King's College unbeaten after two rounds of Gillette Cup

King’s College remain the only unbeaten team in the Gillette Cup finals after comfortably beating Christ’s College earlier [last week].

However, the match of the round was thrilling tie between Otago Boys' High School and Hutt International Boys' School. In a dramatic final over Hutt Boys’ lost one wicket but managed 11 runs, including a six of the penultimate ball, to draw level with Otago’s score of 279.

The other match saw Tauranga Boys’ College register their first points after edging past Palmerston North Boys’ High School by 11 runs.

Palmerston North BHS vs Tauranga Boys' College

Tauranga Boys picked up their first win of the tournament, successfully defending 195 in a close affair against Palmerston North Boys’ High School.

Having won the toss and opting to bat, Tauranga Boys struggled to form a strong partnership, despite the first three batsmen all making starts. At 63 for three Cameron Neal came to the crease and struck a mature innings of 42. He found help from Joshua Dwight (36) and Ben Musgrave (20) as Tauranga clawed their way to 195 all out in the 50th over. It was another strong performance with the ball from Navin Patel, taking four for 35 in eight overs.

In reply, Palmerston North struggled to put partnerships together and made the run chase look very hard. Opener Brynn Cleaver (91) did his best to bring Palmerston North to victory, but couldn’t find anybody to stick with him. Needing sixteen runs to win in the last over, Cleaver was bowled on the second delivery, ensuring that Tauranga would successfully defend their total. Pick of the bowlers was Thomas MacRury who took 3-40 from his ten overs.

Tauranga Boys 195 all out (Neal 42, Patel 4-35) BEAT Palmerston North BHS 184 all out (Cleaver 91, MacRury 3-40)

Result: TAURANGA BOYS' COLLEGE won by 11 runs

Full scorecard - http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1203/scorecard.aspx

Otago Boys' High School vs Hutt International Boys' School

Otago Boys and Hutt International Boys played out an absolute thriller, the two sides unable to be separated and providing the first tie of the tournament.

Otago Boys made a great start to their innings, shooting to 53 before Fergus Bevin-McCrimmon was trapped lbw by Sam Fraser for 29. There was still plenty to come for Otago though, Tom Griffin going on to score a well-paced 64. However the real hero of the day was Collins, who smashed an incredible 103 off 55 balls to help propel his team to 279 for six in their 50 overs. Kieran McComb stood out for Hutt International, bowling his ten overs for 16 runs and collecting two wickets.

In reply, Hutt got off to a fantastic start thanks to openers Mark McIlvride (67) and Troy Johnson (49) who put on a century for the opening partnership. From there Hutt kept on track and needed nine runs from two deliveries. Wicket keeper Nathan Canton hit a six with the second to last ball and then ran two on the final delivery to leave the scores tied at 279 after 50 overs. It was a perfect finish to an exciting match, both teams putting on a great batting display.

Otago Boys’ High School 279-6 (Collins 103, Griffin 64) TIED with Hutt International Boys’ School 279-8

(McIlvride 67, Brown 51)

Result: Match tied

Full scorecard - http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1202/scorecard.aspx

Christ's College vs King's College

King’s captain Simon Hickey lead his team to a convincing victory against new finalists Christ College.
After a poor batting performance yesterday, King’s College were looking to apply early pressure on Christ’s bowlers. Ben Horne wasn’t able to carry on his fine form from yesterday, dismissed for just two by Angus McKellar. In came last year’s player of the tournament, Hickey. Finding help from Cameron Gibbons (41) and Mark Chapman (32), the King’s captain played beautifully for his 129, crunching 11 fours and two sixes in his innings. Sam Kippel also chipped in with forty runs in the final overs, Kings finishing at 282 for seven. The wickets were evenly spread amongst the local team, six bowlers picking up one wicket a piece.

In reply Christ’s were never in the hunt, thanks to a tight display from the King’s bowlers. Christ’s were eventually bowled for 162, Sam Chamberlain putting up the biggest fight scoring 33. The pick of the bowlers was run scorer Hickey who took three for 33 off his ten overs.
King’s College 282-7 (Hickey 129, Gibbons 41) BEAT Christ College 162 all out (Chamberlain 33, Hickey 3-33)

Result: KING'S COLLEGE won by 120 runs

Full scorecard - http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1201/scorecard.aspx

NOTE: Scroll to the bottom of the full scorecard and click “media scorecard” for a basic version.