King’s College and Christchurch Boys’ High School went to the top of the National Secondary School Gillette Cup Points Table as they remained unbeaten on day three of the finals at the New Zealand Cricket High Performance Centre in Lincoln.
The other victor was Hutt Valley High School, who picked up their first win of the tournament by upsetting Palmerston North BHS. Two rounds remain, with the final day encounter between Christchurch Boy’s High School and Kings’ College shaping up to be the decisive match.
HUTT VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL vs PALMERSTON NORTH BHS
A late collapse from Palmerston North BHS has given Hutt Valley High School a 24 run victory in their third round Gillette Cup match.
A second wicket partnership worth 120 between Jarrod Pike and Sushant Balajee led Hutt Valley to 229 all out after 49.3 overs. In reply Palmerston North looked to be cruising at 118 without loss, but a devastating collapse saw them dismissed for 205 in the 48th over.
Captain Tiago Jahufer slammed 61 at the top of the innings, while his partner Aran Noema-Barnett also reached his half-century with 56. The pair took their side to 100 without loss, but began their capitulation when Noema-Barnett fell in the 32nd over. It began a downward spiral for Palmerston North, with the next six wickets falling for just 40 runs.
A late push from Jack Leenards (25) got their side past 200, but it wouldn’t be enough to see them through.
Myles Price Moor was pivotal with the ball for Hutt Valley and finished with figures of four for 46 from eight.
Earlier, Pike had once again starred with the bat for Hutt Valley. Alongside captain Balajee he took his side to 128 for one after 29.4 overs and gave them an opportunity to accumulate an imposing total.
Having both brought up half centuries, neither batsman then went on to anchor the rest of the innings, as a small collapse saw them fall to 173 for five.
Nishant Desai whacked 36 off 24 to set the opposition a competitive 230 to win.
Run outs crippled Hutt Valley, with five players found short of their ground during the innings. The rest of the wickets were shared amongst the bowlers.
HUTT VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL 229 all out 49.3 overs (J Pike 61, S Balajee 60) BEAT PALMERSTON NORTH BHS 205 all out 47.5 (T Jahufer 61, A Noema-Barnett 56)
Result: HUTT VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL won by 24 runs
Full scorecard: http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1554/scorecard.aspx
CHRISTCHURCH BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL vs OTAGO BOYS' HIGH SCHOOL
Christchurch Boys’ High School kept up their undefeated streak at the 2012 Finals with a convincing 75 run win over Otago Boys’ High School.
The hosts put on 227 for seven in the first innings, largely behind 89 from opener Anthony Burnett. Otago Boys’ pursuit lacked a dominant partnership and in the end the southerners fell well short when they were dismissed for 152 in the 42nd over.
Captain Tom Griffin’s 17 and 30 from number four Josh Renton were not enough at the start of the chase and they were made to pay. At six for 64 it looked like it could be all over very quickly, but the lower-order showed some resistance.
Josh Finnie’s 42 and Clint Frost’s 18 helped Otago make it respectable, but they would still fall well short, as Christchurch Boys made sure of the points after 41.5 overs.
Mitchell Ross and Tom Gore picked up three wickets each for the locals, while David Wakefield also picked up a couple.
Earlier, Christchurch Boys had recovered after an ordinary start with the bat.
Burnett had four partners come and go in quick succession as his side were reduced to 56 for four. He then formed a 69 run stand with James Cannan (32) to take his side to 125 for five.
From their Andrew Richards took over with an unbeaten 50, including two big sixes at the end of the innings. The knock pushed Christchurch Boys well past 200 and turned out to be a more than defendable total.
CHRISTCHURCH BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL 227-7 50 overs (A Burnett 89, A Richards 50*) BEAT OTAGO BOYS HIGH SCHOOL 152 all out 41.5 overs (J Finnie 42; Josh Renton 30; M Ross 3-21)
Result: CHRISTCHURCH BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL won by 75 runs
Full scorecard: http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1556/scorecard.aspx
ST PETER’S SCHOOL vs KING’S COLLEGE
King’s College remain on track for their third title in a row, having beaten St Peter’s School by seven wickets today.
Having chosen to bat, St Peters were then restricted to 139 all out in the first-innings. Kings showed little trouble in reaching the total and brought up the winning runs after 24.3 overs.
Luke Williamson was once again the star in the pursuit and made an unbeaten 81 from 77 balls. His main form of support came from Sam Klippel, who made 33 from 28 with 30 of those runs coming in boundaries.
Inroads were hard to come by for St Peter’s bowlers, as Williamson showed his class.
It came on the back of a good all-round team effort with the ball from King’s College.
Ben Turner was both economical and a wicket-taking threat, with his ten overs going for 23 as well as picking up three dismissals. Also amongst the wickets were Scott Johnston and Kim Kingstone who picked up a couple each.
There was some fight shown form the St Peter’s batsmen, with Brandon Weal remaining unbeaten at the end of the innings on 39. Four of the top five also made starts, but didn’t push on.
It leaves Kings tied at the top with Christchurch Boys, with the two teams scheduled to meet on Monday.
ST PETER’S SCHOOL 139 all out 49.4 overs (B Weal 39; B Turner 3-23) LOST to KING’S COLLEGE 142-4 24.3 overs all out (L Williamson 81*, S Klippel 33)
Result: KING’S COLLEGE won by seven wickets
Full scorecard: http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1555/scorecard.aspx
