Hat-trick of wins to PB Strikers

The Poverty Bay Strikers Year 8 team, pictured after their third win from five games over four days in Division B of the Hawke’s Bay Cricket Camp. Back (from left): coach Daniel Williams, James Redpath Jack Williams, Raffaele Colucci, Patrick McInnes, William Edginton, game-day captain Harvey Reynolds and Taylor Kijowski. Front: Conrad Parkes, Kobe Donnelly, Cody McMurray, Thomas Coleman and Archie Gillies.Picture supplied

A grand finishing run sent Poverty Bay Strikers home all smiles after the Year 8 White B Division cricket tournament in Hawke’s Bay.

sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont">The Daniel Williams-coached Poverty Bay Strikers lost two games, then won three in a row.

In four of the games, teams had up to 30 overs each in which to score, and in one match they had 50.

First up, the Bay – under game-day captain Jack Williams – played North City Bears at Marewa Park.

Bears skipper Maddox Murray won the toss and chose to bat.

Tall left-hander McKay Murray made a classy 46 at the top of the order, putting on 56 with Daniel Ward (20). Maddox Murray made 43 at No.7.

Poverty Bay pace bowlers Raffaele Colucci (3-14) and James Redpath (3-22) both bowled three good overs.

Bears opening bowlers Eshan Ranchord (1-3) and Brody Thomas tested the Strikers batsmen but Patrick McInnes, in at No.8, scored 25 off 27 balls. The next-highest Bay scorer was No.3 Harvey Reynolds (16).

The Bay scored 94-8 in 30 overs – a Bears win by 87 runs – but McInnes had the final word.

Thomas bowled the last over, and Murray set an umbrella field for the last ball. McInnes pulled it from outside off-stump to the boundary at deep backward square leg.

Bears coach Cameron Prestidge appreciated the Strikers’ grit.

“Raffaele was quick – he intimidated our boys a bit,” he said.

“Paddy (McInnes) was very good with the bat and his placement was sensational. Those boys play the game in a great spirit too.”

Next the Strikers played Hutt District at Frimley Park. Bay game-day captain McInnes won the toss and opted to bowl.

James Redpath (1-7) and Archie Gillies (1-10) both bowled two overs. First-change bowler McInnes (1-14), legspinner Reynolds (1-15) and Raffaele Colucci (1-18), on at second change, all bowled three overs.

Hutt second drop Ben Williams (40) and No.7 Thomas Peters (47) batted superbly in a sixth-wicket stand of 91 in a total of 171-5.

For Poverty Bay, openers McInnes (13) and Redpath (9) made 36. First-drop Kobe Donnelly (13) and William Edginton (7) then put on 31 for the third wicket. The Bay’s third significant partnership was an unbroken 46-run stand between Conrad Parkes (27) and Reynolds (18) that saw them through to 123-5.

The Hutt's best bowler in their 48-run win was medium-pacer Aiden Baxter (2-8).

Against unbeaten Onslow at Frimley Park, Strikers game-day captain Archie Gillies won the toss and opted to bat.

Reynolds (19) and Parkes (15) put up 30 at the top of the order, second-drop Taylor Kijowski (12) and No.8 Donnelly (15) got starts and McInnes, from No.6, hit four boundaries in 55 balls.

Onslow skipper Liam Kilty had to spread the field during McInnes’s 49-run seventh-wicket partnership with Donnelly. McInnes dropped and ran a single on the leg side to bring up his 50.

Donnelly drove the last ball of the innings from Taane Walker (1-13) through mid-on for two. Poverty Bay posted 142-6, their highest total to date.

In Onslow’s run-chase, Reynolds had opener Thomas Hunter (7) caught by Year 7 all-rounder Cody McMurray at square leg with the score at 12.

Two balls into the 10th over, first-change bowler Jack Williams (2-12, four overs) had No.2 batsman Leo Foote (13) caught by Parkes at mid-on to break a 28-run stand with first-drop Rachit Lolage (47 off 76 balls).

Strikers swing bowlers Taylor Kijowski and Thomas Coleman each sent down two probing overs and Gillies held a catch off legspinner Parkes (1-13, three overs) at square leg.

Four balls into the 27th over, Parkes held his second difficult chance – coming forward from long-on – to dismiss No.6 Taane Walker (6) off McInnes.

With two balls left in the 30th over, Strikers spearhead Edginton – who had bowled No.5 Kieran Barry for 20 with the score at 125-8 – held a catch at square leg to dismiss Lolage off McMurray (1-10, four overs) and give Poverty Bay a 13-run win.

Onslow caretaker coach Swithin Foote said: “Kobe (Donnelly) came out when things were tight and played a great support role for Patrick (McInnes). They ran their twos very well in the heat. It was a match-winning partnership.”

In Game 4, a 50-over match at Napier Boys’ High School, Johnsonville captain Maddox Falconer won the toss and chose to bowl.

Poverty Bay were all out for 143 in 40.1 overs. McInnes made 23 at No.1 but Poverty Bay’s batting punch this time came from the middle order.

Parkes (19) and McInnes put on 42 for the fourth wicket, taking the Strikers from 35-3 to 77-4. Reynolds (20) at No.6 and Donnelly (23) at No.7 made contributions even as Johnsonville offspinner Falconer took 6-12 from six overs.

