Three on the trot for Huntley

The successful Huntley School 1st XI after defending their third Central Districts T20 schools title in Palmerston North recently. They will once again go to the national finals in Canterbury.

The Huntley School 1st X1 travelled to Palmerston North hungry for a rare third consecutive Central Districts title and earn the right to compete again at the national finals at Lincoln College in Christchurch.

The foray was successful and Huntley will now travel to Lincoln in November to compete for the National Primary School Cup against the winners of the other five districts championships.

Two years ago Huntley finished a gallant third at the nationals in Canterbury.
First up in the CD battle was Highlands Intermediate whose batting showed little resistance to the accurate Huntley bowling attack.

Wickets fell at regular intervals and Huntley soon bundled Highlands out for 62. The bowlers were backed up with tidy fielding, and keeper Bradley Hanegraaf was once again good with the gloves. Bowling figures of note were Harvey Meyer 2 for 4, Matthew Hocquard 2/6 and George Pearce 3/18.

Chasing 63 for victory and a spot in the CD finals Huntley openers Monty Sheriff and Fred McVerry got the team off to a positive start. All rounder Meyer continued the good work about hauling in the total. A couple of slick run outs and a stumping put Highlands back in the game. Huntley lost four wickets for no runs when the scores were tied.

This left Hanegraaf to bring it home for Huntley with seven overs to spare. A few tense moments for coach Anton Buys but a convincing victory nonetheless.

The only thing standing between Huntley and a third successive CD title was arch rival Hereworth from Havelock North. With captain McVerry unable to bat through injury, openers Sherriff and Hocquard set about putting up a competitive total. In the backs of the Huntley players' minds was a recent defeat to the Hereworth team, but a stoic team talk prior to the match from Headmaster Sam Edwards brought out the best in the boys.

After the run out of Sherriff in the 11th over, Meyer 42, and Hocquard 22, put together a 70 run partnership which saw Huntley well placed at 100 after their 20 overs.

A brilliant piece of fielding from Henry Blackley saw the first Hereworth opener run out first ball, and by the end of the seventh over, thanks to some aggressive bowling from captain McVerry (2/14), and Hocquard 4/12, Hereworth were reeling at 35 for 7. It was left to Sherriff (1/7), to clean up the tail. Some superb fielding saw Hereworth bundled out for 46 in reply.

"The boys have worked hard all season and take immense pride in their performances. They set themselves very high standards and thanks to the technical coaching they receive from Dilan Raj and Huntley coaches Andrew Reynolds Rowe and Anton Buys they are able to surpass expectations," proud headmaster Edwards said.

"It's a massive accomplishment," said Whanganui and CD coach Dilan Raj.
"To make the national finals is an outstanding achievement, to make the finals three years in a row shows what a quality sporting environment Huntley School provides for these young boys."

Coach Buys said the success of Huntley this season had been a real team effort.

"Determination and pride plays a huge part in the development of these boys and they deserve the rewards for their hard work," Buys said.