OBR win Walker Shield

LASHING OUT: Old Boys Rugby top-scorer Craig Christophers hooks the ball as High School Old Boys wicketkeeper Glen Udall waits for a chance. Christophers scored 46 before Udall stumped him off the bowling of off-spinner David Salmon. OBR won by three runs. Pictures by Paul Rickard

THEIR margin of victory was three runs.

Bain Construction Old Boys Rugby beat Bollywood High School Old Boys on Saturday to add the Walker Shield Twenty20 title to their 2017 Doleman Cup 40-over cricket championship.

OBR won the toss, batted first and posted 132-8.

An excellent opening stand of 69 between Craig Christophers (46 runs from 44 balls) and Kieran Venema (28 from 27) got them off to a good start at Harry Barker Reserve.

The High School Old Boys MVP (most valuable player), wily off-spinner David Salmon, took two wickets for 18 runs in four overs.

He lured Christophers down the pitch to be stumped by Glen Udall in the 13th over — a cricketing moment to savour, regardless of allegiances.

“Our clubs are evenly matched and it was good to have a close final,” OBR captain Jonathan Purcell said.

“The pitch played well. Craig and Kieran were really positive with their running between wickets and strike rotation, but there’s no doubt that HSOB went up a few gears with the ball and in the field after Kieran’s run-out in the 10th over. They also ran out Timoti Weir (5) and Arun Kurup (12) later on.”

HSOB captain Scott Tallott, who scored 20 off 22 balls from No.1 — was proud of the fight and determination his troops showed.

“We restricted them to 66 in both 10-over blocks and fought back well,” he said.

“We played to the best of our ability and that’s the best performance we’ve put on the park for a while.

“We’ve now got spinners we can trust — the Fish (Salmon) and Ryan Majstrovic (1-27 off four overs) — and things didn’t always go OBR’s way.

“I was batting pretty well until I was plumb lbw to Jimmy Holden — great decision Couttsy (umpire Gary Coutts) — my opening partner Carl Shaw (22 off 25) and Jak Rowe (22 off 18) at four . . . all the boys tried hard but OBR won it. These teams respect each other, and enjoy a hard-fought game of cricket and each other’s company on and off the field.”

OBR MVP and medium-pacer Christophers took 1-27 off four overs, with leg-spinner Purcell (2-23 off four) and left-arm seamer Weir (2-25 off four) being the best of the bowlers.

HSOB lost No.3 batsman Udall (for three runs) and No.8 Gagan Dhingra (for eight) to run-outs in a second innings played on a knife’s edge.

The ball not coming on caused Shaw to be caught by Cook at long-on off a Purcell top-spinner, and Rowe to give a catch to Matt Henwood at cover off the stock leg-break.

But HSOB, in their first final this season, fought hard to the end. Majstrovic and Mike Francis added 11 runs in the last five balls of the 20th over to get HSOB to 129-9.

“We’d like to make a special thank-you to the umps,” Purcell said.

“What we most appreciate from Couttsy, Tony Lee and the guys who umpire for all the clubs is their reliability and consistency. They’re there for cricket every season.

“For us as a club, this win reflects the hard work we do off the field and a team culture where people play for each other. It’s an awesome group to be part of.

“We’ve now defended the Walker Shield, won the Doleman Cup three times in a row and we’re after the DJ Barry Cup.

“Pirates beat Bollywood Stars for it last year, but we want it now.”

OBR 132-8 (Craig Christophers 46, Kieran Venema 28; David Salmon 2-18) def HSOB 129-9 (Jak Rowe 22, Carl Shaw 22, Scott Tallott 20; Jonathan Purcell 2-23, Timoti Weir 2-25).