CLUB CRICKET | 25 MARCH 2023
CLUB
Club Cricket | 25 March 2023
Premier Men’s Cricket
Hedley Howarth Two-Day Competition | Round 7, Day 2 | FINAL POINTS TABLE
Auckland University 119/2 dec. & 138/1 (Christy O’Brien 58) beat Papatoetoe 95 (Barrington Rowland 54, Jeet Patel 5/40) & 150/7 dec. (Rowland 75) by 9 wickets
After their first day was washed out, both Auckland University and Papatoetoe decided to make the best of their situation and unleashed some aggressive play to set up an eventual outright result. Bowling first, Auckland University carried on their good form this summer by routing Papatoetoe for 95; Jeet Patel doing the majority of the damage with 5/40. Legendary batter Barrington Rowland somehow managed to sneak in another half century despite his team folding around him. In reply to this, Uni rushed to 119/2 before aggressively declaring just 24 runs ahead. Papatoetoe, for their part, unfurled a far more aggressive approach in their second dig, perhaps hoping to avoid relegation by setting up an outright result. They declared on 150/7; Rowland once again top scoring with 75. Auckland University were up for the challenge and took the bait, cracking 138/1 in 15 overs to get over the line and securing second place on the table. Papatoetoe meanwhile, will lose their spot at the Hedley Howarth table and will seek a route back next season in the Tom Hellaby competition.
Parnell 226/9 (Ruben Clinton 77, Josh Plummer 60, Will Clarke 7/85) dec. beat North Shore 161 on first innings
After their first day was washed out Parnell and North Shore played out a de facto 50-over match at Devonport Domain. North Shore, so far head of the other teams in terms of points, only needed to hold on to their position at the top of the table to secure the Hedley Howarth trophy. And thus, on Saturday Parnell outplayed them completely to win on first innings, but Shore still did enough to lift the trophy at the end of the day. Batting first, Parnell got to 226/9 before declaring, thanks to 77 from Ruben Clinton and 60 from Josh Plummer. Shore captain Will Clarke ran through the rest of the Parnell batters with a magnificent bag of 7/85. Shore were unable to chase the runs down, instead folding for 161. But this was all just formality – Shore lifted the Hedley Howarth silverware for the first time in 35 years! Parnell ended the season in third place; a good effort, but they’ll be hoping for a better grab at the crown in 2023/24!
Suburbs New Lynn 330/9 dec. (Michael Barry 169, Simon Fernandes 68, Dev Ratra 4/102) beat Eden Roskill 156 (Swayam Desai 51, Adithya Ashok 4/23) and 151/3 (Aman Bhardwaj 64) on first innings
Starting the day trailing by 69 runs, Suburbs New Lynn marched to a domineering 330/9 before declaring, dominated by a mighty 169 off 168 balls by Suburbs legend Michael Barry and supported by 68 from Simon Fernandes. Among the bowlers, Dev Ratra toiled away for 4/102. Batting again a long, long away behind, Eden Roskill applied themselves admirably in their second dig with Aman Bhandwaj countering aggressively with 64 off 61. His opening partnership with Swayam Desai (45) was worth 88. Despite the return of Jimmy Neesham and the presence of Adithya Ashok in the Suburbs bowling arsenal, Eden Roskill stood up stoically to avoid an outright defeat. In the end though, it was a solid Suburbs New Lynn performance to end what has been a relatively mixed season for both teams.
Takapuna 236/8 dec. (Quinn Sunde 55, Guy Harley 51) beat Cornwall 52 (Matt Jones 6/22) & 114 by an innings at 70 runs
Cornwall ended day one last week still 171 runs short of making Takapuna bat again, and with 2 wickets already lost. Their luck didn’t change early on Saturday with the Taka bowlers once again bringing their A-game and blowing Cornwall apart for 114. Matt Jones, Will O’Donnell and Peter Ruffell grabbed three wickets each as the only staunch resistance came in the form of opening batter Umang Patel with 43 off 137. It was a good display from Takapuna, who ended a disappointing season by their high standards at 7th place on the table, avoiding relegation with a powerful outright win. Cornwall also had a mixed season but some good results in earlier rounds meant this loss didn’t effect their safety in the middle of the table. Both of these great teams will come back stronger next year.
Tom Hellaby Two Day Competition | Round 7, Day 2 | FINAL POINTS TABLE
Hibiscus Coast 245 (Tyler Mcgladdery 83, Umesh Ranaraja 60) vs. Birkenhead 187 (Anuradha Jayampathi 59)
Resuming day two on 216/8, Hibiscus Coast were eventually dismissed for 245 off 85.5 overs. Wickets were shared amongst the Birkenhead bowlers but Pramesh Fernando was arguably the pick with a tight 2/25 off 17 overs. After a rocky start saw them slump to 33/3, Birkenhead dusted themselves off and got back on their feet with some good contributions from the ever reliable Brian Barnard (41) and Anuradha Jayampathi (59). The Hibiscus bowlers kept plugging away though, and after finding themselves in a comfortable, if not overly safe position of 144/5, Birkenhead were dismissed for 187. With no time left to push for an outright win, the teams called stumps and Hibiscus Coast ended a tough season with a solid first innings win. Both these teams would have hoped for better seasons, finishing as they did at 7th (Hibiscus Coast) and 8th (Birkenhead) on the table, but next season brings a new beginning and there will be better results on the horizon, no doubt.
