“We switched off. We didn’t go after them to finish the job, and started leaking runs.
“When they were seven down with only 63 runs on the board, we thought runs weren’t an issue. The next thing we knew, they had 180 runs and we couldn’t do anything about it.”
Sam Singh and Harry Singh revived the innings with a 73-run partnership before Harry was caught by Scott Tallott off the bowling of Hunter Jones for 27.
Three runs before Harry’s dismissal. Sam was dropped by Robbie Tallott and from then on Singh produced a masterful display of controlled batting as he and Tushar Balat set about reaching a target that had seemed beyond reach.
Sam, who hit 12 fours, paid tribute to Harry Singh and Balat, who ended the game 12 not out.
“We couldn’t have done it without these two,” Sam said.
“Harry had a good knock, and even though Tushar scored only 12 he did his job by not getting out.”
Sam said he had two reasons for batting at No.8.
“I’d had a long drive down from Auckland, bowled eight overs and spent a long day in the field in hot conditions.
“But I also wanted to use some of our top batsmen, Ajay (Kumar) and Gary (Singh) down the order.
“We gambled we would lose some wickets with the new ball . . . but not seven for only 63 runs. Jak and Robbie bowled really well and put us under pressure. But after that the ball was easier to hit and it was a matter of being patient.”
As the Stars began to close in on their target, Scott Tallott tried to put pressure on Sam Singh and Balat. He pushed the field out to stop boundaries, so Singh collected singles and twos with ease as the required run rate steadily dropped.
And when Tallott brought the field up Singh went over the top.
Scott Tallott played his part with the bat, scoring 48 off 34 balls. His brother Sam chipped in with 36, while Carl Shaw (35) and Robbie Tallott (29) also got starts without going on.
Gary Singh was the pick of the Stars bowlers, taking three wickets for 11 runs. Harry Singh picked up 3-39.
¦ Kevin Hollis Glass Pirates medium-pace bowler Tayla Hollis and opening batsman James Torrie were the stars of their side’s five-wicket win against Gisborne Boys’ High School (1).
Hollis returned personal best figures of 5-37 off eight superb overs as Boys’ High were restricted to 155-9.
Hollis’s teammates were not about to let her get carried away with her five-wicket bag.
Club stat man Aku Smith and club stalwart Wynsley Wrigley said Tayla’s grandfather Kevin Hollis took 6-32 against Marist in 1971.
Boys’ High lost their first wicket at 24. Robert Schwass and Paul Stewart then put on 63 runs in a second-wicket partnership that ended when Schwass was bowled by Hollis for 55. From then on, wickets fell at regular intervals.
Pirates lost David Situ and Olly Tilley to be 23-2. However, Torrie — making his 40-over debut for Pirates after leaving Campion College — and Tom Hayes rebuilt the innings. They put on 54 runs before Hayes was dismissed for 26, caught by Angus Orsler off the bowling of Schwass.
Torrie, whose unbeaten 69 included 11 fours off 53 balls, and Richie Needham took the score to 115 before Needham (17) was caught by Orsler off the bowling of Peter Kapene.
Luke Hayes followed Needham, caught Orsler off Kapene six runs later. But there was no stopping Torrie as he and his cousin Daniel Torrie steered Pirates home.
¦ Horouta were too strong for Campion, winning by seven wickets.
Chasing Campion’s 104, Horouta replied with 105-3.
Mel Knight was the chief destroyer for Horouta, capturing four wickets for 20 runs off six overs. Phoebe Taylor chipped in with 2-18.
Former Poverty Bay captain Patrick McHugh top-scored for Campion with 30 as he and player-coach Mark Naden shared an opening partnership of 59.
Horouta lost three wickets for 51 runs but Duncan Gibson (30 not out) and Blake Taylor (19no) saw their side home.
¦ Bain Construction OBR’s Timoti Weir was in devastating form, bagging six wickets for six runs off four overs as GBHS (2) were dismissed for 41. Olivier Cassidy (5-9) gave a depleted OBR side some anxious moments before the Doleman Cup champions reached their target with four wickets in hand.
Scores
Stars 223-7 (S Singh 111 not out, H Singh 27; J Rowe 4-73, R Tallott 3-18) def HSOB 218 (S Tallott 48, S Tallott 36, C Shaw 35, R Tallott 29; G Singh 3-11, H Singh 3-39, Ajay Kumar 2-35) by two wickets.
Pirates 156-5 (J Torrie 69no; P Kapene 2-29) def GBHS (1) 155-9 (R Schwass 55, P Kapene 22, P Stewart 20; T Hollis 5-37) by five wickets.
Horouta 105-3 (D Gibson 30no, B Taylor 19 no; Mark Naden 2-27) def Campion College 104 (P McHugh 30; M Knight 4-20, P Taylor 2-18) by seven wickets.
OBR 44-6 (Olivier Cassidy 5-9) def GBHS (2) 41 ( Timoti Weir 6-6, J Holden 2-13) by four wickets.
