St John's College opening batsman Ben Talbot walks off as Central Hawke's Bay bowler Adam Clark applauds a leg-before-wicket dismissal, with team-mates, from left, Ben Swinburne and wicketkeeper Michael Ferguson giving him full support during a Hawke's Bay senior club cricket competition match at Frimley Park, Hastings, on Saturday.
But Clark's effort wasn't enough to stop St John's defeating Central Hawke's Bay College by 141 runs. It was the razor-like performance from St John's College twin-act in the batting department that wrestled the initiative from the visitors.
St John's Central Districts Under-15 right-hand batsman Michael Taiaroa, 15, top-scored with 81 not out at No4 and his captain, Matthew Mullany, 17, was 76 not out as the Hastings school amassed 232 runs for the loss of two wickets during their allotted 50 overs.
Both Taiaroa and Mullany are twins, with Mullany's allrounder brother, Greg, not getting a bat on Saturday, while Taiaroa's brother, Desmond, is in the school's 2nd XI. Central Hawke's Bay left-hand medium pacer Clark claimed the scalps of both the St John's openers in his 10 overs, which included four maidens for just 29 runs.
In their run chase, Central Hawke's Bay's Theo Seeds top-scored with 20 runs, but St John's sixth-former Thomas Primrose wreaked havoc when he snared six wickets off his 10 overs for the loss of 30 runs.
According to Primrose's coach, Neal Swindells, the left-arm spin bowler hadn't bowled much in the past three weeks, so the result was particularly rewarding for him.
St John's skipper Mullany, who scored 80 not out against Havelock North High School a fortnight ago but went out for a duck in the previous match, reversed his fortunes on Saturday.
Taiaroa, who is also a member of the Hawke's Bay under-17 team, will try to secure a berth in the Central Districts Under-17 team on December 6 when Hawke's Bay host the Central Districts tournament.
* Result: page 12.
CRICKET: Good start for Central Hawke's Bay, but ...
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