Cricket report – PNBHS 1st XI VS New Plymouth Boys’ High School 1st XI – CD Gillette Qualifier Final
Matthew Campbell became the 809th player to receive his cap today. It was presented by former Old Boy and head of Manawatu Cricket, Tim Richards.
Another toss lost and we were bowling on a wicket that looked to be fairly flat and true. Good, tight bowlingsupported with good fielding made scoring difficult and slow. Wickets though were also hard to come by and at drinks New Plymouth were 43/2. An inspired spell of bowling after drinks saw the tide turn and J Last-Harris picked up 3 wickets in reasonably quick succession. New Plymouth were now 58/6 and we were in the ascendency. At this point the game turned and we struggled to find the formula that had worked for the first 30 overs. This allowed New Plymouth back into the game as they put on a 51 run partnership for the 7th wicket. The off spin of O Murray eventually broke the partnershipand wickets again began to fall. New Plymouth were finally dismissed for 132 in the 45th over. J Last-Harris (3/16) was the pick of the bowling attack, however mention of T Collier (1/11 from 10) needs to be made.
Momentum is a big thing in sport and despite having a relatively low total to chase, the opposition weren’t about to give up with out a fight. With our opening batsmen playing shots the probably would rather forget and others playing at balls they probably didn’t need to, we found ourselves in trouble at 37/5, and all the momentum in the game had swung in favour of New Plymouth. The loss of another wicket and we were 47/5, well on the way to turning victory into defeat. It was a patient and measured approach from M Rowe (39*) and T Collier (26), supported by the second highest run scorer of the innings W Ides (34), that over time took the wind out of the opposition sales as the score eased through to 130/6.
With the final rites dealt with by M Rowe we limped our way into the Gillette Cup finals in Christchurch in December.
The game provided some of the best cricket we have played this season as well as some of the worst, but the way in which the boys worked hard to grind out a result showed true character.