VICTORY LANE: Wanganui batsman Matthew Hocquard is congratulated by his under 11 team mates after an unbeaten 67 guided them to victory over Taranaki at the weekend.
VICTORY LANE: Wanganui batsman Matthew Hocquard is congratulated by his under 11 team mates after an unbeaten 67 guided them to victory over Taranaki at the weekend.
The Ray White Wanganui age group rep crcikets sides had a great outing against their bigger counterparts Taranaki over the weekend with the four teams scoring three wins and one close loss.
+ Ray White Wanganui Under 11
Monty Sherriff and Henry Blackley restricted Taranaki to 123 in 40 overs.Backed by some good fielding Sherriff and Blackley took 2 and 3 wickets respectively.
But it was the Matthew Hocquard show as the young Huntley student held the Wanganui innings together to win in the 20 over match with a wicket to spare. In a tense game, Hocquard's 54 run partnership with Connor Rees and his individual 67no was crucial in building a foundation for Charlotte Stent and Tim O'Leary to see the young side home in a tense win. Taranaki 123/5 M.Sherriff 2/13 H. Blackley 3/13 Wanganui 125/9 M Hocquard 67no Win to Wanganui by 1 wicket
Ray White Wanganui under 12 lost the toss and were asked to bowl. Josh Allpress (3-26) and Harry McVerry (2-19) got Wanganui off to a great start and at the 20 over drinks stage Wanganui had Taranaki 73-3 and evenly poised. In the second 20 overs Wanganui managed to pick up regular wickets with a couple of excellent catches and a run out and pick of the bowlers was Daniel Austin with 2/13. Taranaki 162 runs.
After losing both openers with 9 on the board it was left to Carter Hobbs (60no) and Blake Hoskins (44) to get the momentum back to Wanganui with a 3rd wicket partnership of 89.
At drinks Wanganui was well on top at 2/96 needing 67 off the final 20 overs. Carter retired for 50 and Taranaki started to apply pressure. Wanganui then lost 6 very quick wickets as Taranaki brought back their opening bowlers and as Carter came back to the wicket Wanganui was 137/9 needing a further 26 runs. Carter hit a further 10 runs but unfortunately Tom Wilkinson-Smith was run out attempting to keep Carter on strike and Wanganui lost by a heart breaking 13 runs. Taranaki won by 13 runs.
Wanganui won the toss and chose to bat in their 50 over clash with Taranaki. Wanganui made a brisk start and by the 11th over they had reached 83 albeit for the loss of 3 wickets. The middle order continued to pile on the runs and Wanganui were out on the last ball of the 50th over with their score at 236. Zane Munn, Mathew Hodges and Shaun O'Leary scored 30s and Adam Beard top scored with 44. There were a number of other valuable contributions with the bat by the lower order.
Taranaki's chase was going to require a good solid start but with impressive bowling from George Simpson and Andrew Dickson along with Adam Beard, Shaun O'Leary and Zak Farmer Taranaki couldn't cope with the pressure and slumped to 56 for 6 in the 20th over. Despite a very good 7th wicket stand of 60 Taranaki were eventually bowled out for 136 in the 37th over. In the end it was an emphatic win for Wanganui by 100 runs but the most pleasing facet was the bowlers bowled good lines and to a plan and were supported by some excellent fielding. This was a very good performance by a team that is improving all the time. Win to Wanganui by 100 runs
+ Ray White U15 Development Vs Taranaki U15 Development
Ray White chose to bat first on a slow Karo Park wicket in Inglewood and managed to total 184 all out. Harry Godfrey and Hayden Skou each scored 37. The total proved too much for the Taranaki side with Joel Clark's leg spin (3-35) and Joseph Abernethy's pace (2-12) doing most of the damage. A very good win to the young U15 development side as they progress to the full U15s next season.
Wanganui 184 J. Clark 27 H.Godfrey 37 H. Skou 37 Taranaki 125 J. Clark 3-35 Win to Ray White Wanganui by 59 runs.
