What a Finish
As things stood at the start of the day on Saturday, it would have been hard to script a better finish for the season.
The Premier Women’s won a tense 1-Day final against heavyweights Lancaster Park at St Alban’s Park, the Premier Men beat the season’s title winners BWU to finish second in the 2-Day competition, and over at Tullett Park, the Goats won their final to take the Division 5 title. And to top that off, the Sydenham Youth First XI again reemphasised their quality, which has earned them promotion next season, by beating the Christ College 2nd XI at Christ’s.
The victorious Premier Women
Across several excellent performances, the standouts were a couple of critical 30s from Beth Dodd and Felicity Robertson in the Prem women’s low scoring win, Harsh Visavadiya’s and Ronnie Kapur’s nine wickets that set up the chance for a Prem men’s win, and then some great batting from Srirag Harish, Bevon Jacobs and Aarush Bhagwat who sealed it. Unfortunately, there were no successes in the other morning grade sides, with the Championship and Division 1 & 2 losing.
These final matches were especially poignant as they saw three longstanding morning-grade players retire. Those leaving us are Championship players, captain Lane Tutty, who came right through from Sydenham juniors to Premiers, and Dylan Goldstone, who has had careers with both Easts and Sydenham Premiers. Tutts remains involved in the club as a committee member.
Lane Tutty (left) and Dylan Goldstone
Another player, Andrew Moulton, has been the captain and key organiser of what is now the current Division 2 side. The good news is that Moults will remain in the game by joining the umpiring fraternity.
The Goats Division 5 win was the obvious highlight in the afternoon grades, where a partnership from Joe Taylor (42) and George Wigley (30) got the Goats out of a massive hole and then left Jesse Marks to carry on to take 4-30 and the Div 5 title. There were also wins to the two Cardinals sides, the Master Cardinals, where Chris O’Connell just missed out on a century, and the Cavalier Cardinals.
Although the Sydenham Youth First XI and Second XI both won, there were leaner pickings in the other youth matches, which went without a win. The highlighted performance came from the 2nd XI’s Nathan Blake, whose 6-19 comfortably ensured his side’s win over Christ’s College, not to mention his valuable 24 runs batting at no. 9. The other notable effort came from Thisum Lawrance, who has starred with the ball this season, but yesterday, he did it with the bat for his side with 64 off 110 balls.
A number of the photos in this publication are courtesy of Ash Hart’s Hartland Images.
Scott Insurance Brokers Insurance Premier Men
With some play lost on the first day due to a delayed start because of overnight rain, it was a delight to wake to the season’s final day to find a day without the inevitable late season morning dew. Accordingly, Sydenham’s match against BWU at Burnside Park was able to get underway at its earlier scheduled time of 9.30 am.
Sydenham promptly declared its 1st innings closed at its overnight score of 176-4, taking a 40-run lead into the 2nd innings battle. And a battle it turned out to be. The state of the competition table was such that BWU only needed a batting point or two on the day to guarantee itself the 2-Day competition, whereas, for Sydenham, a win could give them a chance for 2nd place. Groundsman Dave Robertson had taken the BWU requirement to heart and produced another fine wicket, and further, the home side had boosted its batting resources to deliver the 200-plus total they would need. They proceeded to do it well with their batsmen, led by Nick Gibb, taking few risks and working their way towards that total over the morning.
Harsh Visavadiya & Ronnie Kapur
Although there was some good bounce for the faster bowlers, it was hard work, and despite going going for less than three runs per over, only Daniel Watt managed to secure a wicket with his 1-25. It was left to the spin trio of Ronnie Kapur, Oliver Tewatiya and Harsh Visavadiya if Sydenham were to have a chance for a result later in the day. Fortunately, it was starting to turn, and Ronnie and Harsh, in particular, began to make inroads. As it drifted towards mid-afternoon, Harsh had managed to winkle out the top order with an excellent 5-80, but a stubborn lower order was set on putting the match beyond Sydenham’s reach. Then Ronnie Kapur struck some vital blows with his 4-67 making the key break-through. He was assisted by two sharp catches taken by Harsh who must surely be one of the best fielders in the competition.
