Sydenham Cricket Club - National Club Championships 2008

Day 6:

Cornwall made it two in a row for Auckland sides as they took out a rain affected Southern Trust National Club Championships final against Sydenham.

A dominating innings from the entire Cornwall top order set the groundwork for an imposing total of 296. They lost Hamish McCarthy early but then Rob Nicol (79) continued his great form, and in partnership with Michael Guptill-Bunce (55), put Cornwall in an exceptionally strong position. Raj Sharma (41) continued their good work and then Aaron Barnes (50), and Tarun Nethula (48) in particular, accelerated the innings to get Cornwall within touching distance of 300. Sydenham got off to a bright start but Hamish McCarthy (3-18) put the brakes on and when rain stopped play for the day Sydenham were well behind where they needed to be on run rate.

Jordan Sheed posted his third hundred of the tournament in leading Green Island to third place in the tournament. Sheed (118) and Hayden Finch (67) were the cornerstones of the Green Island effort which allowed them to get to 298. Hawera lost early wickets in their reply, with only Mark Parsons (64) posting a score of any real significance, and were well behind in their chase when the rain came, leaving them to settle for fourth.

Naenae provided the most remarkable turn around of the tournament, as only a day after they were skittled for 42 they bounced back to smash 401 against City to claim fifth spot in the tournament. A rollicking 190 from Adam Williams, that included 15 fours and seventeen sixes, propelled them to that massive total. In reply City were going along at a cracking pace themselves before the heavens opened, with Joey Yovich (75) leading the charge, but it was still not enough to be ahead of the required run rate.

Rob Nicol was rewarded for his outstanding batting right throughout the week where he compiled 447 runs at 89.40 with the player of the tournament award. In any other year Jordan Sheed’s three centuries would probably have got him that accolade but this year he had to settle for batsman of the tournament. His Green Island team mate Mark Joyce was named bowler of the tournament for his 16 wickets.

(50 over match) Cornwall 296-4 (R Nicol 79, M Guptill-Bunce 55, A Barnes 50 T Nethula 48, R Sharma 41) defeated Sydenham 133-6 (G Bell 35, C Ross 30, H McCarthy 3-18) on run rate.

(50 over match) Green Island 298-8 (J Sheed 118, H Finch 67, B Scott 36, D Good 4-35) defeated Hawera 163-8 (M Parsons 64, M Joyce 3-21) on run rate.

(50 over match) Naenae 401-8 (A Willliams 190, S Cross 61, V Menon 49, M Cornish 40no) defeated City 211-6 (J Yovich 75, D Goodwin 35) on run rate.

Michael Guptill-Bunce helped Cornwall to a rain-affected final win.
Photo / Dean Purcell (NZ Herald)

Day 5:

It’s a clash between north and south for tomorrow’s Southern Trust National Club Championship final after Sydenham earned the to face Cornwall in the big game.

They did it the hard way as well, having to chase down a stiff total of 237 off only 43 overs, but contributions from Simon Wraight (66) and Kieran Williams (41) meant that the southerners were able to get there with a couple of overs to spare. A rain interruption earlier in the day didn’t put City off their stride at the batting crease as Owain Hopkins (99), who was cruelly caught one short of a well deserved hundred, and Bert Horner (45) propelled them to a competitive score. It wasn’t enough however as Sydenham marched to a victory that secured their place in the final.

Green Island and Hawera will do it all over again tomorrow in the play-off for third after the Dunedinites won the battle between the two teams today. A superb hundred by Mark Joyce (127) in partnership with Brad Scott (65) set Green Island up for an impressive 260-7 off their 46 overs. Whilst Dion Ebrahim (97) and Keith Muller (71) were at the crease Hawera looked to be cruising but the same two men stepped up for Green Island just when they were needed, with Scott grabbing 4-40 and Joyce 4-48, to derail Hawera’s chances.

The final game was all over before lunch as Naenae crumbled before the onslaught of Todd Hewitt (6-18) to be all out for a pitiful 43. It took Cornwall just a handful of overs to reach the target and earn an afternoon off before their final appointment tomorrow.

If the weather plays its part tomorrow then we are set for a great final between the two form teams of the tournament.

Day Five Results

(46 over match) Green Island 260-7 (M Joyce 127, B Scott 65, M Kelbrick 3-58) defeated Hawera 230 (D Ebrahim 97, K Muller 71, B Scott 4-40, M Joyce 4-48) by 30 runs.

(50 over match) Naenae 43 (T Hewitt 6-18) lost to Cornwall 44-2 by eight wickets.

