Round Four
Points after Day Two
King’s School 8
Raroa Normal Intermediate 6
Huntley School 6
Medbury School 4
Tauranga Intermediate 0
Southland Boys’ High School 0
Huntley School 97-8 (L Balfour 3-19) beat Tauranga Intermediate 85 all out from 17.5 overs (D Collett 24, J Allpress 3-9), Bert Sutcliffe Oval
The final game to finish on Day 2 was a tight tussle between Huntley School and Tauranga Intermediate, with Huntley needing a victory to keep their hopes of a top finish alive. Some excellent tight bowling from Tauranga helped take regular wickets and restrict Huntley to 97 for 8 from their 20 overs. Lachlan Balfour was the most successful of the Tauranga bowlers claiming 3-19 off 4 overs. After losing five early wickets Tauranga needed a partnership to challenge Huntley’s score and one of 39 runs between Darcy Collett and Finn O’Brien-O’Loan had Tauranga back on track. Following the loss of Collett Tauranga’s challenge fell away and they were eventually dismissed 12 runs short off 17.5 overs. Josh Allpress was the pick of Huntley’s bowlers claiming 3-9 off his 4 overs. Huntley join Raroa with three victories from their four games while Tauranga will play Southland Boys’ in the final round with both teams seeking their first victory.
Southland Boys’ High School 61 all out off 18.5 overs (T Craige 3-6, S Reddiex 3-17) lost to Raroa Normal Intermediate 62-1 off 6.5 overs (P Martin 31*, A Thompson 21*), Lincoln Green
In the last game of the date on Lincoln Green Raroa needed dominant display and victory against Southland Boys’ to improve their run rate and keep them in the hunt on the final day. They did just that picking up regular wickets throughout Southland’s innings, finally dismissing the final wicket after 18.5 overs with Southland achieving a total of 61. The leading bowlers were Sam Reddiex and Taka Craige who both claimed 3 wickets a piece. Despite losing an early wicket, Raroa were charging with a 53-run partnership between Alex Thompson and Paddy Martin helped wrap up the inning achieving their target after just 6.5 overs. Raroa now look forward to a final round clash with competition leaders King’s needing a comprehensive victory to have any chance of winning the title.
Medbury School 126-7 (H Sharr 43, N Gibb 38) lost to King’s School 130-3 in 16 overs (J Willis 50, J O’Connor 35), Lincoln No. 3
In front of a large crowd the afternoon game on Lincoln No. 3 saw King’s School hoping to continue their unbeaten run to be able to head into the final round on Wednesday morning with their unbeaten record intact. In front of a large home crowd Medbury looked to make that task as challenging as possible and did that primarily through an excellent 59 run partnership between captain Nicholas Gibb (38 off 47) and Harry Sharr (43 off 37). Late wickets restricted their late charge but a competitive target of 126 was set for King’s to chase. And chase they did, with an excellent partnership between Jonty Willis (50 off 40) and James O’Connor (35 off 32) sharing a 72-run partnership to stare their team to safety before both batsman fell just before the final runs and victory were achieved. King’s new head into the final round as the only unbeaten team and other challengers needing them to stumble badly in the final game to weaken there run rate.
Round Three
Tauranga Intermediate 106-8 (U Kumar 29) lost to Raroa Normal Intermediate 107-5 after 14 overs (M Juran 28, H Patel 3-31), Lincoln No. 3
The last game of round three saw Raroa Normal Intermediate and Tauranga Intermediate play on Lincoln No. 3. Raroa were desperate to make amends for their failed run chase in round three while Tauranga were looking for their first victory of the tournament. Raroa won the toss and inserted Tauranga who found themselves in early trouble stumbling to 27 for 4 but a solid partnership of 41 runs between Utsav Kumar (29 off 29) and Luke Spargo (21 off 28) helped propel them through to 106 for 8 after their 20 overs. In reply Raroa also found themselves in early trouble losing their first two wickets on 11 with Harsh Patel continuing his strong form collecting 3-31. Solid contributions from the Raroa middle order saw them home 5 wickets down with 6 overs up their sleeve.
Southland Boys’ High School 79 all out (N Brown 32) lost to Medbury School 80-2 off 10.1 overs (A Brown 31), Bert Sutcliffe Oval
Southland Boys’ won the toss and batted first against home team Medbury School. Wickets tumbled throughout the inning and despite all young year 7 Nick Brown efforts scoring 32, Southland could only muster 79 runs all out. Wickets were shared across all six bowlers. In reply wicketkeeper batsman Alex Brown was the standout, scoring 31 from 28 balls. The target was easily achieved off just 10.1 overs allowing Medbury to achieve their second victory in three games setting up and intriguing encounter in round four against King’s School.
Huntley School 67 all out off 19.5 (J Olliver 3-9) lost to Kings School 68-1 off 8.5 overs (N Tapper 38*), Lincoln Green
King’s School and Huntley School, the two unbeaten schools after day one were first up on Lincoln green today, with King’s making quick work of the matchup taking a 9 wicket win. Batting first Huntley were dismissed in the final over with 67 on the scoreboard. Wickets fell regularly through their innings with the wickets shared amongst five bowlers but the star performer was Josh Olliver who claimed 3-9 off his four overs. Keen to improve their run rate King’s batsman dominated the Huntley bowlers achieving the target after just 8.5 overs. Nick Tapper lead the charge with an unbeaten 38 off 32 and was ability supported by Jonty Willis who scored 23 off 17 balls.
