Saturday 2 November 2024
King’s – 186/10 after 47.4 overs
Westlake Boys High School – 187/7 after 49.1 overs
With rain expected in the afternoon, Westlake chose to bowl. King’s got off to a solid start, with both openers looking comfortable. Francis Kirkland (Year 13, Selwyn) got into high-risk mode far too early and perished in the 9th over for a quick-fire 19 runs (19 balls). Samar Singh (Year 13, Averill) joined Tom Nelson (Year 12, Marsden) and added 34 runs for the 2nd wicket, with King’s looking comfortable at the first drinks break – 68/1. After a quiet start, Singh played with freedom and both he and Nelson were beginning to impose themselves on the bowling until the latter was dismissed in the 19th over. Singh departed in the very next over, and Westlake was buoyed by these two quick wickets. Morgan Tapper (Year 13, St John’s) had just gotten off the mark at this point and he now had Varnan Pasupati (Year 12, Greenbank) join him to repair the damage. The trio of Westlake spinners began the stranglehold and runs dried up. Tapper was removed in the 27th over and was soon followed by Tom Boucher (Year 12, Greenbank) and Sam Bamford (Year 11, Major) in quick succession. Another clump of wickets was lost and King’s was in slight disarray at 97/5. This posed a huge challenge for the next batter, Jack Hernon (Year 13, Selwyn), who was due for a good innings. Hernon showed calmness and an understanding of the situation, allowing his partnership with Pasupati to blossom into something promising. They came together in the 29th over for the 7th wicket and remained unbeaten at second drinks at 110/6 – a total of 200, which was looking unlikely at one point, was now a strong possibility. Unfortunately for Hernon, a lapse in concentration on the last ball of the 42nd over brought an end to this promising 53-run partnership. Pasupati added another 12 runs in the company of Aekkam Sarao (Year 11, Parnell) before the latter was run out. The rest of the tail folded meekly with 14 balls remaining and King’s were all out for 186 runs. It’s not a good total, but it’s something to defend! Pasupati was left stranded on an unbeaten 46 (75 balls) – his best innings this season.
Defending a slightly below-par 186 runs required something special from the bowlers, especially the opening attack and Finn Priddy (Year 13, Marsden) responded. After a maiden opening over from Tim Hamilton (Year 13, Marsden), Priddy’s second ball was like a heat-seeking missile that gave the highly reputed Westlake opener no time to react and as his bat came out a split second too late to defend the ball. It found the top edge of his bat and he took no further part in the game, with Sarao taking a relatively easy catch. With a strong batting lineup, Westlake weathered the early storm, and a match-winning 4th wicket partnership gave them the foundation to push for victory. It wasn’t all one way as King’s fielded well to maintain the pressure and not gift the visitors easy runs. Sam Bamford stood out with some good work in this area. With six overs remaining, Westlake needed 34 runs for victory but had seven wickets available. King’s needed something special again and it came in the 45th over, Hamilton’s eighth when he conceded just one run but removed a set batsman and one other. Now the equation was 33 runs required in five overs, but plenty of wickets remained. With this in mind, the experienced Westlake lower-middle order kept their nerves, waited for the bad ball and secured a well-deserved victory.
King’s lose by 3 wickets.
Batting:
| F Kirkland | 19 | T Nelson | 27 |
| S Singh | 22 | M Tapper | 9 |
| V Pasupati | 46* | T Boucher | 1 |
| S Bamford | 1 | J Hernon | 40 |
| A Sarao | 7 | M Barrow | 1 |
| T Hamilton | 1 |
Bowling:
| T Hamilton | 10-3-27-4 | F Priddy | 9.1-0-52-1 |
| M Barrow | 10-3-22-1 | T Nelson | 7-2-32-0 |
| A Sarao | 10-1-27-0 | M Tapper | 3-0-25-0 |