BJ’s straight six off the back foot
BWU all out for 266, leaving Sydenham with the task of scoring 227 in around 38 overs. Despite the fast outfield and good track, it was turning, and at sixes per over, Sydenham needed a good start. And it got it through a couple of its youngsters, with Max Clarke and Bevon Jacobs putting on 42 for the 1st wicket at 5s before Max was out for 23 off 29 balls. BJ carried on the effort with his 59 off 51 balls, an innings that included one massive straight six off the back foot over the wide long-off boundary. Ryan Wallace then had a rare failure since Christmas which left the side at 47-2 in the 9th over.
Aarush Bhagwat then played one of his best with an innings which, together with BJ, firstly righted the ship and then, when set, upped the run rate substantially in an 87-run 3rd wicket partnership that brought the target within sight.
Aarush Bhagwat
However, from 134-3, the innings wobbled when, with Matt Hay’s spin doing the damage, both players were gone within nine runs, followed by Oliver Tewatiya and Ronnie Kapur, leaving the outcome uncertain at 155-6. That was until we saw another superb innings from Srirag Harish. Earlier in the season, Srirag had scored a jaw-dropping 83* at St Albans Park, which had brought a win against Lancaster Park, but this one went close to equalling that. Supported by a run-a-ball 19* from Harsh Visavadiya, Srirag, who is unquestionably one of the better players of spin bowling around town, proceeded to take the match away from BWU with an unbeaten innings of 68* off 60 balls. In the end, such was his innings, the pair knocked off the required runs and took the win with more than three overs to spare, and for Sydenham, after other results went their way, a move into a final 2nd placing in the competition.
Srirag Harish
Any disappointment BWU might have had at the loss would have lasted all of just five minutes before they were presented with the 2-Day Trophy by Chch Metro’s Operations Manager Tim Murdoch. Huge congratulations to Burnside West University for the competition win, their second in succession. They set the standard as the form side across most formats, having also won the 1-Day competition and only missing out on the T20 title, which Sydenham won before Christmas.
For the Sydenham lads, the T20 title and second place in the 2-Dayers was good reward for the hard work put in over the season. Its successes were based around a few older heads and some quality younger players, one of whom in BJ got the reward of game time with Canterbury this season that he so richly deserved. But it was how the rest of the batting unit stepped up in his absence that was so impressive, as was the development of the young quicks such as Archie Goodrick and Daniel Watt, who, along with Matt Rowe and Oliver Tewatiya who joined us late into the season, has given our bowling resources considerable substance across both top sides and bodes well for next season and beyond.
The Birdwood Premier Women
Match report courtesy of Linda Pettigrew
The Premier Women had an excellent end to the season, beating Lancaster Park in the final on the Premier 1-Day comp to take home the trophy.
Elizabeth Cohr
Sydenham started the day well by winning the toss and sending Lancaster Park into bat. Park succumbed to regular wickets, scoring 136-10 in 47.4 overs. Emma McLeod 3-24, Beth Dodd 2-17 and Player of the Match Felicity Robertson 2-37 the best of the Sydenham bowlers. In reply Sydenham got off to a solid start with good contributions from Emma Mcleod (18), Beth (30) and Floss (33). In a spot of bother at 108-6, cool heads were required and that’s exactly what Kate Irwin and Kate Craig provided with cautious batting getting the team within touching distance of the win. Lizzy then came in and finished the job with a four.
Felicity Robertson
The win cements Sydenham’s return to Premier women’s cricket in Canterbury as last season the side won both the T20 and Fizz competitions and were unsuccessful finalists in the 1-Day comp. The 1-Day win was the goal for the team this season and to have Sydenham on the trophy for the first time since 1994 is a great achievement – not just for the team on the day but the players, coaches and supporters for this and prior seasons.
Beth Dodd
The team celebrated their win in style, singing along to Taylor Swift at the club house, and, joined by the rest of the club, a hearty rendition of happy birthday to celebrate Darcy’s 18th birthday.
Scott Insurance Brokers Championship
The final day of the Championship match probably summed up much of the side’s season. With the first day abandoned after overnight rain, the second day of their match against BWU on Sydenham 1 opened with both sides electing to play out an abbreviated six over 1st innings each to decide the 1st innings points and then push on to do likewise with the outright ones.