Howick Pakuranga 166 (Bill Walsh 68) and 99/4 beat Grafton 108 on first innings
Grafton, struggling overnight at 62/4 and still trailing Howick Pakuranga by 104 runs, needed a rollicking good start to push for an outright win, and thus have an outside chance of winning the Tom Hellaby competition. Everything was riding on this match but unfortunately for them Howick Pakuranga had other ideas. Grafton were run through for 108, 58 runs shy of the visiting team. Pakuranga then extended their lead with 99/4 before the game was called. Nonetheless, this was a great season for Grafton, who clicked with a mixture of youth and experience. They were the only team to really challenge eventual champions East Coast Bays, who crushed all other challengers in their path. Howick Pakuranga also had a solid season with 3 wins, a loss and 2 draws, finishing third on the table. Expect both teams to push for promotion next season!
East Coast Bays 363/7 (Ryan Harrison 75, Luke Watson 72, Issac Bird 54) beat Waitakere 153 & 77 by an innings at 133 runs
East Coast Bays secured their championship winning position with a massive innings win against Waitakere on Saturday. Waitakere, resuming on 116/7, were eventually bundled out for 153. Wickets were shared around but Louis Delport (who else?) dominated with 3/63. Unable to avoid the follow-on, they were sent back in by Bays and this time were castled for 77, giving the visitors a huge innings and 133-run win. Delport grabbed another 3 but again the wickets were shared in a great team performance. This win caps off a remarkable season for East Coast Bays, who only a week ago won the Premier T20 competition. Their aggressive play, nicknamed “Whiteyball” after coach Nick White, has earned admirers all season and helped them to 6 wins, 4 of them outright. They will deservedly begin next season in the Hedley Howarth competition and it will fascinating to witness their approach against a different batch of opposition teams. Waitakere, on the other hand, finished in 6th placed though two good first innings win earlier in the competition kept them out of the bottom two. We’ll see the boys in red back again next season!
Kumeu 316 (Akash Christian 152) beat Ellerslie 201 on first innings
Out at Huapai, Akash Christian continued his epic vigil on Saturday. Resuming on 134 and with his team on 255/5, Christian was dismissed for 152 before the lower order lifted the total over 300. He received some good support though no other player managed to get past 50. The Ellerslie batters also had trouble converting their starts with regular strikes from the Kumeu bowlers pegging them back. They did at least manage to get past 200 but by the time they were dismissed for 201, there was no time left for a further outright result and Kumeu happily accepted a first innings win to cap off the season. Both teams ended in pleasing enough mid table positions though they’ll want to come back harder next season and push for promotion into Hedley Howarth.
Premier Women’s Cricket
Barfoot & Thompson Royal Oak Premier Women – Prichard Cup | FINALS ROUND
Takapuna 154/5 (Lauren Down 63*) beat Takapuna 153 (Sarah Carnachan 40, Taila Hurley 3/33) by 5 wickets
After what everyone involved would call a “disappointing” season weather wise, the third finals weekend of the season ran without a hitch, giving our Premier Club cricketers something to cherish at the tail-end of the summer. At Melville Park, two of the historic powerhouse teams in Auckland women’s club cricket went head to head for the Prichard Cup, the Premier Women’s 50 over competition.
Winning the toss, Cornwall skipper Claire Crooks did what most captains have done in March and decided to have a bat. Her decision looked an astute one with Cornwall nicely placed at 110/2 and two HEARTS veterans, Sarah Carnachan and Katie Perkins at the crease. But a collapse was inbound with Taila Hurley accounted for Carhachan and then Crooks and Emily Thurman in quick succession. After Perkins fell to Kaitlyn Halliday, Cornwall found themselves in a hole they couldn’t dig out of and folded for 153 in the 45th over. Hurley (3/33) and Halliday (2/19) were the pick of the bowlers with good contributions from Kate Irwin (2/28), Roz McNeill (1/21) and Leah Watton (1/23).
Despite a modest chase, the Takapuna batters were going to need at least one or two good partnerships to get over the line against a superb Cornwall bowling line-up. After some wobbles up front with HEARTS pair Kate Irwin and Izzy Gaze falling cheaply, the wise head of Lauren Down dropped anchor, combining with Shannen Elliott (24) and then Hurley (26), to help avoid collapses and see Takapuna home. In the end, they calmly overtook the target in the 44th over with Down still at the crease of 63.
Howick Pakuranga 121/4 (Skye Bowden 58*) beat Auckland University 120 (Jesse Prasad 39*, Josie Penfold 5/28) by six wickets
At their home ground of Lloyd Elsmore, Howick Pakuranga ended the 2022/23 season on a high with a convincing win over Auckland University. Bowling first, Howick Pak caused Auckland Uni also sorts of issues with HEARTS bowler Josie Penfold nabbing an excellent five-for (5/28), eventually castling them for 120, despite the Uni line-up boasting Prue Catton, Elizabeth Buchanan and Jesse Prasad. After losing two quick wickets up front, Howick Pakuranga were rarely troubled in their chase. Skye Bowden took the bull by the horns with a typically punchy unbeaten 58. The home team strolled home in the 26th over.
Parnell 97/4 beat Papatoetoe 95 (Rishika Jaswal 6/7) by 6 wickets
In the “best of the rest” match at Shore Road, Parnell reminded us of the benefit of having one particular up-and-coming player as part of their ranks. Rishika Jaswal put on an absolute clinic in accurate leg spin bowling with a greedy display of wicket taking, grabbing 6/7 to confound and skittle the Papatoetoe batters. They were routed for 95; a target that wasn’t quite enough to challenge the Parnell batters, who chased it down in the 22nd over. It caps off an “almost” season for Parnell, who went toe to toe with the big teams on occasion and will be better for the experience next season. Papatoetoe’s young side, on the other hand, had a tough time of it but will grow as a team and come back better next season.
March 28, 2023