(43 over match) City 236 (O Hopkins 99, B Horner 45, B Larter 3-45) lost to Sydenham 238-6 (S Wraight 66, K Williams 41, G Bell 37) by four wickets.

Day 4:

Cornwall have secured their place in the final but who they play will only be determined after the last round of the Southern Trust National Club Championships is played out tomorrow.

Cornwall strolled to a comprehensive seven wicket win on the back of another huge opening stand between Rob Nicol and Hamish McCarthy. Nicol (90) just missed out on a third hundred, but his and McCarthy’s innings set the foundation for a comfortable win. For a good part of the day Cornwall looked as if they would be chasing much less than the 202 they eventually ran down, after Fraser Diver (4-33) ripped the heart out of the Sydenham innings. It was only the last two wickets putting on 80 runs that gave the Cantabrians a total to defend, but their bowling attack had no answer to the Cornwall batting line-up.

Green Island hung on to a faint chance of making the final by putting City to the sword to the tune of an 111 run victory. Jordan Sheed (108) resurrected his side with the help of Mark Joyce (47) after a rocky start and allowed the Otago men to reach 266-9. Joyce then backed up his batting efforts with the bat by grabbing 3-9 with the ball, which along with Brad Scott (3-22) and Dion Lobb (3-38), made sure that the City chase was always going to fall short.

In the game on the number three Hawera picked up their second win of the tournament as they trounced Naenae by 211 runs. Excellent middle order knocks from Alex Goodin (78), David Good (59no) and Heath Chittenden (52) allowed Hawera to recover from the straits of 4-53 to reach an imposing 308-7. A rollicking start led by Shane Battock (52) was all Naenae had to offer in reply as they crumbled to be all out for 97 and slump to their fourth straight loss.

Cornwall are now assured of a place in the final, and Sydenham will join them if they win tomorrow. However if the Cantabrians lose then the winner of the Hawera/Green Island clash will join them on nine points and the second finalist will be decided by net run rate.

Day Four Results

(50 over match) Green Island 266-9 (J Sheed 108, M Joyce 47, H Rutherford 30) defeated City 155 (O Hopkins 45, M Joyce 3-9, B Scott 3-22, D Lobb 3-38) by 111 runs.

(50 over match) Sydenham 202-9 (C O’Connell 30no, B Rapson 30, F Diver 4-33) lost to Cornwall 204-3 (R Nicol 90, H McCarthy 53, R Sharma 32) by seven wickets.

(50 over match) Hawera 308-7 (A Goodin 78, D Good 59no, H Chittenden 52, K Tai 37) defeated Naenae 97 (S Battock 52, M Pease 6-34, K Tai 3-27) by 211 runs.

Day 3:

The first finalist will be found after tomorrow’s game between Sydenham and Cornwall after those two teams carried on their winning ways on day three of the Southern Trust National Club Championships.

A late order charge from Craig Ross (62no) and Sunnie Chan was the catalyst for Sydenham to post a score in excess of 250 and pull off their third win of the tournament. A rapid start was blighted by the loss of wickets but Ross and Chan made sure that Sydenham came home in a hurry and Chan (3-31) then backed that up with the first three wickets of the Naenae innings to derail any hope the Wellingtonians had of resurrecting their tournament chances.

Another Rob Nicol hundred was the highlight of a mammoth Cornwall score that proved too much for Green Island. Nicol (124) and Hamish McCarthy (91) put on 158 for the first wicket and set the stage for a run onslaught. After those two departed Raj Sharma (67no) kept the momentum going to lead Cornwall to 367-6. Despite some late lower order hitting from Dion Lobb (59no) and Jamie Munro (43), Green Island were always struggling to keep in touch and eventually fell 95 runs short.

Hawera had Dion Ebrahim to thank for their first up win of the tournament after the former Zimbabwean international starred with both bat and ball. Ebrahim (84), Mark Parsons (83) and Chris Stephens (60) led an excellent Hawera effort batting first as they pushed the total to 283-7. Ebrahim then grabbed a five wicket bag, including the vital wicket of Joey Yovich to seal the 56 run win for Hawera and get them on the board.

Tomorrow sees the two unbeaten sides, Cornwall and Sydenham, face off and two other games with teams on three points needing to win to keep their slim hopes of a finals spot alive.

Day Three Results

(50 over match) Sydenham 254-7 (C Ross 62no, S Chan 43, A Fullerton-Smith 37, K Williams 30) defeated Naenae 193-9 (S Cross 56, N Ward 37, B Rapson 4-35, S Chan 3-31) by 61 runs.

(50 over match) Hawera 283-7 (D Ebrahim 84, M Parsons 83, C Stephens 60, O Hopkins 3-44) defeated City 227 (B Chard 51, O Hopkins 46, M Tulloch 44no, J Yovich 37, D Ebrahim 5-31) by 56 runs.

