually all out 131 off 31 overs. George (4 for 38) and Chris (4 for 23) doing most of the work, backed by some good fielding and catching. As the sun set with the sounds of the picturesque suburb of Hornby in the background, the Goats sat around the BBQ enjoying a plethora of meat and some cold beers, celebrating a great team win with contributions all around. Not sure where this Bowl is?
The cricket is only part of the reason we play the game
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/ev-power-knockout/game-centre/4390c275
Division 5 All-Stars – WON
Match report courtesy of Abe Atherton
The Sydenham Allstars took on Burnside at Sydenham Park #1, winning the toss and electing to bowl first. Burnside lost an early wicket to the pace of Jacob Koster but quickly recovered with a solid second-wicket partnership, accumulating quick singles and finding the gaps. However, the introduction of Cameron Hatcher and Chase Barnsley into the bowling attack drastically slowed the run rate. Barnsley got the much-needed breakthrough when a batter attempted to hit out but found Koster at cover. Barnsley continued to pile on the pressure, making it difficult for Burnside to find boundaries or take risks with running between the wickets. His persistence paid off as he claimed more wickets, thanks to sharp catches from Koster and Jared Talanoa. Under mounting pressure, Burnside attempted quick singles but made the mistake of testing Koster’s arm—who combined with keeper Jaedyn Ward to execute a crucial run-out.
Chase Barnsley
Jason Ungerer then joined the attack and was rewarded with a wicket, courtesy of Tom Elliott’s safe hands at cover. Meanwhile, Barnsley was closing in on a well-earned five-wicket haul. As he neared the end of his eight-over spell, an LBW appeal was given in his favour, sealing his five-wicket bag. Barnsley finished with outstanding figures of 5-23 from 8 overs, later declaring himself “Chase the Conqueror” after his dominant performance. Abraham Atherton wrapped up the innings swiftly, taking two wickets in his first over back. Burnside, once sitting comfortably at 84/2, crumbled to 126 all out in 30.5 overs—a collapse the Allstars themselves have been familiar with this season.
- Chase Barnsley – 5/23 (8 overs)
- Abraham Atherton – 2/18
- Jacob Koster – 1/18
- Jason Ungerer – 1/16
- Catches: Koster (2), Talanoa (2), Elliott (1), Ward (1)
Tom Elliott
The Allstars began their chase positively, with Jacob Koster and Tom Elliott scoring at over six runs per over. As Burnside rotated their bowlers, runs became harder to come by, but Elliott continued his exceptional form, finding the gaps with ease. Koster made 22 runs from 31 deliveries before falling with the team score at 62. Jaedyn Ward came and went quickly, bringing Chase Barnsley to the crease. Barnsley and Elliott worked towards the target steadily, with Elliott reaching his fourth half-century of the season. He was eventually dismissed for a brilliant 64 from 67 balls, including nine boundaries, with the team on 113/3. “Boom Boom” Barnsley took it upon himself to finish the job with some powerful hitting. He remained unbeaten on 27 from 53 balls, while Jason Ungerer finished on 2 not out. The Allstars comfortably reached their target, finishing on 127/3 in 26.4 overs. The Allstars secured a much-needed victory, with Barnsley leading the charge both with the ball and the bat.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-5/game-centre/1e3616d8
Division 5 Tamils XI– WON
Sydenham beat Weedons by forfeit
Full scoreboard https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-5/game-centre/66964796
Cavaliers Cardinals – WON
Sydenham beat OBC by forfeit
Masters Cardinals – LOST
Match report courtesy of Ammar Yousef
Yesterday’s match was played on the 1st day of Autumn, but it felt like the best day of our summer to date. We lost the toss & were put into bat. Our opening pair (Paul Stumps Mathews & Ewen Spence) put on a fine initial partnership (Spency 26* & Stumps 69), before Spency’s calf blew out and he had to retire hurt. Stumps needed to be a little more careful as the ball was staying a little lower than usual, and yet, with the odd ball rising sharply. The deck & outfield were proving difficult to score off, and when Stumps had to request a runner, we knew that things were going to get tricky.
With scoring proving to be more and more difficult on a flattish wicket, our batsmen started to swing for runs, however, after a valiant innings, Stumps got one that stayed low and was soon bowled out. Chris O was frustrated with the lack of scoring options and he soon swung out also.
