Christchurch Boys' High School have taken out NZCT Junior Boys' tournament in Palmerston North after beating Hutt International on the final day.

Christchurch Boys' NZCT Junior Boys Champs

Posted Tuesday, 1 April, 2014 in Community News

Otago Boys’ High School v Tauranga Boys’ College

The final day of the NZCT Junior Boys’ tournament was another cracker of a day which saw Otago Boys’ High School and Tauranga Boys’ College fighting it out for the chance to finish the tournament in third place. Otago won the toss and decided to bat which immediately paid off, Hunter Kindley and Marc Cormack had an opening wicket stand of 42 before Cormack was bowled out by David Rout.

Rout then picked up Kindley for 26 by the same mode of dismissal but after solid contributions by Max Chu (25) and Samuel Jones (20) Otago were sitting at a healthy 107-4. Jack Pryde pushed on after the loss of Jones and had a superb innings, scoring 62 off a near run-a-ball 63. Mikaere Leef and Oakley Dench made short work of Otago’s last 5 wickets but Pryde’s impressive knock helped to leave Otago with a score of 207 which would be a tough chase for Tauranga.

Tauranga made a fast start after being on 18 runs at the start of the fourth over but both openers were soon back in the changing room when William Young struck first to dismiss Craig Baldry and Pryde got Andrew Mascall the flowing over to leave Taurange 20-2.

Pryde capped off his terrific day with the cheap wicket of Sean Dykes and the wickets continued to fall too regularly for Tauranga. Leef, Taylor Kite and Ben Howard did show some resilience as did the final pair of Kinnon Nelson and Jack Wade but the constant pressure applied by Otago was too much and terrific bowling by Henry Niemi (2-14) and Nathan Coldwell (3-13) saw Tauranga fall well short of their target.

Despite the comprehensive win by Otago, they were eventually leap-frogged in the final standings by Auckland Grammar after Auckland’s win due to run rate.

Result: Otago Boys’ High School won by 78 runs

Otago Boys’ High School 207-all out after 39.1 overs (Jack Pryde 62, Hunter Kindley 26; Oakley Dench 3-27, Mikaere Leef 3-30) beat Tauranga Boys’ College 129-all out after 32 overs (Bradley Howard 27; Nathan Coldwell 3-13, Henry Niemi 2-14)

Christchurch Boys’ High School v Hutt International Boys’ School

The Christchurch Boys’ High School vs Hutt International Boys’ School match proved to be the match of the tournament as both teams were undefeated leading up to the last round. With the tournament on the line and the match being played on Fitzherbert Park this game had a real final feel to it.

Christchurch Boys’ won the all-important toss and elected to bat first. Hard hitting Rishav Dhakal was promoted up the order to open and he straight away went to business, attacking the opening bowlers and trying to get early runs on the board. Down the other end Henry Sidey lost his wicket from the bowling of Josh Rogerson for 3 runs but this didn’t stop Dhakal scoring a quick-fire 31 from 27 balls to help ease the pressure.

Simon Yorston came in for Dhakal but was soon sent on his way after some sharp work behing the stumps from Harry Simpson off the clever bowling of Rachin Ravindra. Henry Workman had a great captain’s knock of 63 off 74 runs which was even more impressive seeing as wickets were regularly lost down the opposite end.

Rachin Ravindra’s intelligent left arm spin picked up 3 wickets and Daniel Blair and Josh Rogerson both picked up two wickets. Ben Hartland and Callum Cameron both pitched in with the bat scoring 22 and 15 respectively to help Christchurch to a defendable 187 all out after 37 overs.

Hutt International’s chase began with a strong start with the top four all making starts. Alex Webster was first to go for 15 with the score at 33-1 and Rogerson had a tidy knock of 33 off 38 to leave Hutt International in the commanding position of 97-2 after 17.5 overs. Rachin Ravindra, like he had done all tournament, steadily went about his business, never looking in danger and scoring quickly to heap the pressure onto the bowling side.

After Boys’ High managed to pick up two more wickets Hutt International were placed at 160-4 with Ravindra well passed his half century it looked as though it would be smooth sailing for Hutt International. Ravindra cruised to 73 runs and looked as though he was in no trouble at all until he flicked the ball to the on-side and straight into the hands of mid-wicket. Caleb Hewson was the new batter and was LBW first ball and all of a sudden the nerves could be seen from the Hutt International players.

To Boys’ High credit they were loud, energetic and very encouraging in the field once they could sense the momentum swing and despite a few glimmers of hope the Hutt International batters capitulated losing 5 wickets for 15 runs after the dismissal of Ravindra. This tremendous comeback left the Boys’ High players to celebrate an incredible win in a game that was entertaining for all to watch and a great way to end a fantastic week in Palmerston North.

Henry Sidey bowled terrifically at the death to pick up 4 wickets for 22 runs with support from Campbell Reid who managed 2 wickets.

Result: Christchurch Boys High School won by 7 runs

Christchurch Boys’ High School 187-all out after 37.0 overs (Henry Workman 63, Rishav Dhakal 31; Rachin Ravindra 3-21, Josh Rogerson 2-28) beat Hutt International Boys’ School 180-all out after 38.2 overs (Rachin Ravindra 73, Josh Rogerson 33*; Henry Sidey 4-22, Campbell Reid 2-35)

Hastings Boys High School v Auckland Grammar School

Hastings Boys’ High School were still pushing for their first win of the tournament and Auckland Grammar were looking to win well in order to climb the table and finish in third place ahead of Otago and Tauranga. There were no surprises then when Auckland won the toss and chose to bat first looking to post a big score for Hastings to chase.

Despite losing the early wickets of Jack Aitken and George Coombe to the bowling of Ben Stowe and Alex Ryder Auckland Grammar pushed through with Yatin Ramesh and Harry Miller. Both batsmen were keen to play shots and occupy the crease to build a good foundation for their team. Their partnership was a strong one of 84 before Ramesh was stumped off the bowling of Rohan Fendall just short of his half century (46).

Miller was not fazed by the loss of his partner however and made a great 75 of 67 balls which flew his side to 210-7 once he was finally dismissed by Alex Ryder. Contributions by Clay Watson and Sam Jenkins helped bring Auckland’s total to 226-8 after their 40 overs.

Hastings were going to need to get off to a great start in order to get the win they wanted but unfortunately that was not the case. Ben Remihana let one through the gap and was bowled on the 5th ball of the innings to leave his side 0-1 and needing some key partnerships in order to chase down the big target of 226.

Broderick batted well scoring 22 as did Fendall getting 20 but wickets were always falling at a steady pace which didn’t allow for any partnerships to grow and the middle/low order callapse lead to an early finish with Hastings scoring 86 all out after 26.4 overs and unfortunately did not manage to pick up a win during the week.

The comfortable win for Auckland meant they won the race for third place and finished below Christchurch Boys’ High School and Hutt International Boys’ School.

Result: Auckland Grammar School won by 140 runs.

Hastings Boys High School 86-all out after 26.4 overs (Sean Broderick 22; Hamish Kidd 4-22, Arthur Cardon 2-10) lost to Auckland Grammar School 226-8 (Harry Miller 75, Yatin Ramesh 47; Joey Field 2-38, Sachan Dadrah 2-38).