Payle Leads King's Cricket Dominance

On Friday, 27 February a magnificent century by Tristan Payle was the highlight of the King’s First XI innings of 259 runs in fifty overs after winning the toss.

He came in with the score on 24/1 in the sixth over and left the skipper, Mitchell Nash, to finish off the job at 217/5 in the forty-sixth over. At this stage Tristan Payle had accumulated 107 hard earned runs as, although the Takapuna bowlers were generous in providing free runs (43 extras, 31 wides), they were also difficult to score against, showing plenty of energy at the bowling crease whilst fielding with class. William St John and Mitchell Nash were involved in significant partnerships with the centurion and Fergus Salmon executed some lusty blows towards the end of the innings. Mitchell Nash, once again, showed his importance coming in at four-down as his resolve, unflashy approach and doggedness protects the shaky lower-middle order from being exposed too early.

Miraculously the rain stayed away from the King’s oval, although other parts of the metropolis experienced a quick drenching, and both teams came out after lunch ready to resume the battle. King’s experimented with the wily spinner Hamish McLean sharing the new ball with paceman Jordan van Riele and, by the time they were separated in the fourteenth over, Takapuna had limped along to 40/5. William St John and William MacCulloch came on at first change and continued to apply the stranglehold. Earlier, William St John had taken a magnificent catch at the expense of the visitor’s captain to cap a profitable all-round performance. William MacCulloch was miserly and picked up two wickets in six overs at 1.5 per over. Hamish McLean, who relished operating in the first twenty overs of the match, ended up with a valuable 4-wicket bag, one being the customary stumping off a well-flighted delivery immediately after being swept for a boundary.

This Friday game provided reasonable entertainment for the lunchtime crowd as they witnessed Tristan Payle reach his well-compiled, almost run-a-ball century. A bonus was to see Mitchell Nash unselfishly turn down an opportunity to pick up his second half-century of the season whilst allowing the big hitting Fergus Salmon to add to an imposing total.