First XI Cricket Wrap-up: Saturday 04 November

James Bamford, the captain, receives his baggy from Mr James Reyburn for having completed 12 matches for the First XI.

A tense clash sees King’s College squeeze past a determined Sacred Heart College

King’s College – 173 all out in 50 overs

Sacred Heart College – 170 all out in 49.3 overs

In a repeat of the titanic battle that took place in March this year, when Sacred Heart held on nervously for a one-wicket win, this time King’s prevailed by a tiny margin of three runs, with just three balls remaining. When the dangerous Jack Ricketts (Sacred Heart) pummelled Liam Denny (Year 13, Peart) for two massive sixes over the deep-mid wicket in the late overs, one felt the game slipping away again out of the hands of King’s College. He got his team close to the 150-run mark and was in complete control of this chase. James Bamford (Year 13, Major) rolled the dice once more and brought himself and Tim Hamilton (Year 12, Marsden) back into the attack to try and halt the Sacred Heart momentum. Bamford conceded two runs, which was good considering the previous three overs leaked 21 runs. The impressive Hamilton, who opened with an astonishing spell of two wickets for seven runs, including three maidens in six overs, was on the mark immediately. He bowls a nagging line! He’s consistent! He’s confident! After conceding three singles in the 42^nd over, he produced another magic ball that uprooted the stumps and brought a reasonable amount of hope back into the King’s camp. Two more wickets are required! Bamford conceded seven runs in the 47^th over as Sacred Heart scrambled well and pushed for what was looking like a deserved victory for them. Hamilton conceded four runs in the 48^th over but snaffled his fourth wicket in the innings to finish with his best return in his debut season. The visitors were now on 161 for 9, with 16 balls remaining and 13 runs to get. King’s needed one more wicket, giving them a well-deserved victory after an impressive start with the bat in the morning. Four more runs were pilfered in Hamilton’s final over, and a small dilemma appeared. Two overs remaining and King’s two best pace-bowlers in this highly charged match were bowled out. The skipper, Bamford, turned to Finn Priddy (Year 12, Marsden) to bowl the 49^th over and deny the visitors the nine runs that they desired. Priddy bowled to the plan and conceded four runs, leaving Denny the bigger task of defending five runs off six balls. The experienced Denny, in his third season, playing in his 28^th Premier Competition match, held his nerve and claimed the final wicket with a low full toss for Bamford to hold on to an easy catch. King’s finally won a match against an opposition that had vanquished them for four games in succession, from the beginning of 2022 when they had been promoted to the Premier grade.

Sacred Heart won the toss and chose to bowl on this beautifully bright Saturday morning. The opposition bowlers lacked match fitness and conceded a mind-boggling number of extras as the King’s opening pair of Denny and Thomas Nelson (Year 11, Marsden) enjoyed a healthy start to the innings. Without much effort, they reached 62 for no loss by the first drinks break. A promising start by King’s was pulled back by the Sacred Heart spinners, who operated for most of the middle overs. The profligate pace bowlers returned for their second spells and were more disciplined in their approach, which made run getting a bit of a challenge for the struggling King’s middle-order batters. Wickets fell regularly as King’s lurched from 104/3 in the 28^th over to 134/7 in the 41^st over. This was a worryingly lean period for the batting team, which would have been a lot worse had it not been for the gift of extras and the hard work of Denny and Nelson in the first session. The lower middle order of Oliver Kittle (Year 11, Parnell) and Justin Nori (Year 13, Marsden) showed some fight and dug in for some valuable runs, taking King’s closer to a par score of 180 that they would have been aiming for. The King’s pace bowlers are improving with each match and for the first time this season, all ten wickets were claimed by them. The experienced spin pair of Samar Singh (Year 12, Averill) and Nori went wicketless on the back of just one wicket the previous week. These two will indeed do much soul-searching and are expected to make an impact against St Peter’s, which is the next challenge. Oliver Kittle kept wicket due to an injury to Jack Hernon (Year 12, Selwyn) and would be satisfied with his contribution behind the stumps. Cooper Fenwick (Year 11, Peart), playing in just his 3^rd match in the Premier Grade, continues to impress and has picked up three wickets for 59 runs since his debut against Westlake Boys High three weeks ago. Due to the ineffectiveness of the spin bowlers, his workload was increased to nine overs of good quality pace in this match. James Bamford, who was hardly used as a bowler in Term 1, is showing his quality as an excellent backup to the pace attack. He was awarded his well-earned baggy from Mr James Reyburn at the start of this match, having completed 12 games before this one. The King’s fielding was also of a high standard in this match and the boys would cherish this hard-fought victory for years to come.

King’s win by 3 runs.

Scorecards:

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Batting: