Wins to Admiralty, Life Guards in opening round of Gisborne’s Challenge Cup cricket

The Challenge Cup junior T20 cricket competition for Term 4 started this week with wins to Gisborne Boys' High teams the Admiralty and the Life Guards.

SCOREBOARD

Gisborne Boys’ High School The Admiralty 237-2 (Conrad Parkes 50 retired, Harvey Reynolds 50 retired, Archie Gillies 44 not out; Jasper Sutherland 2 wickets for 26 runs off 3 overs, Cornelius du Preez 1-34-4) beat Campion College 2nd XI 88 in 16.1 overs (Mitchell Van Zyl 22, Taye McGuinness 17; Cody McMurray 2-13-2.1 overs) by 149 runs.

GBHS The Life Guards 112-7 (Jordyn Haley 55, Bjorn Botma 16; Patrick McInnes 2-11-3) beat GBHS The Blues and Royals 110-6 (McInnes 37, Alex Langford 20; Robbie Newlands 2-20-4, Haley 2-28-4) by two runs.

Positive batsmanship was on show at Nelson Park midweek.

Strokemakers from the Gisborne Boys’ High School Admiralty, Life Guards and Blues and Royals wielded the willow to great effect in round one of the Term 4 T20 Challenge Cup.

Left-handed opener Jordyn Haley, with 55 off 54 balls, laid the platform for the Life Guards’ two-run win over the Blues and Royals.

In reply, Blues opener Patrick McInnes fired up with 37 off 34, including six boundaries.

The Admiralty’s Conrad Parkes and second-drop Harvey Reynolds retired after reaching 50. No 3 Archie Gillies made an unbeaten 44 and brother and opener Ted got 27.

Haley, a promising left-arm orthodox spinner, took 2-28 off his four overs to back up game-day captain and medium-pacer Robbie Newlands’ 2-20.

Both bowled four overs in what finished as a nail-biting victory due in large part to two sensational catches.

Batting first, the Life Guards got to 112-7.

Haley and Bjorn Botma (16) were cautious in their opening stand of 38, while first-change paceman McInnes (2-11 off three overs) was the best of the Blues and Royals bowlers.

Absentees due to illness required players to double up, which good numbers in the competition allowed for.

Emerging firebrand Arthur Cave (1-5 from two overs) was the best of the Blues bowlers, but in the second innings he also held an incredible catch for the Guards to dismiss McInnes off a skied hook shot from a bouncer by opening bowler Brandon Fearnley (1-16 off four).

Newlands, at short mid-wicket, also held a great catch over his left shoulder to dismiss hard-hitting No 5 Alex Langford (20) off Haley - in effect winning the match with two balls of the 20th over to be bowled and the Blues requiring five runs for victory and six wickets down.

“Our fielding was very good,” Newlands said. “I’m proud of the way in which we kept ourselves in the game, even when it looked as if the Blues were going to chase down our total easily.”

Led by Parkes and Reynolds’ half-century knocks, the Admiralty racked up 237-2, then dismissed a depleted Campion College Second XI for 88 in the 17th over for a 149-run win.

Campion player-coach and Year 12 student Taye McGuinness hit two sixes and a four in his five-ball innings of 17 at No 8.

Mitchell Van Zyl, an Admiralty team member, led Campion’s batting effort with 22 at first drop.

Promising all-rounder Jasper Sutherland (11), at No 7, was the last batsman out, bowled by Cody McMurray (1-13 off 2.1 overs).

Earlier, Admiralty batted superbly. Vice-captain Ted Gillies fell with the score at 47, bowled by left-armer Sutherland (2-26 off three), but Boys’ High added a further 190 for the loss of one wicket.

Gillies said their batsmen contributed to a great total and the side played well in all departments.