Falconer flighted the ball beautifully, achieving sharp turn and bounce.

The Bay’s Redpath took 2-7 from three overs and spearhead McMurray took 2-10 from four. Five other bowlers each took one wicket. Colucci, at first change, bowled Johnsonville No.1 Krutessh Balamuralikrishna for eight.

No.2 batsman Jonty Joseph was Johnsonville’s only batsman to make double-figures, with 40. The innings closed when No.11 and non-striker Pranav Arora was run out for nought. McMurray, at short midwicket, gave a snappy return to wicketkeeper Gillies, who completed the dismissal.

Johnsonville were all out for 89 in 34.5 overs. The Bay, under William Edginton, had won by 54 runs.

At the break, Johnsonville co-coach Matt Conway had felt that his team had a shot.

“The Bay boys’ banter was good,” he said.

“More importantly, they bowled well and fielded tightly.”

Harvey Reynolds led Poverty Bay against the Jonathan McInroy-coached Macs Cricket at Anderson Park, Havelock North. Reynolds won the toss and Poverty Bay batted first.

Kobe Donnelly top-scored, with 37 from 70 balls. His opening partner, Taylor Kijowski (3), faced the first ball of the day and took two runs off the fourth, from speedster Charlie Vaughan.

The Macs attack had great variety – left-arm orthodox spinner Jake Rigby, left-arm swing bowler Sam Shepherd (2-9) and the youngest player in the match, legspinner Reyansh Bector, 9. Bector took 1-12 from three overs, and later made nine runs as an opening batsman.

McInnes made 10 from No.4, adding 44 with Donnelly for the third wicket.

Rigby (1-10) bowled McInnes and with the dismissal of Reynolds (five from No.5), Poverty Bay were 81-7 two balls into the 26th over. The possibility of a defendable total now rested with Cody McMurray and Jack Williams.

They took 34 runs from the next four overs and four balls. McMurray (4) gave Williams (24) a great shot at the bowlers and Williams hammered four boundaries in 18 balls. The Bay posted 121-7 and then opened their bowling with pace and legspin.

Edginton gave his crew a dream start – three maidens – and leggie Reynolds took 1-7 from four overs, one a maiden.

McInnes (2-22, four overs) and ’keeper-cum-offspinner Gillies (2-15, three overs), were the Strikers’ most successful bowlers on Day 4, due mainly to their fielding unit.

McInnes held the Bay’s catch of the tourney three balls into the 18th over, with the Macs 63-4. Legspinner Reynolds drew an uppish drive from left-hander Rigby. McInnes, at wide mid-off, dived full-length to his left to turn a half-chance into a marker for victory.

Coleman and Kijowski held crucial catches at square leg in Game 5. Coleman, who bowled seven overs in Hawke’s Bay, has a cracking yorker and the ability to swing the ball. Kijowski is strong and bowls a heavy ball at good pace. These two team-first cricketers worked hard in Hawke’s Bay, as did wicketkeepers Gillies and Donnelly, both of whom also took wickets as bowlers.

Colucci and Redpath headed up the Strikers’ wicket-count with six each.

McInnes was the Bay’s leading run-scorer with 121 runs at 40, a high score of 50 and three not-outs in five innings. He also led the catching count for the side, with six.

Reynolds and McMurray each featured in two run-outs.

For Daniel Williams, the magic moments of the tournament included Coleman’s catch to dismiss Reyansh Bector and McMurray’s direct hit to run out first-drop Reuben Kennerley (11) against Macs Cricket.

“Our boys’ biggest improvements from the first game to their last would be in their bowling – they all bowled well – and in the number of extras given away,” Daniel Williams said.

Kobe Donnelly gave a player’s view of the tourney: “I really enjoyed it,” he said.

“We could all work on our batting, but our fielding was great; that helped us defend low totals. From all of us, a big shout-out to our parents and Dan for all of the coaching and umpiring.”

NORTH CITY BEARS 181-9 (McKay Murray 46, Maddox Murray 43, Daniel Ward 20; Raffaele Colucci 3-14, James Redpath 3-22) beat POVERTY BAY STRIKERS 94-8 (Patrick McInnes 25 not out; Luka Prestidge 3-8) by 87 runs.

HUTT DISTRICT 171-5 (Thomas Peters 47no, Ben Williams 40no) beat POVERTY BAY STRIKERS 123-5 (Conrad Parkes 27no; Aiden Baxter 2-8) by 48 runs.

POVERTY BAY STRIKERS 142-6 (Patrick McInnes 50no; Thomas Hunter 2-23) beat ONSLOW 129-8 (Rachit Lolage 47, Kieran Barry 20; Jack Williams 2-12) by 13 runs.

POVERTY BAY STRIKERS 143 in 40.1 overs (Patrick McInnes 23, Kobe Donnelly 23, Harvey Reynolds 20; Maddox Falconer 6-12) beat JOHNSONVILLE 89 in 34.5 overs (Jonty Joseph 40; James Redpath 2-7, Cody McMurray 2-10) by 54 runs.

POVERTY BAY STRIKERS 121-7 (Kobe Donnelly 37, Jack Williams 24no; Samuel Shepherd 2-9) beat MACS CRICKET 106 in 26 overs (Luca Halliday 17; Archie Gillies 2-15, Patrick McInnes 2-22) by 15 runs.