Saint Kentigern Prevail in Thrilling Encounter

• King’s College 166/7 (50 overs)
• Saint Kentigern College 170/8 (49.4 overs)

The winner of this match was guaranteed top spot in the group and a chance to play for the Marryatt Cup later on in the week. King’s won the toss and batted.

Opening bowlers Saint Kentigern College (SKC) were in superb form and made the home team batsmen work hard for their runs. The change bowlers were of high class also and this was the best pace attack that King’s faced this season, as wickets fell at crucial junctures and 209 dot balls (70 percent) were played out. Two run-outs (three in the previous match) to the top order played a decisive role in the final outcome of this match and when Thorn Parkes was dismissed, King’s was limping along at 70 for 4 in the 25th over.

William St John and Samuel Wilson combined for the second consecutive match to perform a repair job and they formulated a 75 run partnership to add some respectability to the total. These two ran tirelessly for ones, twos and the occasional three, and it was pretty clear that they were shouldering the burden of the fightback and were not going to back down easily. King’s went to lunch with a reasonable amount of confidence with 166 runs on the board, which was fairly defendable.

Post-lunch revealed a bit of cloud cover which became thicker as the afternoon took shape with rain on the cards towards early evening. SKC got off to a breezy start as their skipper Sandeep Patel took to the King’s opening attack of Hayden Dickson and William St John as the opening partnership reached 40 runs by the 10th over. George Cory-Wright replaced Hayden Dickson and with the first ball of his third over, he trapped the swashbuckling Sandeep Patel for 34 runs (40 balls) which created an opening for King’s. William Boyden replaced William St John who conceded 24 runs in his first spell (5 overs). William Boyden continued his run of good form and by the end of his first spell he reduced SKC to 67 for 4 as he claimed 3 wickets for 10 runs in 5 overs. King’s felt that they were now in control of the match for the first time, but did not factor in the tenacity and skill of young Sajith Dhambagolla who was unmoved by the wickets that fell around him. With the run-rate being a non-issue thanks to the exploits of Sandeep Patel earlier, Sajith Dhambagolla slowly carved out mini-partnerships with the middle and lower order and steered SKC to safety.

Campbell Mabin, who was introduced into the attack in the 22nd over, chipped in with two lower order wickets as he bowled 10 overs on the trot, with three of them highly valuable maidens. By the end of the 40th over SKC were 131/7, still a long way from victory, whilst King’s needed a mere three wickets. The SKC hero stood firm and was proactive in finding the gaps in the field as the visitors slowly scripted an escape. The skipper missed a trick and SKC batted through steady rain in a tightly contested finish to win with four balls to spare with death bowlers William St John and Callum Douglas battling away doggedly at the end.

King’s should be proud of the way they fought back time and time again in this match, and with Gillette Cup hopes still alive they will take heart from a fairly decent all-round performance, apart from their running between wickets, and look forward to three tough matches to come. 

DNB: 

G Cory-Wright
H Kukreja
C Mabin