Skip (31), who seems to be getting into some serious form, started to up the run rate once again, whilst wickets were tumbling at the other end, as the ball seemed to get lower and lower, with Geordie Dann (what an energetic & enthusiastic young man!) & Paul ‘Raptor’ Rapley both being bowled also. The unfortunate Ralphy was runout trying to go for a second run, followed by Skip being another batsmen to be bowled out. Ammario & Paul ‘Zulu’ Smith faced the last few balls of our innings to leave us on 158 after 40 overs. St. Albans best bowlers: Gibb 8 over 2 wkts for 26, Griffin 8 over 2 wkts for 20, Hill (pick of the bowlers) 6 overs, 1 wkt for 10.
St. Albans came out to bat and Flem got into their top order early, with a wicket maiden in his first over and then was up to 2 wickets for 3 runs after his second over. Unfortunately, we were never able to get completely on top of St. Albans, even though they were steadily losing wickets throughout their batting innings, with superb bowling efforts from the likes of Flem, Ralphy, Raptor, Chris O, Mark Stevenson and Geordie. Flem had Iggs Caught & Bowled with a catch that’ll be up there for catch of the season, however, when it comes to catching, I think we may need to change Stumps’s nickname from Stumps to STD, as he has been simply catching everything that he can get anywhere near this season. He had another two superb catches yesterday in the slip cordon. We had some great fielding efforts, especially from Daniel McKay (Stepping in for the injured Spency) and Geordie, who was a real livewire in the field and with the ball in hand. The finish was tight, as it seems to always be against St. Albans, but we sadly run out of runs and they reached their target with 2 balls to spare.
Bowling figures: Flem 8 overs 3 wkts for 19, Ralphy 8 overs 1 wkt for 35, Raptor 5 overs 1 wkt for 30, with good contributions from M. Stevenson & G. Dann.
Another good game, played in a sporting manner, against a good bunch of lads.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/joes-garage-masters-top-8/game-centre/1c7469fa
Masters Hospital – WON
Match report courtesy of Matt Gilling
Sydenham Hospital Masters vs Ohoka Originals. Ohoka won the toss and elected to bat. With the score at 24-0 after 3 overs, it looked like a very long, hot, double-drinks-break, day in the field. But the bowlers soon put the brakes on and the score progressed another 37 over the next 10 overs. At 20 over Ohoka were 89-1 looking good to lay a foundation to get 200. It wasn’t to be with miserly bowling all around. The final score after 40 overs was 150-8. Andrew Scott 53, Bruce Day 5-0-13-3, Kieran Smith 8-2-23-2 & Matthew Gilling 8-1-25-2. Special mention to Richard McKinley for a great catch on the boundary to dismiss Hayden Powell who was looking like adding another 30 or 40 runs.
Chasing 151 to win Hospital started poorly losing their first wicket after only 2 runs. Tim Suddaby steadied the ship and continued on with a solid partnership with Bryan Bunz to get the Hospital to 121-3 after 29 overs. Hospital eventually put the final shot across the (boundary) line to win in the 36th over.
Wickets shared amongst the Ohoka bowlers. Tim Suddaby 86 & Bryan Bunz 34*
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/joes-garage-masters-bottom-6/game-centre/8613e1b4
Women’s Division 1 – LOST
Match report courtesy of Linda Pettigrew
Div 1 women had a very close match against North West, coming out 4 runs short. On a hot day it was important to get the wickets rolling early. Sydenham were pleased to get the fielding done in 23 overs with North West all out on 114. There were many standouts in the field with Kiya Fujikawa taking 4/22 and Kyla Tilson 2/32. Catches were a theme with Emma Begg taking 2 catches as wicket keeper and Sandy Mitchell, Kiyo, Julia Manton and Jaimee Cartwright all picking up a catch (and we left a few out there).
The batting started really well with Sandy and Linda Pettigrew getting a 19 run opening partnership. Kiyo and Linda then had another big partnership of 32 before both were dismissed. In need of stabilising Julia and Kyla then combined for 36 runs to get the score through to 94 and in sight of the target. The lower order put up some resistance and took the match deep, but unfortunately, we pulled up 4 runs short. Div 1 continue to grow with more partnerships and catches each week.
