Pages blaze away in big stand to give City impressive start

City's Jamie Matthews hit a handy 22 during their one-day clash with  Onerahi-Central at Kensington Park.An outstanding partnership of more than 140 from City siblings Ian and Chris Page saw the club start their one-day campaign according to plan.
Batting first against old rivals Onerahi-Central at Kensington Park on Saturday, City hit their way to an impressive 274/7 in their 50 overs, with No 3 Ian Page falling five runs short of a century when he was dismissed by Nic Breslin. His brother Chris hit 70 before being dismissed. 
City skipper Bert Horner was impressed with his side.
 "The two Page boys did really well and pretty much did the hard work. But everyone chipped in from the top order down," he said.
Jamie Matthews opened with Horner and they scored 22 and 26 respectively, while Chris Anderson also hit 22.
Tim Anderson was on form with the ball, taking four wickets for 19 runs off his 10 overs, helping restrict Onerahi to 144.
Onerahi took a while to settle into the batting. Opening batsman  Andy McDowell was dismissed for two runs by Matthews and while fellow opener Craig Russell hung in for 29, Garth Anderson walked after one. While No 4 batsman Breslin tried to pick up the pieces hitting 22 making it a solid all round effort to add to his 4/46 with the ball, the middle order fell quickly making City's total an impossible target to reach.
Missing out on last season's one-day final was driving force for the club, Horner said.
"Like everyone else, we want to be there this season. The winner and second placegetter in the final goes on to play the Northern Districts knockout final and the winner of the ND competition goes through to play at the New Zealand Championships in Auckland - we made that two years ago and we want to do the same again."
Twenty20 finalists Whangarei Boys' High School faced Kamo on Saturday at Kensington Park, and continued their winning form in the 50-over game.
Rory Darkins (53) and Vishaan Harypursat (62) were the best with the bat during the Boys' High's innings on their way to a total of 171.
It was a good effort against a tough Kamo bowling attack who had them all out in 49.2 overs. Kamo's Josh Ashley took 3/16 off his 10 overs, while Derrick Bon took 2/37 from 6.2 overs.
While the first three wickets fell for a handful of runs, Kamo looked to be back on target when Curtis Cherrington struck 66 in the middle of the batting order.
However, the wickets fell swiftly after his effort and the schoolboys dismissed Kamo for 132 in 41.2 overs, with fast-medium bowler Tom Herman claiming 3/16 in his 6.2 overs.
In Saturday's third premier grade match, Kaipara Flats travelled to Maungakaramea to play the hosts. While the visitors put in a gallant bid  to chase down Maungakaramea's total of 214/9, they were all out for 191 in 44.2 overs.
Maungakaramea's Finlay Brooker top-scored with 67, while Tauseef Satti (29), Michael O'Flaherty (30) and Kevin Forde (31) kept Kaipara in the game.
Maungakaramea's bowling was too accurate, with James Merry collecting 4/51.