Last Saturday December 3rd saw a triple header of sorts with the St Kevin’s 1st, 2nd and 3rd XI all playing arch rivals Waitaki Boys’ High School. St Kevin’s proved victorious in both the 1st and 2nd XI games and these wins combined with a convincing win by the school’s Year 9 team last month over Waitaki in the National Community Shield competition are just reward for all the hard work put in by those involved in cricket at St Kevin’s this year.
1st XI Match Report - The St.Kevin’s 1st XI went into Saturday’s important clash with Waitaki BHS on the back of a confidence-building victory against Valley the week before, and fancied our chances against our traditional rivals, having had a close loss to them in the first round.
Captain Tim O’Malley lost the toss, and SKC were put in to bat and our approach was simple – be patient and bat out our 50 overs on a challenging pitch and slow outfield, and we backed ourselves to defend whatever total that we ended up with.
The innings got off to a rocky start with Hamish Slater and player/coach Tim McCormick removed by Inwood before the score had passed 15. Opener Jamal Vira and O’Malley set about stabilising the innings and the score had moved on to 37 when Vira (6) was dismissed. This brought Jordan Bartlett to the crease and he and O’Malley put together a crucial partnership of 40, ending when O’Malley was removed for a mature 17 and the score was a respectable 76-4 after 26 overs. A mini-collapse followed, leaving us struggling at 82-7 and in need of some resistance from the lower order where Brady Kingan (5*) and Isaac De Buyzer (8) set about surviving and spending time at the crease. The score ticked over with some wayward Waitaki bowling gifting us wides and we pushed on to be finally bowled out for 116, in the 49th over, with the aggressive Bartlett (20) the top scorer, behind extras (41).
While a touch disappointed with our total, we were confident at the break having batted close to our 50 overs that we could defend the score, and win the game. We knew we would need to take early wickets, and remove the key man Grobler early on. McCormick provided the crucial early breakthroughs, striking with the 3rd ball of the run chase, to bring Grobler to the crease. Off-spinner Tim O’Malley shared the new ball and the gamble very nearly paid off, with Grobler surviving a testing over from the captain. McCormick was a touch fortunate to remove prolific player/coach Grobler LBW in the next over and this proved to be a major moment in the game. Having removed the danger man, we were free to keep attacking the inexperienced Waitaki middle order and Sean Kelliher was thrown the ball early on. This proved to be an inspired decision from captain O’Malley, as Kelliher tore through them with a high-class display of leg-spin bowling, taking the last wicket with the Waitaki score at 80. The impressive Kelliher ended with 6-32 off 9.2 overs, ably supported by the testing medium pace of Jeremy Smith (2-18 off 9) and Tim McCormick (2-10 off 6) to secure a famous victory.
It was a true team performance as every player chipped in with valuable time at the crease, and good fielding pressure to allow Kelliher to dominate the Waitaki batsmen. Unfortunately after two straight wins and claiming sole ownership of 3rd place on the ladder, the team’s momentum is forced to halt as the Borton Cup is now paused for the Christmas period, and begins again in Term 1 2012. With still plenty of improvement in the side to come, there are good signs that the 1sts can position themselves to challenge the top teams come finals time.
2nd XI Match Report - The St Kevin’s 2nd XI had a well-deserved 45 run victory over the Waitaki 2nd XI on Saturday. St Kevin’s won the toss and elected to bat and they were off to a fine start, going at five runs an over for the first five overs. They then lost five quick wickets and were struggling at 44/5 after only 13 overs. Determined and disciplined batting was required to rectify the situation and Brian Driessens and Jibi Kunnetherdon did just that in adding 49 for the sixth wicket. Sensible batting was supported by some wayward bowling from Waitaki and the seconds finished by posting a competitive score of 136 all out.
The Waitaki side were rocked in the third over by an impressive display of fast bowling by Angus Booth, as he bowled both their openers. Waitaki never recovered from this and they were always struggling, finally being all out for 91. It was a disciplined bowling display by St Kevin’s with Driessens picking up three for 18 and James Armstrong two for 11, supporting Booth’s two for 10.
Representative Honours - Congratulations to 1st XI captain and current Year 12 student Tim O’Malley for his selection in the North Otago Senior squad. Tim made his debut on Sunday, hitting the winning runs against Mid Canterbury. We also wish him well on his bid for selection in the Otago U18 team in the near future. It would be great reward for a wonderful start to the season with both bat and ball for the impressive all-rounder.
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