Natasha van Tilburg has an enviable record with the bat - and is no mean bowler either. Photo / Avondale College
When you are in the zone, you need to cash in.
That is exactly what 16-year-old Natasha van Tilburg has done in the past few weeks for the Avondale College First XI in the girls' premier grade.
Playing in the T20 format on Wednesday afternoons, van Tilburg has reeled off scores of 119 not out against Glendowie College, 123 not out against St Cuthbert's, and 82 not out last week against Diocesan. Positively Ross Taylor-esque or should that be Brendon McCullum-esque, given she is captain (and has been since Year 10). What's more, she has done it in astonishingly quick time. Her 119 came out of a total of 145/5 off 20 overs and included no less than 23 boundaries. The right-hand opener then struck her second unbeaten century out of a total of 191 to carry Avondale to a comfortable win over St Cuthbert's, where she also picked up a cheap wicket with her legspin.
Throw in a couple of 50s in premier grade cricket for her Eden-Roskill club and you can see why van Tilburg feels good about her cricket.
And while she would be the first to admit some of the school attacks are a long way off premier club standard, you still have to post the runs and be mentally strong.
"I scored three hundreds in a row a couple of years ago, so it's pretty much on par with that for performances, but I feel like I am at a way better stage now."
Her weight of runs had already earned the respect of her teammates, many of whom are considerably older than their skipper.
She is predominantly a keeper-batter at club level, and you can be sure Auckland Hearts selection won't be too far away, not to mention the White Ferns.
Avondale has the bye this afternoon, so next Wednesday against St Kentigern is the next opportunity for van Tilburg to again get among the runs.
Triathlon
Auckland SS championships (St Kentigern College):
Junior girls: Kendall Vaughan (St Cuthbert's College) 1, Megan Greensmith (St Cuthbert's) 2, Charlotte Carter (Baradene College) 3
Intermediate girls: Katherine Badham (Takapuna Grammar School) 1, Rose Dillon (Diocesan School for Girls) 2, Fowler Estafana (Baradene) 3
Senior girls: Alana Lythe (Westlake Girls' High School) 1, Tessa McNair (Takapuna Grammar School) 2, Madeline Evans (St Kentigern College) 3
Junior boys: Dylan McCullough (St Kentigern) 1, Adam McPheat (Takapuna Grammar) 2, Ryan Church (St Kentigern) 3
Intermediate boys: Daniel Hoy (Westlake Boys' High School) 1, Trent Dodds (Macleans College) 2, Moreau Alexander (Auckland Grammar) 3
Senior boys: Leo Roper (Macleans) 1, Matthew Roets (Westlake) 2, Joshua Chapman (St Kentigern) 3
Teams events:
Junior boys: Rangitoto College 1; Intermediate boys: Sacred Heart College 1, Sacred Heart 2, Avondale College; Senior boys: Macleans 1
Mixed, intermediate: Pinehurst School 1; Mixed, senior: Pinehurst 1, Pakuranga College 2, Pakuranga 3
Water polo
Premier boys championship: St Kentigern 5 Rangitoto 4; Sacred Heart Sharks 25 Kristin 2; AGS 1 5 Westlake Boys' 4
Premier boys plate: St Peter's 9 Sacred Heart Dolphins 9; MAGS 9 AGS 2 5
Premier girls championship: Rangitoto 6 Diocesan 5; EGGS 2 St Cuthbert's 1; Kristin 8 Westlake Girls' 8
Premier girls plate: Baradene 14 St Kentigern 2; Carmel 8 MAGS 3
Cricket
Premier boys A: RH Marryatt Cup final (Melville Park)
St Kentigern College 246/8 (James Ellis 100, Daniel Young 53; Will St John 3-23) defeated King's College 195 (Mitch Murray 43; Adityar Edekar 4-29, Sandeep Patel 3-34) by 51 runs
Two-day championship:
MAGS 327/8 (Jared Challis 88, James Michie 73, Aniket Parikh 73) St Kentigern 30/1
King's 101 (Scott Johnston 30, Healiss 3-19, Brett Bakkerus 2-3, Ross ter Braak 2-19) Westlake 74/5 (ter Braak 26 not out, Hamish McLean 4/24)
Sacred Heart 81 (Alex Cammell 4-5, J Curtis 3-13) Auckland Grammar 138/7 (H. Robb 31, M. Lobb 30)
Two-day plate:
Avondale 41 (Scott Martin 6-12, Niko Weerakoon 3-1) and 21/3 Rosmini 152 (Mirza 3/41)
Rangitoto 141 Kelston Boys 36/5
Liston 243 Macleans 61/3
Premier girls
White pool
St Kentigern 66/0 lost to St Cuthbert's College 70/1 by nine wickets; Diocesan beat Avondale (Natasha van Tilburg 82 not out)
Blue pool
Westlake 171/1 beat Mt Roskill Grammar 73/6 by 98 runs
Volleyball
Auckland SS senior championships (Trusts Stadium, Waitakere):
Division one boys: De La Salle 1, Rangitoto 2, Orewa 3
Division one girls: Orewa 1, Westlake 2, Rangitoto 3