Despite Dylan Goldstone’s 21 off 15 balls and Carl Hooper’s 3-15 in the BWU replay, BWU won that first battle 37-2 against 42-4. With that settled early, Sydenham, with one of its better batting sides of the season, then needed to bat well and give itself a chance later in the day for some redemption from a tough season. Unfortunately, the batting woes of recent times continued. Dylan Goldstone playing his final match before retirement, scored 18 off 13 balls before his was the first wicket to fall at 22-1. It was all downhill from there as the side slumped to 41-4, then 71-7 to be all out for a miserable 107, a lead of just 102.
To their credit, the home side fought hard to defend that small total on a day when their fielding was top-class, with several quality catches taken in the field. Another 50-60 runs to that target could well have made a difference, but BWU was reasonably untroubled with the one they got as they made their way to the target at 107-5.
Full scoreboard https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202324/mens-championship/game-centre/244a9a79
Division 1
Match report courtesy of Fraser Harding
After the first day was abandoned due to an uncovered wicket Sydenham won the toss and elected to bat. However, the top order didn’t set the platform they were after with Sydenham losing five early wickets, with the score 50 for 5 after 16 overs. Fraser Harding and Nathan Chin tried to stabilise the innings until Fraser was caught behind for 53, with the score 80 for 6. The saving grace came from the partnership between Andrew Reynolds and Nathan Chin. Both scoring 42 and 25 respectively, along with Richard Howe and Shubham Kumain providing some hand runs before Sydenham we’re all out for 171.
The East Shirley openers came out and made their intent clear early striking a few quick boundaries. James Stackhouse after toiling away managed to pick up 2 quick wickets that Sydenham needed with the score 40 for 2 after 10 overs. The Shirley batsmen continued to apply the pressure with the score 88 for 4 after 20 overs. With a bit of luck after drinks the Shirley batsmen were able to keep inching closer to the target. Until Benji Bell and Nathan Chin managed to pick up 3 quick wickets between them. Leaving the score at 132 for 7 and providing Sydenham with hope and Shirley only needing 40 to win. In the end The Sydenham bowlers were only able to pick up 1 more wicket, with East Shirley winning by 8 wickets. However, there were commendable efforts from; Benji Bell (17-56-4), Nathan Chin (16-47-2) and Todd Ward for an outstanding diving catch.
Full scoreboard https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202324/mens-division-1/game-centre/611ad427
Division 2
Match report courtesy of Andrew Moulton
Starting the 2nd innings on day two 135 runs behind at Redwood 1, it was going to a be a big challenge on the final day of the season. Although, this has been our strength on many occasions where we have nearly fought for a win. With a few changes from last week, Henry Boyd Tibbots and Marty Crook got the deficit underway. Marty the first to fall for 5. HBT (4) and Cameron Spriggs (10) fell within quick succession to leave the score at 33/3 at the 10 over mark. Ajith Shetty and Andrew Moulton had other ideas and played with freedom and pushed the field back with some big blows to the boundary as they put on 53 runs in 10 overs before Ajith fell for 33 runs off 45 balls. Moults playing his final game of cricket as he heads off to umpire played with a style of that should have seen him play a lot of test cricket as he pulled all his trademark shots one last time as he cut, pulled, flicked (told the bowler not to bowl there with no leg side field) , and dropped 3 times on his way to 34 off 39 balls with score on 92.
Burger Fuels employee of the month- Ollie Smith did his best to last one ball as he snicked off. Paddy Wickes smashed (edged) his runs, falling 89 runs short of what would have been the first century for the team this season. Ryan Lightfoot (18 and Isaiah Prasad (24) (those scores are wrong as PlayHQ hates us) batted well and finally got us into the lead until Ryan’s match fix delivery came into play running out Isaiah when the ball was hit straight back to the bowler. Jim Simpson and Lyle Cupido ended the innings as we took a great defendable target on Redwood 1 of 16 Runs finishing on 151.
