Cooper leads charge as boys bury Kamo

Whangarei Boys High's Henry Cooper started the Lion Red Premier one-day competition with a bang, slogging out 48 overs at the crease to rack up 127 against Kamo at Kensington Park.
Bradley Kneebone and Kashmir Harypursat opened the batting for the school boys after they won the toss.
When Harypursat fell for three runs Cooper headed for the crease and went on to get a partnership of 209 with Kneebone before Kamo bowler Richie MacPherson claimed both of their wickets.
Ben Hyde and Jordan Antunovich saw out the remaining overs, hitting 21 and 11 respectively, with Boys' High setting an ambitious 270-run target for Kamo.
Tom Herman made short work of Kamo opener and skipper Rhys Farrand, bowling him for six runs, while Tharindu Hapu was out for a duck, with Aiden Miller taking his wicket. Dean Williams (47) and Jamie Millar (30) got a partnership of 58 before they were dismissed by Cooper and Hyde respectively and Nathan Luke hit a handy 50.
But Kamo struggled to match the school boys' quality batting performance, and were all out for 186 after 44 overs.
The school boys shared the wickets around, with Fraser Seymour, Cooper, Herman and Hyde each taking two wickets each.
It was a comfortable win for the defending champions and a credible start to Cooper's season. Last year's Northern Districts under-17 representative said hopefully the performance signalled another winning campaign for his side.
"We're not as strong as we were last year when we won three our of the four competitions, but we should go okay. It was a good win for us - but while they have definitely improved from last year, Kamo are probably not the strongest team in the competition," he said.
The school boys will be careful to not let any complacency creep into their game however, when they go up against Donavans Tradezone Onerahi Central. OC will be looking for their first win of the season after being beaten convincingly by City at Kensington Park.
City won the toss and batted first, and accumulated an imposing 296 runs, with only five wickets falling. City stalwart Bert Horner endured a lengthy stint at the crease and was dismissed on 94. Vishaan Harypursat hit 28, while Ian Page (55) and Chris Page, who was on 80 not out at the end of City's 50 overs, were the other main contributors.
City's bowlers quickly spoiled OC's chances of reaching the target and were all out for 161, after 38.2 overs. Richard Atkins was in form with the ball, taking 3-19 along with skipper Rory Darkins who claimed another trifecta, taking 3-43. Chris Page nabbed 2-35.
Maungakaramea may have regretted their decision to bat first at Maungakaramea Domain when Kaipara Flats restricted their hosts to a meagre 117 runs with some accurate bowling.
Kevin Forde was in top form taking 5-41, while Matthew Taylor was the next best with 3-14. Brad Wilson and Arun Charles opened the batting for Kaipara. Wilson made 37 before Ewen Thompson claimed his wicket playing against his former club, while Charles was run out.
Middle order batsmen James Marshall and Tauseef Satti salvaged the innings after a top-order collapse, hitting 20 not out and 26 not out respectively, which saw Kaipara pass the required runs to win, ending the day on 120-5.