The Premier Woman won again to confirm their spot in the Kirsty Bond semi-finals, but the men continued the weak first day trend in their 2-day matches which this time may require some magic to escape from the position that they find themselves in at the end of the day against Lancaster Park.
Division 1 are well on top in their match which is well advanced thanks mostly to a superb bowling effort from Carl Hooper, whereas Division2 are in an even contest in theirs. In other matches the Youth First XI very nearly finished off their 2-day match against CBHS inside of the first day
Premier Men
Sydenham commenced the start of their next 2-day match against Lancaster Park on Sydenham 1 having experienced little luck in the two earlier rounds – the first just before Christmas when East Shirley’s last pair managed to cling on for the final couple of overs to force a draw, and then last week when Riccarton’s final pair managed to survive the final 7-8 overs to save that match. But the feature of those two matches was Sydenham being out played on the first day and then fighting back gamely on the second to come with an inch of the win – Saturday’s match certainly followed that trend, but has left us with the question as to whether the hole that they now find themselves in is too big?
Jackson Hemingway hits through point
Sydenham won the toss and asked Park to bat looking for early wickets. However the two Park openers played solidly with the first wicket not falling until the score was 52 when Toby Mowat had Mcdowell caught behind. The Park batting effort was consistent down the order with most getting starts but never really carrying on to big scores as the Sydenham bowlers generally kept the innings under control with Tom Agnew (4-40) and Tim Johnston (3-89) the best of them. However, a late flourish from the Park lower order saw them eventually through to be all out for 221, a good first innings score on an outfield with grass that would be welcomed by an rugby match, but certainly not a cricket one.
Tom Agnew takes one of his four wickets
There was little to like about the Sydenham reply which matched the miserable cloudy easterly that dominate all day. Toby Mowat and Adi Edekar got off to a quiet but solid start before Toby fell in the 10th over when he couldn’t quite get over a cut shot and was well caught at slip. Adi left 3 overs later defending a good one that he couldn’t keep out that took the score to 27-2. Ryan Wallace had a rare short stay when he misjudged one and popped a gentle catch to short mid-wicket with the score at 41-3. Sydenham were in trouble and needed some intelligent cricket, and although one or two tried to dig in, you can only hope that some of the later batsmen will be left contemplating as to whether their shot selection of attempted hooks and lofted drives were appropriate for the match situation that they found themselves in.
Wickets fell repeatedly as 41-3 quickly turned into 77-8 at stumps with Lane Tutty and Tom Agnew grimly defending for the last 7-8 overs to try to stay alive for next week. Still 44 runs behind the follow on, there is much work to be done to stay in this match, otherwise the usual first day hole might well prove to be a crater.
Full scoreboard & video highlights https://www.crichq.com/matches/817172
Premier Women
The women carried on their recent good form with another valuable win when they took on St Albans at Hagley in a Kirsty Bond match. Taking the early initiative Sydenham batted first scoring 99-4 in their allocated 16 overs with the innings dominated initially by Isla McKenzie (19 from 16 balls), and then by Erika Oda (35 from 30), recently returned from Japan, and Jenna Waghorn (20 from 21).
Sydenham then got the early break through with Saints 2-2 by the end of the second over thanks to Eden Petigrew’s first two wickets. However, Saints slowly made their way back into the match, and at 40-3 in the 8th over, looked in reasonable shape. But Isla then took the first of her wickets (3-18), and when Jenna bowled the last Saints batsmen with the score at 78, Sydenham had a 21 run win and into the semi-finals on 22-Feb. In the meantime the girls next match is their T20 final, again against St Albans, this Thursday.
Full scoreboard https://www.crichq.com/matches/817500/1st_innings
Division 1
Following the bad loss to Easts last week, the Div 1 boys bounced back well when they took on Lancaster Park at Garrick. Asked to bat first, Sydenham got off to a poor start with the two openers Scott & Day both gone with the score at 1, but a 71 run partnership from Dave Simpson (66) and Marty Crook (23) then got the innings back on track. The recovery continue mainly through Carl Hooper (29), Sahan Perera (23) and Connor Williams (20) such that Sydenham would have felt well satisfied with the final score of 204 all out.