With Moults opening the bowling we had Marist 6 down after one over as his express pace destroyed the stumps that had this fairytale feeling about it. Let’s go back a sentence. Moults opened up and was whacked first ball for 4 runs. No respect at all for the retiree. 5 dot balls followed as the classy leg spinner finished his spell with Sydenham with not enough wickets. Paddy showed us that he can turn a ball better than a doorknob, Muzz shouldn’t bowl, and Ryan could be a good option next year. The winnings runs coming up at the end of the 5th over losing by 10 wickets. A season of many what ifs, with a few games we should have won, but very enjoyable. With the early finish it was great to head to St Albans park and watch the ladies do extremely well in winning their Premier title, whilst a UFC fight was happening on the other pitch.
Winter well team and see you at Armadillo’s for a Thursday night schnitzel.
Division 5 Goats – WON
Match report courtesy of Jon Bennett
The last day of the season saw the Goats take on the Marist Harewood Purple Goannas in the Div 5 knockout final at Tullett Park. These were the top two teams throughout the season, with the Goannas having a 2-1 advantage in earlier games and the final certainly lived up to the billing.
Joe Taylor
Both teams were keen to bowl first on a track that always does a bit and with the goats losing the toss into bat we went. The Goannas success has been built around a strong bowling attack and they immediately had us under pressure bowling tight lines and picking up regular wickets. In fact when we were 6-30 after 17 overs it looked like the game could finish mid-afternoon, and a chirpy Goannas side were letting us know their thoughts. However, Joe Taylor was still in and the Goats pride themselves on batting all the way down the order so there was still hope when George Wigley joined Joe to start the fightback. At this stage the Goannas’ ploy of bowling their two openers eight on the trot each started to backfire as George and Joe started to build a partnership with George being the aggressor and Joe continuing to be the rock. When George was out for 30 of 28 balls in the 27th over we were up to 84 and all of a sudden we had something to bowl to. Joe fell soon after for a patient 42 but Dan Loughton and Chris Douglas kept the runs ticking over and we were finally out for 123 with a couple of overs to play.
Tony Danenberg
124 to win, not a huge total but tricky to chase if we bowled and fielded well. Early wickets would be key for the Goats and the Goannas knew it. Chris Douglas bowled a great first spell of 4 consecutive maidens (bringing up over 50 for the season) where the batters had to play everything and while he beat the bat repeatedly we couldn’t get the break-through. Cue the first two bowling changes with Jesse Marks and Dan Loughton coming to the crease. Jesse broke the opening partnership with a sharp catch to the safe hands of Tony Danenberg at slip, which brought their key batsman to the crease. He played positively with a couple of big 6’s off Jesse but tried once too often and only picked out Chris on the boundary……..game on. Another three quick wickets soon fell including Jesse taking a great catch diving forward on the fine leg boundary and at the 20-over break they were 5-53 and the Goats were right in the game.
Jesse picked up another wicket in his first over after the drinks break to finish with 4-30 off his 8 and then promptly had to leave, meaning Goats stalwart, Alex Brailey, (back from Australia for a week) had to put his cans down and be our super sub. With Ollie Philpott picking up their skipper in his first over and proving hard to get away the screws were well and truly being tightened. However, the Goannas didn’t win the regular season for nothing and their 9th wicket partnership started working towards the total. When Chris finally broke this partnership with an unplayable ball they still needed 24 to win with 5 overs left.
Some aggressive shots by their number 5 meant they needed 8 off the last over with Joe Taylor to bowl. The first ball set the scene for the over, smashing into Kyle Clarks gloves with more pace than we’d seen all season and the batsman still waiting to see it. With only a couple of singles off the over the Goats celebrated (loudly) a hard-fought 5-run win that didn’t look possible a few hours earlier.
A great all round display in the field with tight bowling, for once, some good catching and sharp ground fielding backed the hard work the batsman had put in earlier. Bring on next season!
