The Whangarei Boys' High School first XI returned from Hamilton as winners of the Northern Districts Secondary School Championship.
The tournament, involving the top eight schools in the Northern Districts region, doubled as the Gillette Cup qualifying tournament.
Whangarei Boys' High has, therefore, qualified for the 2013 Gillette Cup finals,which will be played in Christchurch in December. They will be joined by five other teams who represent each of the major associations.
In a tough draw, the Whangarei side had to beat three highly-ranked opponents to qualify. The quarter-final was played against Hamilton Boys' High, who immediately regretted their decision to bat first. Nick Stobart gave an outstanding display of out-swing bowling to take four wickets for seven runs from nine overs. Tight bowling from Max Trimble, David Armitt, Matt Lobb and Fletcher Coutts, who took a wicket each, ensured that Hamilton never recovered, as they were bowled out for 101. A solid partnership between Coutts, newly promoted to open the batting, and Kurtley Watson got the team in sight of the target and when they both fell, Lobb and Stobart completed a triumphant win by six wickets.
The semifinal opponent was St Paul's Collegiate of Hamilton, who had knocked out the 2012 champions, St Peter's of Cambridge, the previous day. The match followed almost the same script as the quarter-final, as St Paul's were dismissed for 103. They lost three early wickets, all caught by captain Max Davis behind the wickets off Stobart's bowling. Sam Clotworthy chimed in with two wickets and Trimble, Armitt, Lobb and Watson kept the pressure on, again claiming a wicket each.
The Whangarei reply featured a well-struck 36 from Watson but St Paul's were right back in contention when they claimed the seventh wicket with the score on 81. However, Sam Hart and Tim Osbaldiston, both newly-promoted from the 2nd XI, calmly knocked off the remaining 23 runs.
The finals opponent was Tauranga Boys' College, who had beaten Mahurangi College in their semifinal. Stobart took a wicket with his first ball but Tauranga rallied until Armitt came on in the 14th over. He twice found the edge to take wickets with his second and fifth balls, and then bowled the next batsman with the final ball of the over.
However, Tauranga captain, Ben Musgrave posted a fine 107, which enabled Tauranga to reach a challenging 186 for eight wickets.
