Kāpiti Old Boys bowler Martin Harrison floats one down to Levin Old Boys batsman Andre Halbert in the Horowhenua-Kāpiti one-day final at Donnelly Park.
Kāpiti Old Boys bowler Martin Harrison floats one down to Levin Old Boys batsman Andre Halbert in the Horowhenua-Kāpiti one-day final at Donnelly Park.
“Ya dreamin.”
That’s what the Kāpiti Old Boys cricket team might have said if you had told them they would have three of the best top-order batsmen in Horowhenua-Kāpiti club cricket out for ducks in the senior club final at Donnelly Park yesterday.
But that’s exactly what happened. It was “quack, quack, quack” as the dangerous and experienced Levin Old Boys trio of Mathew Wilson, Bailey Te Tomo and Mathew Good all failed to trouble the scorers.
Levin Old Boys won the toss and chose to bat, possibly ruing that decision when Kāpiti opening bowlers Zack Benton and Tristan Cloete found their mark straight away and sent bails flying.
It was a dream start for the relatively young Kāpiti team, who would have been pinching themselves looking at a scoreboard that had Levin scrambling at 4-21 after just six overs.
It must have been a massive confidence boost for Cloete, 17, when he was handed the new ball by Kāpiti captain Carter Andrews, who might usually have opened the bowling himself.
The youngster repaid that vote of confidence in spades with a sublime opening spell, rattling Wilson’s bails with his very first ball. Benton wasn’t to be upstaged at the other end, bowling the talented Te Tomo with the last ball of his second over, while the prized wicket of Good came with the very first ball of his third over.
Kāpiti Old Boys fielder Daniel Franks tries to stop a boundary in the Horowhenua-Kāpiti one-day senior cricket final at Donnelly Park.
But the batting class of the LOB team runs deep. They rallied to post a competitive score of 175, the ship steadied by useful contributions from Dion Sanson (35), Andre Halbert (41), Ryan Taylor (22) and Jesse Parker (30), to at least give their bowlers something to defend.
However, with the dry Donnelly Park outfield playing lightning quick, it was never going to be enough. Runs came easily for the Kāpiti top order with an unbeaten 56 to captain Jayden Rose-Miles, a valuable 46 to opener Daniel Franks, and cameos from Cloete (18) and Danile Dexter (17 not out).
Kāpiti reached their target in the 36th over to claim the Horowhenua-Kāpiti one-day championship and end Levin’s dominance in that format in recent years.
The victory made more sweet given Kāpiti were celebrating their 50th-jubilee season, and even more meritorious given the fact the club had considered going into hiatus three years ago.
Financial woes and a dearth of senior players at the time meant it was a real possibility. They were struggling to field a senior team and were all but debunked.
But a nucleus of club faithful — many of them relative youngsters ― were stoic in their work to shore up the books and recruit and retain new players.
That was no more evident in the fact that players Carter Andrews, Jayden Miles, Zack Benton, Taine Halbert, Kierran Scarrett and Michael Newell all serve on the club’s committee.
The one-day title was deserved for those who elected to roll up their sleeves — both on and off the field. The club has also won back-to-back senior two-day competition finals.
The future looks bright. Apart from senior players David Schlup and Matt Gibbs, the rest of the Kāpiti team are in their 20s, while Tristan Cloete and wicketkeeper Brayden Meikle are both 17.
Kāpiti club president Brendan Harris said the club committee recently organised and staged a successful 50th-jubilee weekend, which coincided with a match against cross-town rivals Paraparaumu and included a festival match against a composite Old Timers team.
Halbert brothers Taine and Andre were in opposing teams in the Horowhenua-Kāpiti one-day cricket final at Donnelly Park.
Meanwhile, there was extra spice added to the final with brothers Taine and Andre Halbert in opposing teams for the first time this season. Andre, the older of the two, had previously played for Kāpiti before joining forces with Levin last year.
Halbert brothers Taine and Andre were in opposing teams in the Horowhenua-Kāpiti one-day club cricket final at Donnelly Park.