The Div 5 title winning Goats
Full scoreboard https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202324/mens-division-5/game-centre/083c4d9e
Division 5 All-Stars – LOST
Match report courtesy of Abe Atherton
The Sydenham Allstars faced off against Halswell at Halswell Domain #3 in the 3rd and 4th playoff match. Despite a promising start, the game took a tumultuous turn, ultimately resulting in a victory for Halswell. Abraham Atherton (2/14) opened the bowling attack with two early break-throughs, but Halswell managed to recover from their early setbacks. The match saw frequent retrieval of the ball from across the boundary rope. However, Arun Nair (4/14) and Cameron Hatcher (4/18) emerged as standout performers, each claiming four wickets and restricting Halswell to a total of 174 runs. Trevor Cray took two catches, with Jaedyn Ward, Dan Linden and Jacob Koster each taking one catch.
In response, the Allstars began their run chase on a positive note, led by Jaedyn Ward’s (56 from 67 balls) impressive half-century, his first of the season. However, despite the initial momentum, the team faced a significant collapse, ultimately resulting in a disappointing 63 run loss. The match concluded the season on a sour note for the Allstars, as victory eluded them in the final game
Full scoreboard https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202324/mens-division-5/game-centre/1aedeb06
Division 6 Tamils XI – LOST
No match report available.
Full scoreboard https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202324/mens-division-6/game-centre/2a26c352
Cavaliers Cardinals – WON
Match report courtesy of Jamie Livingstone
The Cardinals played Halswell on Centennial Park 3. With most Cardinals’ players making it to the ground before fine time, the lads did the usual, watching the team from Halswell filtering in; and having only seven players to start with. Stokes had no problem opting to bat after winning the toss. Doubro can 9 officially being called Cam 9, Geo taking honors this week with Camo relieved to finally get a good spot to bat. Bam and Luke got Cardinals off to a steady start before Wolfy went to an LBW appeal. That brought Kezza to the crease. Watchful at the start on a tricky track, Kezz got his eye in which allowed him to start playing some beautiful cover drives and hitting the boundary often. We had a very good run rate. Every batter added value to our score. After Kezz retired he was able to come back in with 4 more balls to go. While restarting on 45 he was able to add another 14 off 4 balls to take his total to 59. Cardinals 165/7 and very happy at half time break.
Kezza and Geo opened the bowling with both taking early wickets to put us in a very strong position . Halswell 3 and 4 batters gave a load of resistance keeping up a handy run rate as well. Luke finally getting a break-through and their other batter retiring on 49 brought a few sloggers that didn’t do too much damage. With comical scenes, Halswell running themselves out on purpose to get their retired player in still wasn’t enough for them. The Cardinals were too good, keeping Halswell 12 runs under at 20 overs.
Shanks cooked up a storm on the BBQ, so a few more sausies and final beers were enjoyed before most of the team headed back to Smitty’s. Notable performances: Wolfy 2 wickets 21 runs off 4 overs Kezz 59 off 32 balls.
Masters Cardinals – WON
Brief match report courtesy of Mark Summers
After earning a well-deserved place in the top six at the end of the round-robin, the playoffs have not been one to remember for the Cardinals. 4 losses in row has been a hard pill to swallow. And so to the final game of the season against a strong Burnside Robbies team, the Cardinals looking to finish on a high note. Batting first, signs looked good for the Cardinals from the outset. 17 from the first over. Kelvin Scott getting on with it from the get go. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to continue the frenetic pace. Scott falling 3 overs later with the total at 20. Spence soon followed, given out lbw. O’Connell and Walker then pitched tent and set about building the foundations for a solid total that the Cardinals had become accustom to getting throughout the regular season.
Plenty of boundaries and some good running between the wickets quickly accelerated thescore. By drinks Cardinals were 88-2.
After drinks the boundaries continued. Automotive carnage ensued as is the norm when playing on Sydenham 2. The hundred partnership coming up in the 30th over. O’Connell eventually holing out, caught agonisingly short of a well deserved hundred. Walker, playing a great support role to O’Connell’s big hitting earning him a solid 44. A quick fire 13 from Gibbons and an unbeaten 11 from Paul Rapley at the end gave Cardinals a very defendable 198/7.