The team’s bowling resources has been its strength this season and it was boosted by an earlier off coloured Carl Hooper who was down from Prems and who quickly reasserted his quality. Carl’s impressive 7-25 knocked the top off the Park reply as he sent a steady procession of batsmen back to the sideline. A wicket apiece from Connor Williams, Charlie Finnie and Preetham Pagadala saw Park bowled out for 63, and then asked to bat again. The last hour before stumps was also productive as Park lost two of their 2nd innings wickets for 9 runs, and the match now sits well progressed for the second day next week.
Full scoreboard https://www.crichq.com/matches/817173
Division 2
Sydenham took on Halswell on Sydenham 2 on the first day of their 2-day match. Sydenham won the toss and batted first but struggled throughout with only Rod Hooper (30) getting a score of note as the side was bowled out for 111.
Rod Hooper slices one and is caught
However, Halswell also found runs equally hard to come by and were bowled out for 117. Wickets were shared around with two each to David Brostow, Jim Simpson, and Archie Goodrick getting two each.
Archie Goodrick celebrates one of his two wickets
Full scoreboard Full details not available
Division 3 Goats - LOST
The Goats came out on the wrong side of the result in their match against Marist harewood on Centennial Park. Batting first Marist were bowled out for a modest 136 with Chris Douglas (8-4-20] and Andrew Douglas [6-23-26] the main wicket takers. The task didn’t seem too daunting after Sydenham got off to a reasonable start with Jon Bennett (26) and Satpreet Singh (19) initially on track. However, once those two were out, they proved to be the only two that made it to double figures in the innings as the latter batsmen slumped to be all out for 96.
Full scoreboard https://www.crichq.com/matches/818153/1st_innings
Division 7 All Stars – WON
The All Stars has skipper Abe Atherton and Dan Linden to thank for their victory in a very low scoring match against Prebbleton on Prebbleton Domain. Prebbleton won the toss and seemingly did the right thing when they then bowled Sydenham out for 66. As it turned out, Abe’s defiant 28* batting at no. 10 did more than save some embarrassment, it probably won the match as Sydenham then turned around and bowled Prebbelton out for 42. Abe was also part of that with his 2-30 but it was mostly thanks to Dan Linden’s 8 overs 5-7. Jordan McCormack also contributed strongly with 3-14 as Sydenham was left to ponder just how they managed to escape with a win.
Full scoreboard https://www.crichq.com/matches/817697/1st_innings
Division 8 Tamils - WON
The Tamils remained top of their table after a tight win over Merivale Papanui at Bradford Park. Batting first MP scored 153-4 with B Anand (3-15) the Sydneham wicket taker. The Tamil’s reply was always on track after a solid 59 from opener Vignesh Devel, and backed by B Anard (34) and David Japapual (32) Sydenham seemingly coasted to the win despite some concern when the middle and lower order failed to fire, but Sydenham eventually finished on 157-8
Full scoreboard https://www.crichq.com/matches/817907/1st_innings
Cavaliers Cardinals - WON
The Cardinals has a very tight win by a mere three balls when they beat Halswell at Halswell Domain. Halswell batted first and scored a competitive 159-7 with two wickets each to Brad Moore and Geordie Dann. In reply Sydenham managed to get to the target thanks to Ben Larter (50*) and the always consistent Kieran Williams (40*). The Cardinals remain top of their competition table
Full scoreboard: Full details not available
A Cardinal side looking capable of another title this season
Presidents Cardinals - LOST
Both Presidents sides had losses on the day. The Cardinals went down to Sumner at Barnett Park after Sumner won the toss and batted first. A 98 run opening partnership set up the Sumner innings of 198-9 with Dave Fleming (3-30), Julien van Dyk (2-22) and Phil Warren (2-50) the main wickets takers, and with a miserly 8 overs for 29 from Warren Guy.
The Sydenham reply started well with Anthony Wild (36), Phil Walker (23) and Paul Matthews (17) getting the side through to 82-2 at one point, but no one was able to follow through to get the larger score required to reach a 199 target. Tim Hannan contributed a 28 in the middle order but at 98-8 they were out of the match and probably did well to get it through to 139 all out thanks to Tim’s innings.
Full scoreboard https://www.crichq.com/matches/818021/1st_innings
Hospital - LOST
Hospital were never really in their match after they won the toss and gave first use of the wicket to Merivale Papanui in their match at Edgar Macintosh Park. The MPs boys responded with a 126 from opener Strachan as they piled on the runs to be 254-2 at the end of their 40 overs. Sydenham’s only reward was a wicket each to Matt Gilling and Kelum Mendis.