Division two boys: Northcote 1, Long Bay 2, Southern Cross 3
Division two girls: Avondale 1, Lynfield 2, Elim Christian 3
Tennis
Senior boys A1: Sacred Heart beat Westlake 5-4, Rosmini beat MAGS 5-4; AGS beat King's 8-1
Senior girls A1: MAGS beat St Cuthbert's 5-4, EGGS beat Baradene 6-3, Diocesan v Carmel
Junior Boys A1/A2: St Kentigern beat King's 8-1, Macleans beat St Kentigern 6-3, Sacred Heart beat St Peter's 9-0
Junior Girls A1: St Cuthbert's beat Macleans 6-3
Intermediate Boys A1: Rosmini beat AGS 2 8-1, St Kentigern beat King's 7-2
Intermediate Girls A1: St Cuthbert's beat St Kentigern 7-2
Yachting
Auckland SS regatta:
Team placings: Auckland Grammar 1, Glendowie 2, Rangitoto 3, Takapuna Grammar 4, Westlake Boys' 5, Westlake Girls' 6, St Kentigern 7, Sacred Heart 8
Touch
Senior
Counties Zone Boys: Wesley 3 James Cook 1
Counties Zone Boys: James Cook Puutake 7 Alfriston 2 4; James Cook 3 Papakura 2; Alfriston 1 4 Manurewa 1; Wesley 5 Tangaroa 4
Counties Zone Girls: Alfriston 3 James Cook 0; Papakura 1 3 Tangaroa 3
Counties Zone Girls: James Cook Puutake 6 James Cook 0; Papakura 1 4 Alfriston 1
Counties Zone Mixed: Manurewa Mixed 6 Pukekohe Red 1; Rosehill default to Alfriston Mixed
Counties Zone Mixed: Alfriston Mixed 4 Manurewa Mixed 1; Tuakau 4 Pukekohe Red 4
Southern Zone Boys: Aorere 4 Southern Cross 4; De La Salle 3 Mangere 2; Otahuhu 13 Auck 7th Day Adv. 1; King's 14 Papatoetoe 2
Southern Zone Boys: King's 10 Auck 7th Day Adv. 1; De La Salle 6 Papatoetoe 2; Mangere 7 Aorere 3; Otahuhu 8 Southern Cross 1
Southern Zone Girls: Auck 7th Day Adv. 3 Papatoetoe 2; Otahuhu 7 Mangere 0; Aorere 5 Southern Cross A 1
Southern Zone Mixed: Mangere 7 Southern Cross 2
Eastern Zone Boys A Grade Pool A: Botany Downs 1 4 Pakuranga Mixed 4
Eastern Zone Boys A Grade Pool A: Edgewater default to Sacred Heart A; Edgewater default to Botany Downs 1
Eastern Zone Boys A Grade Pool B: Tamaki 3 Sacred Heart B 2
Eastern Zone Boys A Grade Pool B: Macleans Mixed 7 Pakuranga 2
Eastern Zone Boys B Grade Play offs: Howick Red 4 Sacred Heart C 3; Howick Blue 8 Selwyn 0; One Tree Hill White 5 Glendowie 0; Saint Kentigern Snr A 6 Saint Kentigern Snr B 4
Eastern Zone Girls A Grade Playoffs: Sancta Maria 6 Saint Kentigern Snr A 0; Saint Kentigern Prem A 17 Pakuranga 0; One Tree Hill 4 Macleans 3; Botany Downs 1 11 Botany Downs 2 2
Eastern Zone Girls B Grade: Glendowie 2 Saint Kentigern Snr C 0; Saint Kentigern Snr B 9 Botany Downs 3 0
Central Zone Girls A Grade Play offs: MAGS 11 Onehunga 0; Baradene 4 Diocesan A 3; AGGS A 2 EGGS 0; Marist 5 St Cuthbert's A 2
Central Zone Girls B Grade: St Mary's Red 9 Baradene C 1
Central Zone Girls B Grade: Baradene C 10 St Cuthbert's B 1; Lynfield 12 Marist Gold 2; AGGS B default to Baradene B
Central Zone Boys A Grade: MAGS 9 St Peter's B 2
Central Zone Boys A Grade: St Peter's A 8 Dilworth A 6; MAGS 5 Onehunga A 2; St Paul's 5 Dilworth A 2
Central Zone Boys B Grade: Dilworth B 9 St Peter's C 3; Dilworth C 4 Lynfield 2
Central Zone Mixed: MAGS 10 MRGS 2; Western Springs 9 Marcellin A 0
Western Zone Boys: Massey 1 8 Avondale A 0
Western Zone Girls Pool A: Avondale A 6 St Dominic's 1 0
Western Zone Girls Pool B: Waitakere 6 Avondale B 1
North Harbour Boys A Grade: Westlake Boys B 6 Mahurangi 2; Westlake Boys A 11 Orewa 1
North Harbour Boys A Grade: Rosmini 3 Westlake Boys B 0; Orewa 4 Mahurangi 1
North Harbour Boys B Grade: Hato Petera 6 Northcote 4; Takapuna 3 Birkenhead 1
North Harbour Girls A Grade: Westlake Girls A 8 Kristin 0; Whangaparaoa 7 Pinehurst 4; Rangitoto A 7 Mahurangi A 1
North Harbour Girls A Grade: Mahurangi A 8 Kristin 3
North Harbour Girls B Grade Pool A: Kristin Jade 6 Westlake Girls Gold (North Harbour Girls B Grade Pool B) 0
North Harbour Girls B Grade Pool A: Kristin Jade 6 Hato Petera 1; Westlake Girls Green default to Westlake Girls White
North Harbour Girls B Grade Pool A: Westlake Girls Green default to Carmel Cruisers; Hato Petera 2 Westlake Girls White 1
North Harbour Girls B Grade Pool B: Westlake Girls Red 6 Rangitoto B 0
North Harbour Girls B Grade Pool B: Westlake Girls Red 9 Westlake Girls Black 0
North Harbour Girls B Grade Pool B: Kristin Jade (North Harbour Girls B Grade Pool A) 6 Westlake Girls Gold 0
North Harbour Mixed Grade Pool A: TKKM O Te Raki Paewhenua A 10 Long Bay B 0; Kaipara 1 10 Birkenhead Blue 0
North Harbour Mixed Grade Pool B: Mahurangi A 11 Kaipara B 0; Orewa 17 Birkenhead White 0
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