With Burnside’s turn to chase, Ralphy got the early break-through in the first over. Cooper gone, plumb LBW to a full toss. Second over, it was now time for the main event. A showdown that had been building for the entire season, the stars finally aligning for the very last game… Summers vs Summers. BYC rivalry on the main stage. Burnside’s Grant Summers having recently come off a 100 and myself having never opened the bowling but getting the call up due to extenuating circumstances (many thanks James). The battle lasted a couple of overs, neither Summers really getting the better of the other. In the end it was Ralphy that got the wicket. Grant Summers caught behind, playing off the back foot. Burnside then set about with their own rebuilding efforts, making steady progress through to the 16th over where it took an absolutely stunning catch from Rapley to break the partnership. Diving right and taking the ball mid air in an epic display of athleticism.
Cardinals continued to apply the pressure, taking regular wickets and not letting Burnside get too comfortable with the run rate. Rapley again featuring with the ball, adding a wicket to his already eventful day. Captain Mark Cini saw out the final 2 balls of the game and despite his 5 wicket bag, in the end it was all too much for the Burnside Robbies team.|
Cardinals winning by 49 runs.
Full scoreboard https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202324/masters-top-6/game-centre/be6c8958
Masters Hospital – LOST
Short match report courtesy of Bruce Day
Hospital played East Shirley who batted first on a worn Clare Park pitch. After 20 overs had 80 for 4, but a 110-run partnership between Seaton and Singh pushed the score to 197 after 40 overs. Best of bowling for Hospital was Rahul Mukherjee with 3 for 36 and Jinto Mathew 2/27.
Sydenham chasing, lost early wickets and struggled with the run rate finishing with 150 all out, Tim Suddaby best of the batting with 59.
Some of the Cardinals and Hospital Masters players away on Saturday playing over Veterans Over 60s all week in Napier. Dave Fleming, Bruce Day, Ken Julian & Frank Walsh and Julien van Dyke (absent)
Full scoreboard https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202324/masters-bottom-9/game-centre/a970ecb3
Women Division 1 – LOST
No match report available
First XI – WON
Match report courtesy of Andy Winsor
Sydenham Youth 1st XI took on Christ College 2nd XI at Christ College. Losing the toss, Sydenham were put into bat, in a game which Christ College had to win to claim 3rd place in the competition. Another change to the opening partnership saw Al Derry and Freddie WInsor given a shot, both of whom would be disappointed in the result, Freddie out for 4, with Al out soon after for 2. Thisum Lawrance coming in 3rd, with the score 9-1 added some solidity to the batting, joined by Josh Chapman and putting on a handy 45 run partnership before Josh was out stumped. Cadell Durdin coming in at 5 joined Thisum for another 45 run partnership out for 16. Meanwhile, Thisum was still going and quickly approaching his first 50. Useful knocks from Sam Johns, Isaac Tutt, Henry Hood kept the score ticking along, but with Thisum eventually falling for 64, a reasonable total of 200 was set, with Christ College requiring 201 to win off the remaining 48 overs.
Thisum Lawrance
Joining Jamie Anson opening the bowling was Remy McConachy, both of who caused trouble to the opening Christ College batters, Jamie picking up the first two wickets, with Remy joining in to leave Christ College on 36-3 in the opening 12 overs. A quick wicket from Cadell Durdin taking Christ’s to 49-4 at drinks. The middle section of this game was dominated by Louie Garry playing attackingly and keeping Christ College up with the required scoring rate, eventually bowled by Thisum Lawrance for 49. Then a change in bowling bought Freddie Winsor and Isaac Tutt (having warmed up for 20 overs) to the attack and that was that, two wickets each, the tail wrapped up, both of them going for one run.
Cadell Durdin
A comprehensive victory for the 1sts, cementing 3rd place on top of the promotion gained last week. 4wins, 1 draw and 2 losses an excellent return from a slightly odd season, finished off as you would expect with the batsmen taking the final 4 wickets. So now we have 11 batsmen in the team and at least 10 bowlers. A special mention for Al Derry who took four catches on the day, two of which were exceptional and a big thank you to the team and the parents who joined us on the roller coaster that was our season.
Have a great winter everyone and see you in 6 months time.
