Cricket: Palmerston North Old Boys win Champion of Champions tournament in Whanganui

Wicket Warriors keeper Akesh Pillai about to take the catch on Palmerston North Old Boys batsman Shane Baker in the final of the Premier 2 Champion of Champions tournament at Victoria Park on Sunday.

The Palmerston North Old Boys side had the wood on the three local clubs at the Premier 2 Champion of Champions tournament at Victoria Park yesterday.

Playing a knockout Twenty20 tournament, PNOB picked up a comfortable 14 run win over Wanganui Renegades in the morning round, and then hammered the Wicket Warriors by 74 runs in the final that afternoon.

Warriors had beaten Matt Burke Engineering Marton Saracens by 43 runs in the morning round to make the final, while Saracens had the consolation of finishing third, after they beat Renegades by 43 runs themselves in the other playoff.

PNOB showed they had the bowling to defend reasonable scores in both their games, starting by raising 115-5 in the first match with Renegades.

Skipper Bryn Parry anchored the innings with 48 runs off 44 balls, where despite his team losing a couple of cheap wickets he batted through until the 16th over when he was finally bowled by Roger Moore (2-30).

PNOB's skipper Bryn Parry led his team to two victories to win the P2 Champion of Champions tournament.

From there, Sam Kilmister (13 off 24), Isaac Benefield (22 off 15) and Joseph Ward (10 off 12) where able to see their team through the overs, with Benefield hitting two sixes.

Renegades bowler Ryan Balsley was very economical with 1-8 off his three overs.

In reply, Renegades started well as former representative batsman Josh Trillo (13 from 11) and Moore (15 from 24) had put 29 runs on the board by the fourth over, comfortably up with the run rate.

But Mark Reid (2-9) would break the partnership and dismiss Adam Heap in the same over, and from there, Renegades would be behind the 8-ball.

Ben Heap (34 off 32) held down his end, hitting four boundaries and a six, but he was running through partners and eventually went to a caught and bowled from Shane Baker (2-15).

At 95-7 with seven deliveries left, Renegades were going to finish short.

Having won the P2 Twenty20 title last summer, Wicket Warriors started where they left off in the other qualifying game against Saracens, raising the highest total of the tournament with 153-5.

Openers Mehul Barot (46 from 47) and Anurag Mishra (59 from 47) led their team all the way to the 15th over with a 114-run stand, hitting 14 boundaries and three sixes between them, before Levi Woolston (2-24) and Matt Roberts (2-15) got their wickets – Barot carrying on to the 18th over after Mishra had made the day's highest score.

The other Warriors batsmen just had to try to score quickly, Babu Sebastian (10 from 6) the only other one to reach double figures, but a score north of 150 was imposing enough.

In reply, Saracens slumped to 5-3 by the third over, with Libin Varghese (3-10) getting amongst the top order, with only Freddie Lane (13 off 30) able to survive for any length of time.

At 36-6, Jayden Lane (34 not out off 25) went on the attack, hitting five boundaries, and got some lower order support Liam McAleese (19 off 20) and Todd Sutton (10 off 6).

Both of them hit a six while McAleese also got a couple of boundaries to bring a little respectability into the scoreline with 110-8, but the game was already well gone, as Anish Anto (2-17) picked up a couple of scalps.

Marton Saracens lower order batsmen Brett Cunningham in action against Wicket Warriors in the opening round of games.

It was hoped after such a good showing that Wicket Warriors would give PNOB a firm challenge in the final, and their chances looked promising after the Manawatu team's innings of 128-9.

Antony Coelho (2-11) made early break-throughs to have PNOB 17-2, before Reid (40 off 34) and Kilmister (43 off 40) put together a strong 74-run partnership, with Reid hitting seven boundaries while Kilmister got three of them plus a six.

However, Vinu Chacko (5-19) dismissed both the set batsmen and then tore through the lower order, for PNOB to lose six more wickets for only 37 runs, although that was still done at a run-a-ball at least, as Chacko had tournament-best figures.

But in reply to the gettable target, only Barot (11 from 24) would reach double figures, as PNOB pinned the Warriors down and chipped them out one-by-one, finally dismissed for just 54 in the 18th over.

Mishra (9 off 8) hit the only two boundaries of the innings before Reid (2-17) trapped him in front, which was followed by Ward (2-15) hitting the stumps in consecutive overs and from 32-5, there was no way back for the Warriors.

The wickets were shared amongst five of the six PNOB bowlers, with Scott Mudgway having the most impressive figures with 2-12 off his four overs, including a maiden.

In the playoff for third, Saracens continued the trend of the side batting first winning the game, as they raised 139-6 and restricted Renegades to 96-8.

Woolston (55 not out off 47) anchored the innings, hitting four boundaries, sharing the key partnerships with Thomas Westwood (26 off 22) and Jayden Lane (27 off 23), with Lane again having to do a salvage job after Marton lost a succession of quick wickets.

Roberts (14 off 8) then supported Woolston down the order.

Trillo (2-9) and Keightley Watson (2-17) were the pick of the Renegades bowlers.

In reply, Trillo (31 off 35) was strong at opener, but the rest of the top order was dismissed in single figures, aside from Ben Heap (17 from 24), and when Heap went at 52-5 at the start of the 14th over, Renegades again were too far back.

Balsley (20 not out off 13) had a swing in the lower order, hitting a six and two boundaries, but his team still finished shy of triple figures.

Marton used seven bowlers, with Woolston (2-7) and Todd Sutton (2-11) having the best returns, while Brett Cunningham (1-9) was very economical from his four overs, sending down one of the three maidens.

By the CricHq statistics, Woolston was MVP of the day, scoring 64 runs across his two innings, while taking four wickets, a catch, and assisting in two run outs.

Scoreboards

Opening Round

Wicket Warriors 153-5 (A Mishra 59, M Barot 46; M Roberts 2-15, L Woolston 2-24) bt Marton Saracens 110-8 (J Lane 34no, L McAleese 19; L Varghese 3-10, A Anto 2-17) by 43 runs.

Palmerston North Old Boys 115-5 (B Parry 48, I Benefield 22; R Moore 2-20) bt Renegades 101-7 (B Heap 34, R Moore 15; M Reid 2-9, S Baker 2-15) by 14 runs.

Playoff for Third

Marton Saracens 139-6 (L Woolston 55no, J Lane 27, T Westwood 26; J Trillo 2-9, K Watson 2-17) bt Renegades 96-8 (J Trillo 31, R Balsley 20no, B Heap 17; L Woolston 2-7, T Sutton 2-11) by 43 runs.

Final

Palmerston North Old Boys 128-9 (S Kilmister 43, M Reid 40; V Chacko 5-19, A Coelho 2-11) bt Wicket Warriors 54 (M Barot 11; S Mudgway 2-12, J Ward 2-15, M Reid 2-17) by 74 runs.