23 Feb 2023

Thursday 23 February 2023

Cricket Match Report from Saturday, 18 February 2023

 King’s College – 210/8 in 50 overs

St Kentigern College – 216/3 in 50 overs

King’s last lost a match to St Kentigern College way back in 2017 so after having the upper hand over this team for the past five years King’s had no reason to feel that the tables would turn. But it did and in emphatic fashion as St Kentigern College outplayed King’s in all facets of the game.

Having been asked to bat after losing the toss King’s openers struggled to make an impact on the tight and controlled opposition bowlers. Zac Nathan was looking fairly confident in his second outing and attacked any loose bowling whilst his fellow opener Charles Knight got bogged down and took ten balls to get off the mark. Nevertheless, just as they were about to safely navigate the opening attack, Nathan lost his wicket, nicking a beauty to the keeper. He was quite upset at his dismissal, seeing that he was more relaxed compared to his debut match, last week.

Last week’s top scorer Morgan Tapper joined Knight and the latter took advantage of a loose 9th over, which included a no-ball that he plundered to the boundary. He picked up nine confidence boosting runs in this over. He then started to accumulate runs with ease and just when it looked like he was destined to make a mark on this match he gifted his wicket and King’s were suddenly on shaky ground at 54/3 in the 14th over, having lost Tapper for a duck in the 12th. Liam Denny, batting at three-down was not expected to be doing duty before the first drinks break as he joined James Nelson, with rebuilding in mind. Denny was adjudged LBW and disconsolately made way for Samar Singh to join Nelson, who was looking comfortable and due for a big score. The 5th wicket pair compiled a promising partnership of 57 runs when Singh nicked one to be out for an attractive 24 runs, although it was far from enough to make an impact on the match.

Then followed a 61 run partnership between Nelson and James Bamford which gave King’s some control of this stage of the game. Nelson skied one soon after reaching his half-century. The gutsy Bamford had to now step up and shepherd the lower order into posting a challenging target. If only Nelson was a bit more circumspect once he reached his fifty, together with Bamford, they could have taken King’s beyond the 230 mark, but it was an opportunity gone begging. Bamford ended up with 42 runs, another breezy innings following on from his belligerent knock against AGS last week, and has certainly strengthened the middle order.  The St Kentigern bowlers must be applauded for their calm and disciplined approach throughout the King’s innings, including the threating 5th and 6th wicket partnerships. Their lone spinner, Tayden Smit bowled ten overs on the trot for 29 runs and showed how a simple approach could be effective.

 King’s defence of 210 runs was looking shaky from the start but Finn Priddy’s success in the 5th over brought momentary relief. Dropped catches and inconsistent bowling gave St Kentigern batters the comfort to score at a good rate and play with freedom. Only Priddy and Justin Nori conceded less than 4 RPO, allowing the hosts to cruise home in the 45th over with 35 balls to spare and King’s in search of their first victory for the 2023 season. James Bamford was the most outstanding fielder by initiating two run outs with excellent direct hits from the cover region.

 

Z Nathan

14

C Knight

28

M Tapper

0

J Nelson

53

L Denny

7

S Singh

24

J Bamford

42

J Nori

9

S Illerbrun

2 not out

T Hamilton

5 not out

F Priddy

DNB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

F Priddy

8-0-28-1

L Denny

6-0-32-0

T Hamilton

5-0-26-0

J Bamford

5.1-0-35-0

J Nori

10-0-28-0

S Singh

6-0-34-0

J Nelson

4-0-31-0

 

 

 King’s lose by 7 wickets