Youth First XI – WON
Match report courtesy of Daniel Herd
The Sydenham Youth 1st XI met Christchurch Boys High School 3rd XI Black at Sydenham Park. Sydenham was intent on keeping its winning streak going and strengthening its place in the top half of the Cup table.
Boys High called correctly and asked to bat, which turned out to be a poor decision. Cadell Durdin (3/15 off 10) was virtually unplayable through his opening spell – cutting batters in half with a relentless line and length. Jamie Anson (2/14 off 9) bowled with extravagant swing from his first ball – which cleaned out the opening bat around his legs. Josh Chapman (2/9 off 5) stepped up to first change role very well, Henry Hood (3/16 off 9) continued his excellent form and Archie Nielson (2 runs off 3 overs) was economical. Boys High simply couldn’t deal with the quality bowling and were rolled for 61.
William Herd
The Sydenham bowlers had done their job, now the batter had to close the game out. The top three of Fin Hill (0), Issac Tutt (9 off 69 ball) and Sam Johns (5) needed to weather the new-ball friendly conditions. They worked hard but Sydenham found themselves at 2/12 in the 8th over. Will Herd (38* at a 72 strike rate) joined Tutt and they put on a 46 run partnership, before Tutt was bowled and Jaxson Moynihan (1*) scored the winning run. Herd’s innings was excellent in the context of the match made up of solid defence, good running and attacking strokes – with the highlights an off drive for six and scoop off the spinner.
Jaxson Moynihan
The final result was Boys High 61 all out off 36 overs and Sydenham 62-3 off 24.3 making it three in a row for the home team. Another excellent team performance
Youth 2nd XI – WON
Match report courtesy of Paul Durdin
The 2nd XI travelled to Methven to take on the Mt Hutt College 1st XI. With forecast high temperatures, the boys wanted to get out in the field early and were able to do just that when Sam Macdonald correctly called the coin toss. Unfortunately, a scoring glitch means no individual statistics are available for this match report – so apologies for the estimates. Sydenham were quickly on top when Bayley Gardner produced a pearler of a delivery – hitting the top of off to remove one of the openers. Quinn Helms bowled quickly from the other end and was rewarded taking the second wicket of the innings. Leif Kitto continued his good run of form and grabbed another two wickets before Sam Macdonald decided to turn to spin. That decision proved a masterstroke with Harry Durdin picking up a wicket off his very first delivery and another off his third via a tidy caught and bowled. Not to be outdone, Cameron Fairhall joined in the wicket taking party – picking up three wickets to match Harry. Mt Hutt College dismissed for a modest 85.
With three top order batsmen grabbing 8 of the wickets, Sydenham decided to mix up the batting line-up. The openers didn’t add many; however, Louie Harris batting #3 picked up 30+ and was well supported by Jaxson Stove who hit a couple of impressive 6s on his way to approximately 20. Captain Sam Macdonald made his way to the crease with the score at 65 for 5, and he didn’t waste any time finishing the game, taking 18 off the over immediately following drinks to clinch a comfortable victory.
The 2nd XI now sits alone in 2nd on the competition ladder. The ability to finish first in the grade now rests with them, as they are still to play the ladder leader.
Youth 3rd XI – WON
Match report courtesy of Bevan Williamson
Today we played Christchurch boys high school 5th XI on a beautiful Canterbury day. CBHS won the toss and elected to bat. I thought this was a good result…. The CBHS openers set about punishing our opening bowlers to all corners of a ground with EXTREMELY short boundaries. In no time at all they had racked up a total of 99 for 0. Reuben Williamson was brought on at first change to try shake things up. He started well, but in his second over he pushed all the field back to protect the afore mentioned extremely short boundaries. This seemed to be a master stroke as he picked up 2 wickets in 2 balls. The rest of the bowling unit, buoyed by this, lifted their tails and began to pick off the rest of the CBHS batting line up at regular intervals. The bowling figures, whilst not great to start off, came back into line. Reuben finishing on 3/29 off 5, Neil Thakar bowled brilliantly for his 3/25 off 5, and Liam Kinzett and our skip Zachariah Nicholson also chimed in with 2 wickets a piece. We eventually dismissed CBHS for 205 off 26.5 overs.
