ACA Club Report – 25 October 2025

This weekend saw more clear skies and warm weather as the CITYGUARD Premier Men completed their first two-day fixtures of the season. Read how each team got on in the Hedley Howarth and Tom Hellaby competitions

CITYGUARD Premier Men | Hedley Howarth – Premier Major Two Day Competition

Table

Auckland University Premier Men vs. Takapuna Premier Men
Colin Maiden Park

Takapuna 217/9 dec. (S. Collinson 72, C. Neal 51, N. Bhana 5/47) and 25/0 beat Auckland University 172 (R. McCullum 63, S. Collinson 7/78) and 67 (P. Ruffell 5/25) by 10 wickets

At Colin Maiden Park, visitors Takapuna emerged the victors after a near perfect day of cricket. Resuming at 129/5, still trailing by 43 runs, Taka continued to build with last week’s hero Sam Collinson crafting a patient 72 before Cam Neal (51) and the lower order led them to 217. AUCC’s opening bowler Nikheil Bhana was the pick with 5/47. After declaring the visitors tore through the home side with opening paceman Peter Ruffell claiming a five wicket bag (5/25). Collinson continued his dream match, only requiring five deliveries to prise out three Uni scalps and completing a 10 wicket match (10/78). What a way to get on the honours board at Onewa! Takapuna then dusted off the required runs with little fuss to shoot to the top of the leaders board.

Parnell Premier Men vs. East Coast Bays Premier Men
Shore Road Reserve

Parnell 332 (F. McGregor-Sumpter 141) beat East Coast Bays 217 (L Watson 66, R Schierhout 63) on first innings.

In a two innings affair at Shore Road, the home side Parnell rode on the back of a Flynn McGregor-Sumpter classic to claim first innings points against East Coast Bays. Resuming at 41/1, still trailing by 176 runs, Parnell lost a couple of key wickets early on as the ECB pace bowlers surged. Their middle order then railed around McGregor-Sumpter’s 141 off 226, which lifted them to 332, eclipsing the visitors total by 115 runs and ensuring a solid first innings win to start the season off.

Cornwall Premier Men vs. Suburbs New Lynn Premier Men
Cornwall Park

Cornwall 180 (S Crooks 59, J Sandhu 4/48) and 176 (R. Mudford 52, J. Sandhu 4/42) beat Suburbs New Lynn 162 (S Devereaux 53, L. Wheeler 4/33) and 140/7 on first innings

Resuming on Saturday still 52 runs behind, Suburbs New Lynn needed a fearsome comeback against the home side at Cornwall Park to avoid giving away first innings honours. Their lower order played solidly, but Burbs fell 18 runs short in their first innings. Looking to build on their lead, Cornwall struggled at the top with the Devereauxs making life difficult for the visitors, leaving them in trouble at 47/3. Riley Mudford (52 off 46) and Priyam Mistry (43 off 40) counterattacked, and the lower order did their bit to give Suburbs a tough total to chase (195). All the bowlers did their part, but Jaskaran Sandhu ended as the pick of the bunch with 4/42, echoing his earlier haul of 4/48. Suburbs New Lynn then applied themselves well at the top of the order, making the total seem achievable. Cornwall’s spinners then counterpunched, and time ran out with the situation delicately poised – Cornwall needing three wickets, Suburbs 55 runs. Cornwall take the points this time though.

Grafton Premier Men vs. Howick Pakuranga Premier Men
Victoria Park

Grafton 254 (D Taylor 74, T Drumm 51, C Bethune 4/63) beat Howick Pakuranga 191 (A Jones 74) on first innings

In another two innings affair at Victoria Park, Grafton came away victorious over visitors Howick Pakuranga. Resuming at 14/0, Howick Pak rode on an anchoring innings from opener Adam Jones, who compiled a patient 74 off 158 balls. He didn’t receive much support from the middle order though and Grafton’s talented pace attack kept striking at the other end. Eventually they were bowled out for 191 as the home side claimed first innings honours, Nathan Robinson’s 3/33 the pick of the bowlers.