(50 over match) Cornwall 367-6 (R Nicol 124, H McCarthy 91, R Sharma 67 no, M Guptill-Bunce 34) defeated Green Island 272 (D Lobb 59 no, J Munro 43, J Sheed 34, M Joyce 32) by 95 runs.

Day 2:

Cornwall and Sydenham remain the only unbeaten sides after day two of the Southern Trust National Club Championships, with Rob Nicol and Kieran Williams taking centre stage for their sides.

On the number one field Cornwall’s 310 proved far too much for Hawera despite a 100 run second wicket stand between Dion Ebrahim (54) and Keith Muller (64). Their departure led to a middle order collapse that left the Taranaki side well short. The Cornwall innings got off to a rollicking start thanks to Hamish McCarthy (40), that was capitalized on by Nicol (128) and Michael Guptill-Bunce (66). Nicol was in superb touch bringing up his ton at a run a ball, and even though his dismissal brought about a mini-collapse the foundation was set for a winning total.

Sydenham carried on their great first day form as they knocked the top off the Green Island batting order to roll the Otago side for only 157. Ben Larter (4-36) and Chris Cooper (3-29) were the men to do it for Sydenham, with Hamish Rutherford top scoring for Green Island with 35. The Cantabrians reply had its shaky moments but an assured 66 not out from first day centurion Kieran Williams led them home for a five wicket win.

City posted their first win of the tournament on the back of an unbroken 123 run partnership between Joey Yovich (71no) and Kurt Wilson (61no). Naenae’s 228 was always going to be a tough total to defend on the small number three ground and after some early wickets Yovich and Wilson batted steadily to see their side to victory. The innings capped off a fine day for Wilson who had earlier picked up 3-40 to deservedly pick up the man of the match award.

Crunch matches loom tomorrow for those sides without a win, and as sides look to position themselves for the run in to the final.

Day Two Results

(50 over match) Cornwall 309 (R Nicol 128, M Guptill-Bunce 66, H McCarthy 40, M Pease 3-49) defeated Hawera 216 (K Muller 64, D Ebrahim 54, A Woodward 39) by 93 runs.

(50 over match) Green Island 157 (H Rutherford 35, B Larter 4-36, C Cooper 3-29) lost to Sydenham 158-5 (K Williams 66no) by five wickets.

(50 over match) Naenae 223 (M Young 39, A Russell 33, K Wilson 3-40) lost to City 228-4 (J Yovich 70no, K Wilson 61no) by six wickets.

Day 1:

It was a day of contrasting games at Cornwall Park on the first day of the Southern Trust National Club Championships with one game over by mid afternoon and the final game concluding in the ever encroaching gloom.

Cornwall got their campaign off to the perfect start with a polished win over City from Whangarei. They made short work of the 101 required for victory with openers Rob Nicol and Hamish McCarthy attacking from ball one. Michael Guptill Bunce (36) continued their work to lead the home side to victory. Their target was set up by a great opening spell from Todd Hewitt (3-15) which was backed up by Fraser Diver (3-18) who mopped up the tail.

Green Island were in danger of losing their first up game against Naenae when the Wellingtonians had Shane Battock (73) at the crease, but his dismissal sparked a collapse of epic proportions that saw them go from 104-2 to 115-7. Mark Joyce (3-12) and Russell Ritchie (2-39) were the main destroyers for Green Island at the bowling crease but the men from Otago had Jordan Sheed to thank for keeping them in the game. Sheed posted a superb unbeaten 114 to lead Green Island from the dire straits of 4-34 to a highly respectable 226.

In the final game Sydenham went on a run spree that proved too much for Hawera to chase down. Kieran Williams (112) and Grant Bell (83) laid waste to the Hawera bowlers to help the Christchurch side to a mammoth 345-6 off their 50 overs. In reply Hawera looked in with a shout whilst Denis Ebrahim was at the wicket but his departure initiated a slow end to the run chase.

Day One Results

(50 over match) City 101 (B Chard 32, T Hewitt 3-15, F Diver 3-18) lost to Cornwall 102-2 (M Guptill Bunce 36no) by eight wickets.

(50 over match) Green Island 226 (J Sheed 114no) defeated Naenae 142 (S Battock 73, M Joyce 3-12) by 84 runs.

(50 over match) Sydenham 345-6 (K Williams 112, G Bell 83, C Ross 50, P Joblin 3-51) defeated Hawera 285 (K Tai 91no, D Ebrahim 43, D Good 41, C Ross 3-22, B Larter 3-44) by 60 runs.