ROUND TWO
Tournament Points After Round Two: Wellington College 4, Christchurch Boys High School 4, Westlake Boys’ High School 2, Hamilton Boys’ High School 2, Otago Boys’ High School 0, New Plymouth Boys High School 0
Wellington College 262 for 9 (O Jackson 101, C Logan 3-37) beat New Plymouth Boys’ High School 137 all out off 39.3 overs (B Baker 3-14, A Chandler 3-31), Bert Sutcliffe Oval
Wellington College have continued their strong start to the Gillette Cup with a comfortable victory over New Plymouth Boys’ High School today, winning the match by 125 runs. Wellington looking to continue their batting momentum won the toss and chose to bat. With day one century-maker William Stevenson falling cheaply, Wellington would have to rely on another player to contribute towards a big total and up stood Oscar Jackson with an excellent 101. Jackson had support with a number of smaller contributions but his innings anchored Wellingtons total of 262. Opening bowler Chris Logan was the only New Plymouth bowler to claim more than one wicket and had a very tidy return of 3-37 off ten overs. In reply, New Plymouth struggled to build partnerships to seriously challenge the Wellington total. Regular wickets prevented the momentum required to chase a target of over 250. Archie Chandler and Ben Baker picked up three wickets a piece and New Plymouth were eventually dismissed for just 137. This handed Wellington the perfect start in their quest to win the Gillette Cup.
Hamilton Boys’ High School 349 for 5 (J Parker 160, E O’Donoghue 66) beat Otago Boys’ High School 249 for 9 (J Cumming 62, C Elliot 40, J Parker 2-20), Lincoln Green
Hamilton Boys’ High School were looking to make up for a disappointing performance on day one, and boy did they manage that. Two early wickets brought together captain Jacob Parker and Ethan O’Donoghue for a partnership that would become the highest 3rd wicket partnership in Gillette Cup history with the pair combining for 175 runs. Parker was the aggressor, scoring the second highest total in the tournament history with 160 runs, including 19 fours and five sixes, falling just 11 runs short of the current highest Gillette total. Further hitting from the middle order propelled Hamilton to an imposing 349. In reply Otago Boys made a solid start and just as they looked to up the scoring rate at 129 for one, regular wickets started to fall. Quickly 129/1 became 192/8 and any chance of chasing the Hamilton Boys' total were gone. Jacob Cumming was in the runs again scoring 62, but without wickets in hand the chase fell 100 runs short. Parker placed a full stop on an excellent game with team best figures of 2-20 with his left arm spin. Hamilton’s heads are well and truly back to being held high.
Westlake Boys’ high School 208-9 (T Gower 97, A Sidey 4-27, N Cooke 4-44) lost to Christchurch Boys’ High School 210-6 off 48.1 overs (M McMillian 43, M Harrison-Tubb 3-42), Lincoln No. 3
Christchurch Boys’ had some nervous moments in their chase of a below par Westlake Boy’s total but have remained unbeaten alongside Wellington College. Westlake won the toss and chose to bat but outside of an excellent 97 from Travis Gower, falling short of a well deserved 100 with seven balls left in the innings, no other batter managed over 20. That is certainly not the recipe for building a big total and Westlake had to settle for an under par 208 from their 50 overs. Angus Sidey backed up his excellent five wicket bag from game one with another great bag, this time with figures of 4-27. In reply Christchurch, after a good second wicket partnership, found themselves in a tricky spot at 92/4. A 62-run 5th wicket partnership eased some of the nerves with Sidey backing up his bowling and supporting Mitch McMillian who scored 43 push Christchurch towards their target. A further two wickets fell in pursuit of the target but Christchurch were comfortable in the end winning by four wickets. Max Harrison-Tubb was the pick of the Auckland representatives with tidy figures of 3-42. Christchurch Boys’ move on to play a confident Hamilton Boys’, defending the Heathcote Williams Shield for the first time after taking it from New Plymouth Boys’ on day one. Westlake will look to get back to willing ways against New Plymouth Boys’.