CITYGUARD Premier Men | Tom Hellaby – Premier Minor Two Day Competition

Table

Kumeu Premier Men vs. Birkenhead Premier Men
Huapai Domain

Kumeu 100 & 223 (S. Tailor 58) beat Birkenhead 159/5 dec. (A Kariyawasam 54*) and 131 (Tailor 5/42) by 33 runs

Perhaps the match of the week ended up playing out up at Huapai Domain as the home side surged back from a difficult position to turn the tables on the visitors and claim an outright win. Resuming just 15 runs ahead with 8 wickets in hand, Kumeu built a competitive but not dominating total of 223 thanks to Sunny Tailor’s 58 and some great lower order contributions from Kullim Caldwell (38) and Kiran Ahir (46). This left Birkenhead, who set the match up with aggressive play last week, with 165 to get for victory. The Kumeu bowlers had something else in mind though and never left Birkenhead off the hook. Sunny Tailor had a great day out with a match winning return of 5/42 to go with his earlier heroics. Birkenhead fell for 131, 34 runs short of the total
 

Hibiscus Coast Premier Men vs. North Shore Premier Men
Victor Eaves Park

North Shore 295/4 dec. (D Middleton 100*, R Langford 75, C Harrison-Tubb 53) beat Hibiscus Coast 137 (R. Lakmal 71*) and 158/4 (J. Ramachandran 64) on first innings

Up at Victor Eaves in Orewa, Hibiscus Coast managed to avoid an outright defeat against visiting North Shore with some patient second innings batting. It wasn’t easy for them at first though as they resumed their first innings three down for just 10 runs, still 285 runs behind Shore’s 295/4. The visitors continued to strike early and only Coast’s star player Ramesh Lakmal managed to stand in their way with a commanding 71*. Wickets tumbled at the other end and the home team were dismissed for 137, still 158 runs behind. Krissie Mistry, Angus Nicoll and Brandon Mavuta all picked up three wickets apiece. Shore quickly enforced the follow-on but Hibiscus Coast fared a lot better the second time round with their top order managing to avoid another collapse. They ended on 158/4 with Jithin Ramachandran top scoring with 64. North Shore take first innings points and a bit jolt of confidence for their first match of the season.


Eden Roskill Premier Men vs. Waitakere Premier Men
Keith Hay Park

Waitakere 217 and 212 (T. Patel 72, R de Silva 60) beat Eden Roskill 204 (Harjot Johal 56) and 161/7 on first innings

At Keith Hay Park, another match ended delicately poised but without either team able to deliver the finishing blow. Resuming 51 runs behind with only 3 wickets in hand, Eden Roskill almost managed to take out first innings honours against visitors Waitakere but fell 13 runs short with 204 all out. Batting again to build a lead, the hosts started reasonably well after losing an early wicket, with opener and captain Tejas Patel hitting an aggressive 72 off 85 balls. Ranindu de Silva kept the lower order company with 60 off 73 but the Roskill bowlers kept chipping away and Waitakere were dismissed for 212, setting the hosts 226 to win. After an incredibly aggressive start where Roskill seemed intent on claiming an outright win, the Waitakere bowlers kept picking up wickets and the match ended with Roskill 7 wickets down for 161 off just 19 overs. A match played with superb intent and not much separating the sides, though Waitakere will be happy with first innings points.


Papatoetoe Premier Men vs. Ellerslie Premier Men
Papatoetoe Rec Ground

Papatoetoe 160 (P Rehal 85, H. Singh 5/37) and 187/7 (A. Sreenivasan 4/67) beat Ellersie 194 (A Burton 84) and 152/9 dec. (A Ogra 51, Y Vijan 4/20) by 7 wickets

In one of the few outright results from the weekend, Papatoetoe took the points in a lowing scoring affair against Ellerslie at Papatoetoe Rec Ground. Resuming still 90 runs behind with 6 wickets in hand, Papatoetoe didn’t have the greatest of starts, falling 34 runs short with 160 all out, despite Prabjyot Rehal’s magnificent 85. Ellerslie had a tough time of their own in reply with opener Adi Ogra (51 off 123) anchoring their innings while wickets fell at the other end. Yatin Vijan was the pick of the Papatoetoe bowlers with 4/20 as Ellerslie eventually declared at 152/9, setting the hosts a target of 187 to win. Given the innings scores so far, the result was anyone’s bet at this stage but Papatoetoe’s top three set up the chase with a brace of 40s. Despite Akshay Sreenivasan (4/67) chipping away with constant wickets, Papatoetoe did enough to chase the runs and got home with 3 wickets to spare.

Article added: Tuesday 28 October 2025