In reply, we got off to a pretty good start with Liam Kinzett (KINGY) and Utkarsh Singh (OOTIE) taking to the CBHS bowlers before OOTIE was bowled with the score at 26. Unfortunately, William Thorpe, Neil Thakar, and Reuben Williamson all fell cheaply, and we were in some trouble at 5-86. Sam Wild, who had been under some unacceptable pressure from the field, kept his composure and proceeded to punish the CBHS bowling attack. They had no answer to him as he stood up and put CBHS to the sword! He was accompanied by an amazing foil in Zacharia Nicholson, who scored runs himself (14/27), but saw the bigger picture and fed Sam the strike. Fittingly, the winning runs, struck by Sam, was a crashing 4 to give us a score of 206-7 in 25.4 overs. Sam finished on 82 off 41 balls for a strike rate of 200.00
I am so proud of how my boys handled a testy match, remained calm, and played the game how it should be played. Overall rating for the game: 10-10. I cannot and will not fault them in any way.
Youth Colts – LOST
Match report courtesy of Callum Green
Sydenham played St Thomas of Canterbury Colts at St Thomas’. Winning the toss and choosing to bowl, Sydenham were confident of bowling St Thomas’s out on a green looking wicket at St Thomas’s No2. Wayward bowling and too may extra’s put pay to that. Accurate, full bowling was needed, but in the heat and with decisions not going Sydenham’s way, Sydenham wilted and the bowling and fielding in particular wasn’t good enough. Some patient batting saw St Thomas’s score 254 for 7 off their 53 overs.
Chasing, Sydenham started cautiously, but never really got going with wickets falling at regular intervals. Rupert Nielsen top scored with 32 off 25 in typical swashbuckling style. Reuben Peterson was very solid on the off side and scored a well compiled 24. Overall, Sydenham will need to adapt if things don’t go their way and ensure they concentrate on what they do on the field.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2025/cricket-express-colts-declaration/game-centre/03f07fe1
Youth Yr 10 – LOST
Match report courtesy of Mark Williams
Sydenham played Shirley Boys HS at Cashmere High School. We knew this was going to be a tough battle, as the Shirley team has been putting up some big scores. A very warm morning started with Shirley winning the toss and batting first. The pitch is not in great shape—a bit up and down with variable bounce.
Shirley got off to a rollicking start, going at 11s per over. Our boys did manage to peg the run rate back a bit with some good bowling and by picking up a wickets. Unfortunately, the middle order got hold of our bowlers and boundaries came regularly. Dylan bowled well and was unlucky to not pick up a Michelle, whilst Luke bowled good spells. Our skipper ensured that all the lads had a bowl, which was great. We had them 9 down around the 30 over mark, but didn’t manage to wrap the innings up quickly. Their last pair dug in and batted sensibly to almost bat out their 40 and end on a score of 294, number 10 picking up a 50, riding his luck at times but surviving to drive the total up.
This was probably 100 more than it should have been. Extras were a real contributor, ultimately being top scorer at 66 in the innings, too often we built pressure and then released it with wides or no balls, including two wickets on no balls were costly. Definitely a work on for us.
The temperature continued to rise, but our batting got off to a good start with Luke and Benny batting sensibly against some tight, quick bowling on a worn pitch that was misbehaving a lot. They took some of the shine off the ball whilst keeping the scoreboard moving along. Benny would fall for 25 which ended up as the top score. Dylan came in and gave the innings some momentum with a series of boundaries, being particularly severe on some short pitched deliveries. He copped a poor decision given out caught off the thigh pad but handled the situation respectfully and very maturely. After that our batting crumbled with a succession of batters falling to poor shot selection, many being bowled trying to score off balls that should have been defended. Ultimately, we fell to a subpar score and a heavy defeat, handing the Shirley skipper a 6 wicket bag.
The game, aside from one incident, was played in good spirits. The behaviour of our boys when copping harsh decisions was excellent. This starkly contrasted to an opponent who took an enormous swing and got bowled, then hurled his helmet at least 30 meters, followed by his bat. This was a good opportunity for the boys to see the emotions that can occur and how not to handle them. I was also impressed at how the boys supported each other, we were out there for 40 overs in sweltering heat, it was hard to keep up the energy, but they kept encouraging each other.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2025/cricket-express-year-10/game-centre/bd0c7e84
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