Second XI – WON
Match report courtesy of Allen Hill
Our final game of the season saw the Sydenham Youth 2nd XI have an excellent win against Christs College Snr Development / 3rd XI at Christs No.3. It was a warm and sunny morning, and we didn’t mind being put into bat after losing the toss on a pitch that looked dry. The Christs opening bowlers started very well, beating the bat regularly with good line and length bowling, putting our batters under pressure. After losing an early wicket, our batters remained patient as scoring was not easy. Coming in at No.4 Will Herd was the backbone of our innings with a well-made 36 off 63 balls. There were a number of useful contributions throughout the batting order, including 24 from 31 by Nathan Blake and 20* off 56 from Noah Dean. Eventually, we were dismissed for 147 off 44 overs.
William Herd
We thought that might be enough if we bowled and fielded well. That proved to be the case as we bowled out Christs for 81 to take an excellent victory. Despite our opening bowlers finding some good rhythm, the Christs opening batters played well to be 52 without loss after 12 or so overs. Then enter our quickest bowler Nathan Blake who ripped through the Christs top and middle order. Hi six overs of fast bowling at the stumps resulted in 6 wickets for 19 runs, three bowled and three from well taken catches to Yahya Shasawar, Fin Hill, and Will Herd. From the other end Zac Nicholson, playing his first game for the 2nd XI after promotion from the 3rds, was keen to get in on the action. Zac bowled full and straight on a pitch that was getting lower and slower. He ended up take 4 wickets for 6 runs of 2.5 overs, with a catch to Noah Dean, a superb running catch from captain Jacob Hickman, and fittingly the final wicket of the match being caught by Nathan Blake.
To take 10 wickets for just 29 runs in the space of 12 overs was impressive. The energy and pressure applied by our boys in the field was amazing. The fielding quality was excellent with not a single dropped catch. This victory was such a great way to end this part of the season. The 2nd XI are a superb bunch of young men who love their cricket and love playing together. We look forward to continuing to develop as a team when the new season starts in October.
Thanks to all the parents for their support over the last 8 weeks, along with the support of the Sydenham club, Youth Convenor – Paul Durdin, Team organiser – Daniel Herd, and youth team coach – Harsh Visavadiya.
Third XI – LOST
No match report available
Full scoreboard https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2024/cricket-express-2nd-grade/game-centre/94052455
COLTS – LOST
Match report courtesy of Paul Durdin
The Colts took on St Andrews in a playoff for 5th and 6th place and a repeat of last week’s match that Sydenham won with one ball to spare.
St Andrews won the toss and elected to bat but were immediately on the back foot when Quinn Helms found an edge on the first ball of the innings and Daniel Barclay did the rest with a regulation bit of glovework. Bayley Gardner then made another break-through with the score at 11 thanks to a sharp low catch from Harry Durdin in the gully. St Andrews re-established after that and the third wicket partnership exceeded 50 before Louie Harris took and excellent catch on the boundary from a short delivery by Oscar van Onselen. Two more wickets followed and Sydenham were back on top. A 40-run 6th wicket partnership was broken by another excellent catch by Harry Durdin from the bowling of Cameron Fairhall. The St Andrews tail offered little resistance, eventually dismissed for 152 in 39.1 overs. Oscar van Onselen and Samuel Wild the pick of the bowlers grabbing two a piece, while Bayley Gardner, Quinn Helms, Liam Beck, Cameron Fairhall and Harry Durdin all picked up one.
Liam Kinzett
Sydenham made a solid start to the chase before Cameron Fairhall (17) and Harry Durdin (22) were both dismissed with the score at 50. Wickets then tumbled regularly even though several batsmen made starts, including Oscar van Onselen (17), Louie Harris (28) and Samuel Wild (25). The Colts disappointingly all out for 140. All wickets fell to catches and most of those were a result of poor shots rather than great bowling, something the boys will need to work on in the second half of the season.
Despite the disappointing finish to the season, the boys can take a lot from the first part of the season in what is a highly competitive grade. Of their 8 games, they had 2 outright wins, a winning draw, losing draw and 4 outright losses of which 3 could have gone either way. We wish the boys and enjoyable break from cricket and will reconnect for pre-season training in July/August.
Year 9A – LOST
No match report available
Full scoreboard https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2024/year-9-red/game-centre/cb669e93
Year 9B – LOST
No match report available
Full scoreboard https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2024/year-9-black/game-centre/056dba75