With a 6.5 run rate to get, Hospital started poorly, and at 23-4 and then 34-5, they were out of the match early with only Minesh Fakir (58) and Bruce Day (20) adding some respectability to the score as the side was bowled out for 113.
Full scoreboard https://www.crichq.com/manage/fixtures/978670/result
Women Youth Stars – WON
Sydenham played Lancaster Park at Garrick and came out with a win with just three balls to spare.
Lancaster chose to bat first and were 77 without loss after 11 overs before Rosie Pentecost came on and clean bowled both openers to turn the game in Sydenham’s favour and finishing with figures of 3 for 6 off 3. Sydenham fielded very well with Livvy Crowe, Dakoda Potter and Darcy Rose Prasad all getting a run out each. Sophie George contributed with the ball to end with 2 wickets for 9 off 3. Kate Cameron came up against a couple of in-form Premier level players and bowled well under pressure, Jaimee Cartwright was again unlucky to not get a wicket and Maddie Iro bowled extremely well with the Park batters were happy just to see her off. But best of all the team didn't panic even when Park were going at 7 an over.
The batting innings started out rocky with Darcy Rose Prasad in to bat on the second ball. However, Darcy was again the rock of the innings finishing on 42* off 52, and now having scored 345 runs at an average of 57.5 in 12 innings. Emma Begg was solid at the top and Maddie Iro showed promise only to get run out by a piece of brilliance in the field. Needing seven an over to win the game Livvy Crowe promoted herself and delivered the goods with a quickfire 21 off 23 to swing the game Sydenham’s way.
When she was out with the score on 79 after 17.2 overs, we needed 20 to win off 16 deliveries, but Rosie Pentecost (12 off 6) and Darcy Rose Prasad finished the game perfectly. They played safe shots, took quick singles and put huge pressure on the fielders who cracked under the intense pressure. Well done to the finishers.
Full scoreboard: https://www.crichq.com/matches/816963/1st_innings
Youth First XI – WON
The Youth First XI started the new season with a comprehensive win against the CBHS Forth XI on SYD 3 on Sunday. Skipper Daniel Watt won the toss, inserted CBHS and after half an hour they were 6 for 6 with Ben Walsey (10-3-27-4) taking out four of the top five. Some slogs through cow-corner by the CBHS 7 and 10 eventually took the score through to 86 all out. Daniel Watt (9-2-12-2) picked up a couple and the other bowlers took one wicket each. Sydenham into bat before lunch and 13-1 when it was time for a sandwich. The skipper ran himself out not long after the resumption bring Isaiah Prasad (65) into bat with opener Dallas Crowe (26). These two took the score from 14-2 to 92-3 with a very composed partnership. With first innings points in the bag, the tail swung freely for the team to eventually be all out for 158.
With time on their side, and day two planned for Sunday the boys were aiming to take a few wickets to try and minimise the time they may have had to bowl in Sunday’s heat. The first wicket fell at 4-1, followed by 6-2, 16-3, 16-4, 19-5, 20-6 and at stumps CHBS were 33-7, still 40 odd runs away from making Sydenham bat again. Back Sunday at 10.30am, and it was already hot. Isaiah Prasad stuck out a mitt after 5 minutes to a well slapped shot headed for the long off boundary and it was 45-8. Liam Jenner threw down the stumps from point fours over later and it was 58-9. CBHS only needed 6 more runs to make Sydenham bat again, but Ben Wasley who had no intention of batting (he’d only brought his drink bottle to day 2), finished the match after 30 minutes on day two. Daniel Watt (10-1-21-4), Ben Wasley 6.3-0-14-3.
Year 10 Colts – LOST
The Colts met St Bedes (Black) at Cashmere High and were asked to have a bat first. They lost an opener early, but Jacob Bennet (16) looked very composed as did the skipper Alex Boot (23) and hard hitting Luis Honey (22). Unfortunately there were no other contributions of note and with time not being batted the team were all out for 109 after 33 (with 17 overs left in the tank).
Into bat, St Bedes put on 44 for the first wicket with the next one falling at 79. The seamers put a few past the edges and int the middle of the pads in front of the stumps but alas there were no more wickets taken with St Bedes finishing 110/2 after 21.
All other Youth team start next week.
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