Featured Article
Featured Article
Semi-Finals Bound
The Premier Men achieved their first objective of the season when they reached the semi-finals of the one-day competition on Saturday. The Premier Ladies had a win and a loss in their two Kirsty Bond matches, and Division 1 had a solid win to remain in a close 2nd place in their competition.
A number of the afternoon grades did not get to play due to Show weekend, but in one that did, the All Stars match at Bradford saw new club best bowling figures for the season of 7-7-6 by Gourav Saini.
Premier Men
The Prems went into their next match against OBC on Sydenham knowing that a win would give them a semi-finals berth next weekend, whereas for OBC who had already qualified, it was merely a case of where they would finish in pool play and therefore who they would play in their semi.
On bright clear morning OBC won the toss and elected to bat on a wicket that with hindsight probably played a bit slower than might have been expected. They got off to a decent start at a good clip until Tom Agnew snared the first wicket at 21, another smart caught standing up by wicket keeper Lane Tutty who took a similar one later in the day. It was then quickly 22-2 when Mitch Gardner claimed the wicket of Stanley to a tidy slip catch by Matthew Bell. There was then a modest recovery to 55-2 before the innings really came unstuck from about the 13th over. Chris Harris came on and cleaned out the middle order finishing with the superb figures of 3-12 off 10 overs, and when Ryan Wallace came back to claim his 3rd wicket, and figures of 3-19 off 8 overs, the lower middle order and tail were forced into circumspection. Tim Johnston exploited that position and was another who finished with the fine figures of 2-12 off 7 overs as OBC were finally bowled out for 106 in the 45th over.
Chris Harris on top against OBC
The Sydenham reply was anything but copy book. After a couple of boundaries in the first over, TJ was gone for 8 with one that seemed to nip back and keep low, and he was quickly followed back to the pavilion by Toby Mowat and Ryan Wallace, both caught behind, leaving Sydenham tottering at 9-3. However, chasing a smallish total it only required one solid partnership and that came from Adi Edekar and Tom McDonald.
Adi Edekar on the drive
Tom was rightfully patient in support of his more in-form partner, but worked his way to a valuable 35*, whilst Adi seemingly just carried on from his 95 the previous week. Adi again steadily and risklessly built his innings until the match was secure, then finished it with the flourish of a couple of sixes before falling for 55 off 71 balls with a non-out in sight and only a couple of runs still required to win the match.
Tom McDonald works one through mid-wicket
The six wicket win now sees Sydenham into the semi-finals next Sunday against Lancaster Park at Garrick (OBC take on leaders St Albans), but beforehand that on Saturday, they play the first day of the start of the two-day competition against Burnside West on Sydenham 1.
Full scoreboard https://www.crichq.com/matches/792110/1st_innings
Video highlights https://www.sydenhamcricket.co.nz/index.php/live-streaming/video-highlights
Premier Women
The Prem Women are now well into the eight a side Kirsty Bond series with two double header 16 over matches on Sydenham 2. The first against Lancaster Park went down to the line when Sydenham scored 68-2 batting first, mostly thanks to Isla McKenzie’s 39 off 46 balls, then lost off the final ball of the match when Park managed to get the required five runs off the last over, and one off the last ball. Jenna Waghorn was the best of the bowlers with 4-2-10.
Isla McKenzie on the drive through mid-off
The second match was all Sydenham’s when they took on North West Women. Again Sydenham batted first and again Isla McKenzie top scored with 32 off 33 balls, but this time she was ably backed by a near run a ball 28 from Eden Pettigrew, and a quick fire 17 off 8 balls from Jenna. Sydenham’s total of 109/6 proved too much for NWW as Jenna then took 4-2-12, and the other four bowlers a wicket apiece, as they held their opposition to 65-6.
