The 1st XI took on the best sides from around the county last week at Lincoln as they tried to make it a three-peat of National Titles and six in the last seven years.

Christchurch Boys' High School's dominance at the National Secondary School finals over the past decade has been impressive but last week they came a creditable second place to a very good, and deserving, Wellington College side on the final day in what was a "winner takes all" affair.

After a shaky start to the week, losing to Hamilton Boys' High on day one, the side, led by Headboy Louie Chapman, came back strong with a hard-fought win over King's College. Days three & four saw resounding victories against Palmerston North Boys' High and King's High School respectively, allowing the home side to elevate the net run rate markedly. 

On the final day, Wellington batted first and set 250 to win. After a flying start and solid batting through the middle, they looked to set something near 280. CBHS were chasing the target well with Archie Redfern and captain Chapman keeping up with the run rate. However, once they were dismissed, the asking rate quickly rose and became too much for the incoming batsmen to keep up with. Wellington applied the squeeze and wickets continued to fall until we were dismissed in the 45th over, 40 runs short.

Throughout the week there were a number of excellent individual performances. Archie Redfern scored 100 against Hamilton BHS. Louie Chapman took 6-36 and Mitchell Hay scored 110* against Palmerston North BHS. Chapman then scored 77* against King's High School and along with his superb leadership, saw him named the MVP for CBHS at the tournament. Redfern also scored another 67 against Wellington. 

The team fought hard from a difficult position and gave themselves an opportunity to take the crown. Sadly though, you can't win them all and those who return next year will be keen to get back to the top for sure. As a consolation prize, but something we were pleased to be acknowledged for, CBHS were awarded the Spirit of Cricket Award. 

You can check out all the scores here.