Westlake too classy for improving King’s College

Image above:  Captain James Bamford managing his fielders. 

Westlake Boys’ High – 223/5 in 50 overs, King’s College – 126 all out in 40.3 overs

After the two-term winter break the Premier Cricket competition resumed as it does in October, each year. King’s travelled to competition leaders Westlake Boys, a team featuring a number of Auckland rep players. On the back of a sound pre-season campaign King’s went into this contest with a large amount of confidence. Skipper, James Bamford led the charge as he inspired his fielders and bowlers to match the opposition for intensity as King’s kept finding ways to get back into the game and dent the Westlake charge. The skipper manipulated his bowling stocks excellently by replacing Finn Priddy with Liam Denny from the northern end and then switching Priddy to replace Tim Hamilton from the city end. The evidence was there that King’s were willing to try different tactics to their usual ones and find ways of matching their highly rated opponents.

King’s liveliness in the field was rewarded when a swift pick up and throw from Tom Nelson’s direct hit caught the Westlake opener short of his crease and suddenly the hosts were 44/2 in the 9^th over after Denny got rid of the other opener, four balls earlier. The run rate dropped from this point, as Westlake were nudging 5 RPO territory but over the next 30 overs they were kept under the 4 RPO mark, as various bowling combinations were employed, including Cooper Fenwick, on debut who conceded just three runs in his first three overs. Samar Singh was operating at this juncture, and he bowled his 10 overs on the trot, whilst Justin Nori had an off day and had to be replaced by Priddy, getting his third spell. The skipper was inspirational in the field, engineering the second run-out, just when the hosts were beginning to take full charge of the game. The pace bowling quartet of Priddy, Hamilton, Denny and Fenwick operated for a total of 35 overs, with only the usually frugal Hamilton conceding more than five runs an over. Lunch was taken with Westlake on 223/5 and King’s, for the first time this season, feeling like they had controlled the first half of an encounter against a top team.

The loss of Denny in the 8^th over was a massive blow to the King’s reply, as he was the key in creating a sound start. Westlake bowling was remarkably disciplined and the first wide was conceded in the 16^th over – and just two in the whole innings. Their predominantly spin attack kept things tight and King’s struggled to keep the scoreboard ticking. At the half-way stage, when drinks was taken, King’s had a mere 74 runs on the board, for the loss of two wickets with the RRR being exactly 6 RPO. It would require clever batting, quick running, and a proactive approach by the remaining batters, but the middle order succumbed to scoreboard pressure as Bamford and Singh, departed soon after the resumption. Only Jack Hernon showed a willingness to apply himself to the situation, but he could not get someone at the other end to battle it out and the King’s innings ground to a halt in the 41^st over, 97 runs in arrears.

Debut: Cooper Fenwick

 King’s lose by 97 runs