Full scoreboards:
Lancaster Park https://www.crichq.com/matches/792616/1st_innings
North West Women https://www.crichq.com/matches/792998/1st_innings
Division 1
The Div1 kept their season on track when they beat Heathcote on Hillsborough Domain. On a wicket that didn’t look great, and an outfield that hadn’t drained in parts from the mid-week rain, Kelvin called correctly, and asked Heathcote to bat. The batting side then got off to a reasonable start until Connor Williams and Carl Hooper picked up the two openers with the score at 31 & 33. There was then a brief recovery to 81-2 before Sahan Perara then started to dominate the rest of the innings with his spell of 10-5-34 that quickly saw the loss of another four wickets in the 80’s and Heathcote struggling through to 134 all out. The other major contributor to Heathcote’s demise was Carl Hooper in an encouraging first spell of the season where he took 3-14.
Taylor Irie out to a sharp catch at gully
Sydenham started shakily losing their first wicket at 5, and at 29-3 some questions were starting to be asked. They were answered by Pankaj Bhagat and Vishvash Singh who then put together an invaluable partnership 74 to take the side through to 104-4 before Vish’s wicket fell. Whilst Vish was more the aggressor with his 40 off 34 balls, PK (42 off 69 balls) was the anchor who produced another useful score without yet getting the big one that doesn’t feel too far away. Sydenham eventually reached the total at 135-6 in the 30th over.
Vishvash Singh defends during his innings of 40 at Hillsborough Domain
Full scoreboard https://www.crichq.com/matches/792140/1st_innings
Division 2
As the feeder team to the two above it, the Div2 boys were struggling a bit for numbers on the week and got a bit of a thumping as a result from OBC on Elmwood Park. Winning the toss and batting first, OBC proceeded to pile on 275-8, and then in reply Sydenham faltered early and never recovered in their innings to be bowled out for 77. That said, the best all-round Sydenham performance came from a ring-in from the Presidents grade in the form of Warren Guy. The old fella took 3-35 with the ball and then followed that up by top scoring with 33. Paddy Wickes was the best of the bowlers with 3-37 from his 8 overs.
Full scoreboard https://www.crichq.com/matches/792384/1st_innings
Division 3 Goats - Lost
Andrew Douglas’s 73 off 105 balls was not enough to give the Goats a victory against BWU at Burnside Park. The Goats won the toss and batted with their resulting 141-8 mostly thanks to Andrew’s innings and some scores in the teens from Ollie Philpott (17), Jon Bennett (14) and Satpreet Singh (10).
BWU were reasonably comfortable in their chase, when after losing two early wickets to be 20-2, a 3rd wicket partnership of 75 put them in the box seat to coast through to the win. The best of the Sydenham bowlers were Chris Douglas (8-3-25) and Heath Sanders (8-2-27)
Full scoreboard https://www.crichq.com/matches/792739/1st_innings
Division 7 All Stars - Won
The All Stars were down supporting the Prems early in the afternoon after routing St Albans on the always interesting Bradford Park. Abe won the toss and then watched as Gourav Saini produced the outstanding figures of 7 overs 7 wickets for 6 runs. Gourav’s effort saw St Albans capitulate for 45 and the All Stars then paced themselves through to the target inside 13 overs and thus maintain their top of the table position.
Full scoreboard https://www.crichq.com/matches/792850/1st_innings
Division 8 Tamils - Won
The Tamils were another side who maintained their unbeaten run with a win against Merivale Papanui at Barrington Park. MP batted first and were held to 116-6 in their 40 overs with wickets shared two apiece by Balkaran Singh (2-13), Chid Palaniappan (2-31) and Lucky Basra (2-14). Sydenham got off to a poor start in reply but Chid (24) and then Gopinath Karuppiah (32) & Naveen Thangaraju (24) batting at No. 7 & 9 respectively got the side through with the loss of seven wickets
Full scoreboard https://www.crichq.com/matches/793060/1st_innings
Women Youth Stars – Won
The Sydenham Stars playing Halswell at Halswell Domain didn't start well batting first but Darcy Rose Prasad, in at first drop on the second ball of the game, worked hard and eventually top scored in another good innings with a well crafted 24 runs off 30 deliveries. She managed to steady the ship with Dakoda Potter who was again very difficult to get out scoring 11 off 20 balls. Iesha Bruce scored a very good 22 off 34 running a lot of two's and threes with Olivia Crowe whose impressive 20 off 16 deliveries again showed good temperament forcing the run rate up at just the right time. Emma Begg did her best at the end of the innings and bowled well for one over for 1 run and fielded well at fine leg as usual. Darcy Rose Prasad kept wickets extremely well, letting through no byes for the second time this season. Scoring 99 off 20 over proved too much for Halswell who were all out for 33 in 12.2 overs.
