CRICKET
Good sportsmen and women — competitors and champions — having received a bloody nose, pick themselves up and carry on.
The Poverty Bay boys’ senior secondary schools cricket team led by Nathan Trowell and the Poverty Bay girls’ secondary schools crew under Kayley Knight both came a cropper yesterday, but they will pick themselves up and dust themselves off for the simplest, best reason imaginable: they don’t have a choice.
Knight’s team, nine-a-side champions in 2019, lost to Waikato Valley at the last by 48 runs, having won every game they’d played at the tourney in the past three years.
The last fixture of the three-day, five-match tournament was a 30-over game; the first four had been T20s.
Knight won her fifth toss in a row and chose to bowl first on an artificial wicket at John Kerkhof Park in Cambridge.
Third-change seamer Knight took 3-20 off six overs, spearhead Grace Levy took 1-12 off six and Grace Kuil took 1-26 off five. They bowled well to a capable Valley batting side.
The Valley’s opening pair, Emma Wynen and Hannah Kendrick, each scored 24 runs and put up 55 for the first wicket in a total of 139-7.
The Bay were then dismissed for 91 in 20.4 overs. Kuil, in at No.5, led their scorers with 19 runs. No.1 Levy and first-drop Knight both made 13.
Medium-pace bowlers Ruby Makeham (3-8 off 4.4 overs), Carys Aveyard (2-9 off four) and Molly Fox (2-19 off four) worked magic for Waikato Valley.
Like Waikato Valley and Northland, defending champions Poverty Bay finished the tournament with four wins from five games. Although the Bay had beaten Northland by three wickets in Round 1, the northerners were placed second on net run rate and the Bay were third. Waikato Valley, beaten by Northland in Round 4, were first.
Poverty Bay coach Mel Knight gave her take on their last round-robin game: “The Valley kept wickets in hand, then we came back, nearly bowled them out and kept it to 139.
“But then we lost wickets at regular intervals and just couldn’t get a good partnership together.”
The Nick Hendrie-coached Poverty Bay boys came eighth in both the 50-over competition, which concluded yesterday, and the T20 component, which wound up on Tuesday.
The Bay lost to Bay of Plenty Lakelands by 123 runs on Boord Park, having won the toss and chosen to bowl.
Lakelands made 246-6, their top-scorers being second-drop Harry Jones (105 not out) and keeper-opener Matt Ward (51).
Injured Poverty Bay left-armer Travis O’Rourke turned in the gutsiest bowling effort of the tournament, taking 3-23 off eight overs. His line and length were better and his hostility heightened under pressure.
Off-spinner Daniel Stewart (2-35 off 10) flighted and landed the ball with great skill. He also bustled through his overs.
In the run-chase, second-drop Ranithu Rodrigo (45), Bay captain Nathan Trowell (31) and No.8 Max Briant (26) all worked hard for Poverty Bay in the searing heat.
At the end of perhaps the toughest tournament for a Poverty Bay senior secondary schools side, they sold their wickets dearly.
The Bay made 169 in 42.4 overs, having shown a glimpse of what coach Nicholas Hendrie wanted: strength of character.
“The boys didn’t get deflated and give up,” Hendrie said.
“We played our best game on the last day and we have come out of the tournament knowing where the other districts’ standards are compared with ours.
“I have offered the boys a plan for the winter and the next two years. The boys were all committed and said they wanted to come back better and stronger next year.
“They are willing to grow from this experience.”