Cricketers off to a flying start

St Paul's Collegiate Lodge Real Estate 1st XI vs MAGS 1st XI match report - 8/10/2020 - game 1 of 2

Batting first, we got off to the perfect start with Cooper Robinson (33) playing aggressively through the offside, and his opening partner Curtly Harper (38) anchoring the other end. We lost Cooper and Curtly, trying to lift the run rate. Ollie O'Meeghan (45) and Jack Sturm (38) applied pressure to the MAGS bowling unit jumping on anything loose.

MAGS fought back well, preventing any batsmen from going on to score big by bowling to their fields. MAGS won the back end of the innings, preventing our score from reaching the 300 mark.

St Paul's Lodge Real Estate 1st XI 242/8, 50 Overs (C Robinson 33, C Harper 38, O O'Meeghan 45, J Sturm 38)

As per usual, Shiv Achary (4/28) continued what he has done since year 9, bowling line and length. Curtly Harper (1/16) supported Shiv perfectly, making it difficult to score. From the pressure applied, it made it extremely difficult for MAGS to get back into the game. Jae Broomfield (2/29), coming off a stellar rugby season, and Declan O'Sullivan (3/28), coming off shoulder surgery, continued the challenging work done earlier.

Cameron Bird chipped in with a few overs with no luck. A good hit out bowling out MAGS for 120 all out in 38 overs.

Besides no big scores from our batters, they were able to spend a lot of time at the crease, and our bowlers were able to get through the crease.

MAGS 1st XI 120/10 38 Overs (S Achary 4/28, D O'Sullivan 3/28, C Harper 1/16)

St Paul's Lodge Real Estate 1st XI vs MAGS 1st XI match report Game 2 of 2 -

MAGS took the bat first, putting a lot of pressure on our bowling unit. MAGS worked hard getting to 104/3 before taking control of the game, taking the middle section of the game. However, the game shifted with MAGS fighting back from 122/7, ending up with a total of 189 all out.

Mount Albert Grammar 1st XI 189/10 47.4 overs (C Bird 3/52, C Harper 2/36, J Broomfield 2/38)

In reply, Cooper Robinson set the tone by playing three classy cover drives along the carpet to the boundary from his first few balls. He managed to hit 13 boundaries along the carpet (52 runs) and two over the ropes, scoring 64 runs in total. He sadly fell short of his hundred, scoring 93 off 90 balls. Jack Sturm (42no) and Ollie O'Meeghan (33no) took advantage of the foundation set and clinically finished the game off with 15 overs remaining. Another good win.

St Paul's Lodge Real Estate 1st XI 192/2, 34.1 overs (C Robinson 93, J Strum 42*, O O'Meeghan 33*)

A great few days of cricket played, but we will need to look to work harder in the field, creating and maintaining pressure with the ball. We move forward onto our next match vs St Kentigern in Auckland on Sunday, 18th Oct. Another excellent opportunity for our boys to cement their place for our first Gillette Cup qualifier against St Peter's on 27 October played at St Paul's.

St Paul's Lodge Real Estate 1st XI vs St Peter's 1st XI match report 

St Paul's won the toss and elected to bat. We were quickly on the backfoot losing 4 wickets with St Peter's with all the momentum with the score at 69/4. Kuwyn Price as he has done all season went to work to put a total on the board. However, the difference of this innings was Kuwyn was able to have a willing partner of Will Potter (46) to hold an end. With Will holding the fought Kuwyn was able to accumulate both off his front and back foot scoring 123 off 96 balls. With a great captain's knock, we were able to put on 281/9.

St Paul's Lodge Real Estate 1st XI 281/9 50.0 overs (K Price 123, W Potter 46)

In reply, St Peter's worked hard seeing off the new ball. It wasn't till a few changes at the crease we were to make some inroads into their batting line up. Our spinners come on and take over the game. Declan O'Sullivan 4/23, and Cameron Bird 4/32 took control of the match. A good win by the team and now look forward to the next round against either Aquinas College or Tauranga Boys next week Wednesday.

St Peter's School Cambridge 1st XI 131/10 41.0 overs (D O'Sullivan 4/23, C Bird 4/32) St Paul's Lodge Real Estate 1st XI 2020 - won by 150 runs