The game was essentially won in our third over, with Sophie George's first two overs going for only1 run and Bodacia Lynch's first over going for 2. At 3 runs off 3 overs Halswell's batters were forced to increase the run rate and after Maddie Iro bowled the competition's highest run scorer for 8 the game was very nearly won. Then Jaimee Cartwright came along with some very well flighted deliveries followed with full and straight balls taking 4 wickets (all bowled) for a mere 7 runs in 3 overs and gets the distinction of being on a hat-trick for an entire week. Can everyone cross their fingers next week for the hat-trick (which will be the team's second of the season)?
Full scoreboard: https://www.crichq.com/matches/791765/1st_innings
Youth First XI - Won
Another match reaching for the heart pills as Sydenham Youth 1st XI played Riccarton 1st XI at Riccarton on Saturday in a replay of last years final. Winning the toss and putting Riccarton into bat looked a good decision with a couple of early wickets, (included one from a great overhead catch from Jack MacDonald), but a quick 53 from Riccarton captain Josh Bridgman gave Riccarton a good start with 90 runs after 20 overs. However a great 25th over by Daniel Watt having three batsman bowled in the one over changed the game and gave Daniel his third five wicket bag in 3 weeks (5/22 off 10). A 33 run last wicket partnership took the Riccarton total to a respectable 142, finally coming to an end with Thomas Owen’s second wicket (2/25 off 6).
Sydenham batsman struggled through the first two-thirds of the chase and regularly lost wickets just as momentum was looking to be gained. Sam Coughlan joined Ryan Lightfoot with the total at a bleak 72-7. Both batsman took time to establish themselves then after drinks they escalated the scoring nicely to give Sydenham a chance. After Sam’s departure with still 25 to get, Tama Hamilton played a nice cameo with a quick 14, but when he was bowled there was still six to get with the last pair at the wicket. Ben Wasley (7no.) along with Ryan, who was in for 102 minutes, finally knocked off the total in the 49th over, maintaining the1st’s unbeaten record. Another win made from a good team effort with many useful batting contributions (Sam Coughlin 20, Daniel Watt 16, Isaiah Prasad 15, Ryan Lightfoot 15no, Tama Hamilton 14, Preston Genet 13).
Yr 10 Sydenham Colts - Lost
Thursday’s overnight rain meant a soft spongy wicket and a thick lush outfield at Cashmere High for the match against Christ Collage Black- not the ideal time for the skip to lose his first toss of the season.
None the less being put into bat first was the task at hand ....... the usual bombardment of outright pace from the college openers wasn’t having the desired effect and college turned to their spin options inside the first 10 overs. When the opening pair of Dallas Crowe and Rhys Thyne were gone after an hour of hard fought singles and the score on 29/2 it was clear that 120 would be an acceptable total should the Colts manage to bat through their 50 overs
A few cameos from Issac Milne (20) Toby Hull (12) and Andrei Tomkinson (14) ticked the score over nicely to reach the 90s in the 44th over but the tail didn’t wag on the occasion and the and the innings ended on 105 all out in the 47th over
After a reasonable start with the ball college had a shaky start to the chase after Toby cleaned out 2 of the top 3 batsmen for 0 & 1 respectively and a third from Dallas meant the Colts were in with a strong chance of defending the low total. The introduction of the slower bowlers led to regular wickets falling but the constant flow of extras kept the College boys in the hunt. Archie MacDonald 2/21 off 3 overs and Zack Howe 2/14 off 6 overs were the pick of the bowlers this week accompanied by Rhys Thyne 1/5 off 4 overs but the damage was done and a much needed win was slipping away
In a case of what should have been for the Sydenham Colts - college scraped through to reach the total of 107/8 in the 28th over.
Year 9A - Day 1 of 2
The 9As were away to St Andrews 9A this week in their two day match. We hope to have a breakdown of all the action in next weeks summary.
