On Monday 25 March the Boys 1st XI made their way to the Basin to play the Wellington Cricket Final. It was a picture perfect day, the sun was shining and there was a hum about the Basin Reserve similar to the day Brendon McCullum hit the first triple century for the Black Caps.

Raroa were playing Hutt International Boys and captain Harry Law stood like a giant over their captain at the toss. HIBS won the toss and decided to bat.

Raroa came out hot with Harry sending them down the wicket so fast making Mitchell Starc look like a part time left armer spinner. Callum Stevens and Connor Carman bowled ferociously and tight keeping the HIBS batters guessing about where the next one was going to go. Introducing the spinners, Freddy Chowdhury, Arana Cronin-Stone and Aidan Collings proved to be a masterpiece by Captain Law. Wickets fell rapidly and so did the run rate. Aidan and Arana ended with incredible figures that looked like a football score. Vinnie Abel, Brayden Chin, Adam Rogers were brilliant imitations of the great Jonty Rhodes in the field and Bentley Faulkner continued to chat away keeping all the boys on their toes.HIBS were restricted to 128 in their 20 overs. 

Harry and Arana opened the batting and it was soon clear why the Indian Premier League are chasing their signatures. Classy shots were dismissed to the boundary and the Usainly singles were taken. Harry decided to up the tempo even further and smashed 22 in one over destroying the hopes of the opposition. He eventually fell for an impressive 54 runs but that only brought Raroa's next destroyer into the match. Callum didn't hesitate to take off where Harry left off and with Arana they chased down the total with 5 overs remaining. Ending the game with a ground clearing six!

It was an impressive performance from the young men. Winning this match has qualified the Raroa 1st XI for the Nationals in Lincoln in November which they are all proud about. They will spend the winter begging their parents for throw downs, practising their long-barriers and bowling their younger siblings out for ducks in a bit of hallway cricket, all in an attempt to improve their skills for the National Tournament.

Raroa 1st XI Squad: Arana Cronin-Stone, Harry Law, Callum Stevens, Vinnie Abel, Brayden Chin, Aidan Collings, Bentley Faulkner, Adam Rogers, Maxton Kenyon, Max Young, Freddy Chowdhury, Connor Carman, Oliver Bennett, James Wright.