Tournament Points After Round One: Christchurch Boys’ High School 2, Wellington College 2, Westlake Boys’ High School 2, Otago Boys High School 0, Hamilton Boys High School 0, New Plymouth Boys’ High School 0
Wellington College 302-8 (W Stevenson 114, P Bonar 45, P Spencer 3-48, B Sidhu 3-52) beat Hamilton Boys’ High School 201 all out off 39.3 overs (B Hayman 71, G Chaplow 59*, J Vandenberg 4-37), Bert Sutcliffe Oval
Wellington College have kicked off their Gillette Cup campaign with a dominant 101 run victory over Hamilton Boys’ High School. The tournament victors from 2018 have returned to Lincoln with a strong squad seeking to return the Gillette Cup to Wellington. Wellington College batted first scoring 302 runs off their 50 overs, with William Stevenson the backbone of the strong total scoring 114 off just 107 balls. Stevenson had great support with contributions across the Wellington top order. The pick of the Hamilton bowlers was Payton Spencer with 3-48, but the Hamilton spinners struggled to contain the Wellington batters as they pushed the total north of 300. The chase stumbled early with Hamilton five down before posting 60 runs, all but extinguishing any hopes of chasing down the Wellington total. However no one told Brogan Hayman and despite wickets falling all around him the left hander top scored with a calm 71 and was later supported by George Chaplow who remained 59 not out when the final wicket was taken. The Wellington qualifiers opening their account strongly and will be looking to continue on day two against New Plymouth Boys’.
New Plymouth Boys’ High School 102 all out off 33 overs (B Olliver 33, A Sidey 5-24) lost to Christchurch Boys’ High School 103-3 for off 24.4 overs (M Smith 38), Lincoln Green
Nine time champions Christchurch Boys’ High School returned to the tournament this year after failing to qualify in 2019. Their first game against New Plymouth Boys’ High School also had the added intrigue of it being the first match where the Heathcote Williams Shield was on the line with the recently re-established challenge shield played for by first XI boys colleges with current holders New Plymouth Boys. New Plymouth won the toss and opted to bat. They may have quickly regretted that decision with the impressive Angus Sidey making easy work of the New Plymouth top order. Sidey’s relentless line and length was rewarded with the excellent figures of 5-24 from his 10 overs. A valuable 9th wicket partnership of 40 runs provided some momentum for the Central Districts qualifiers at the end of their innings, but one would expect that a total of 102 wouldn’t trouble the strong Cantabs. Christchurch Boy’s proceeded to make light work of the chase, comfortably achieving 103 losing just three wickets and getting there inside 25 overs. Not only did this provide an excellent start to the tournament, but also returned the Heathcote Williams Shield to the original holder from 1908. Christchurch’s first defence of the shield as the designated home team will be against Hamilton Boys High School on Day 3.
Otago Boys’ High School 228 all out off 48.2 overs (J Cumming 57, C Elliot 40, T Stroobant 3-36) lost to Westlake Boys’ High School 229-5 off 43.3 overs (R Langford 113*, T Gower 52), Lincoln No. 3
In the third game of day one, Westlake Boys’ of Auckland won the toss and decided to bowl against Otago Boys’ High School. Otago made a solid start with the top four all making contributions of greater than 20, including a strong knock from captain Jacob Cumming with 57 runs. The joint winner of the player of the tournament trophy from 2019 made a great start. Despite that strong early start Westlake pulled themselves back into the game with Toby Stroobart completing a strong spell of 3-36 and well supported by Dylan Smith who also captured three wickets restricting Otago Boys to a below par 228 all out. Westlake would have fancied themselves at the innings break on the excellent Lincoln surfaces but received an almighty early scare loosing their first three wickets for just 12 runs. Form that moment forward it was all Westlake. Rustin Langford came to the crease and along with Travis Gower put together a 128 run partnership to take the game away from the Southerners. Langford’s unbeaten innings of 113 featured 13 boundaries boundaries all around the ground. This partnership was the foundation of what became a comfortable victory for Westlake Boys’ and will give them confidence before taking on Christchurch on day two.
