King's College remain unbeaten in Gillette Cup finals

Four centuries were the highlight on day four of the Gillette Cup finals with two coming from King’s College batsmen in their 65 run win over Otago Boys’ High School.

It was the fourth consecutive win by King’s who go into tomorrow’s final round with two point buffer.
Christ’s College, who today beat Palmerston North Boy’s High by 49 runs, need to win their last match and for King’s stumble if they are to share the honours.

The other match saw Hutt International Boys’ School edge past Tauranga Boys’ College to record their first win of finals.

Otago Boys’ College v King’s College
King’s College won their fourth straight game of the tournament, beating Otago Boys’ High School by 65 runs. Simon Hickey played beautifully for 136 off 105 deliveries and Michael Haddington also scored a ton, his 101 also coming off 105.

After being put into bat by Otago, King’s didn’t look flash at 13 for two, but like he has done all tournament, Hickey came in and instantly made batting look easy. He was joined by Michael Haddington with the pair putting on an incredible 202 run partnership for the fifth wicket, both notching up centuries in the process. It’s Hickey’s second ton this tournament to go with his other his other scores of 33, 129 and 61. The two batsmen, with help from Mark Chapman (31), propelled Kings to the tournaments largest total of 318 all-out.

It was a tough day in the field for Otago Boys, almost all bowlers going for big runs. Chief wicket-taker was Marcus Frost who picked up 4 for 62, including both centurions.
It would have to have taken something pretty special from Otago to chase down such a total, but the bowling from Kings was just too good on the day. A lot was resting on Otago captain Michael Collins, who entered the match on the back of two centuries, to deliver another big innings. Unfortunately he was unable to deliver for at third match in a row being dismissed first ball by Ben Horne. Sam Ellis played well for his 79 and Josh Renton struck a fine 58 off 59 balls with Otago all-out for 253 in the 50th over. Ben Horne bowled brilliantly, taking two key wickets and bowling his ten overs for just twenty runs while Haddleton backed up his brilliant batting with figures of four for 55.

King’s College 318 all (Hickey 136, Haddleton 101) BEAT Otago Boy’s High School 253 all out (Ellis 79, Renton 58)

Result: KING'S COLLEGE won by 65 runs

Full scorecard: http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1216/scorecard.aspx

Christ’s College v Palmerston North BHS
Christ’s continued their impressive showing in the Gillette Cup beating Palmerston North Boys’ High School by 49 runs with a great all-round batting and bowling performance.
Having won the toss and deciding to bat, Christ’s got off to the perfect start. Hamish Robertson (61) and Will Uttley (45) took their team to 96 without loss Uttley fell in the 24th over.

Christ’s continued to go along nicely as Jack Harper and Sam Chamberlain carried on where their openers left off. With the overs winding down, Harper increased the run rate dramatically. He smashed six sixes and seven fours on his way to an unbeaten 105. At the end of 50 overs Christ’s posted a very respectable total of 282 for four. Although wicket-less Arana Noema-Barnet was the pick of the bowlers for Palmerston North, going for just 30 runs in his ten overs.

In reply, Palmerston North got off to a horror start crumbling to eight for two. Captain, Robbie Yule can in and played a timely knock of 60 from 54 deliveries and alongside James Holland, who struck a magnificent 81. But with the dismissal of Yule, Holland couldn’t find enough support and his team were well short of victory. Batting star Hamish Robertson was the best of the bowlers, collecting three for 42 off ten overs.

Christ’s College 282-4 (Harper 105, Robertson 61) BEAT Palmerston North BHS 233-8 (Holland 81, Yule 60)

Result: CHRIST'S COLLEGE won by 49 runs

Full scorecard: http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1218/scorecard.aspx

Tauranga Boys’ College v Hutt International Boys’ School
Tauranga Boys’ College and Hutt International Boys’ School gave spectators a real spectacle, with Hutt International successfully chasing a down a strong total.

Tauranga Boys opted to bat first and would have been questioning that decision as they quickly fell to 18 for three after seven overs. Thankfully the collapse stopped there with Cameron Neal and Joshua Dwight forming a valuable partnership for the fourth wicket. Dwight was dismissed for 57, only to be replaced by Ben Musgrave who smashed a lightning fast 22. Neal stuck around long enough to bring up his first century of the tournament, playing brilliantly for his 107 and carrying his team to 230 for five after 50 overs. The pace of Will Brunton troubled the Tauranga batsman as he claimed the impressive figures of three for 39 off nine overs.

Hutt got off to a flyer in their innings as Mark McIlvride and Michael Parish put on 103 for the first wicket. Parish fell just short of his half century on 47 and Hutt struggled to form another meaningful partnership. McIlvride did his best but was finally dismissed for 70 after giving his team a chance of victory. With three wickets in hand, Hutt needed 24 runs off the last six overs. Captain Sam Fraser and Will Brunton kept level heads and finished off this nail biting match in the 48th over. It was Hutt International’s first win of the tournament.

Tauranga Boys’ College 230-5 (Neal 107, Dwight 57) LOST to Hutt International Boys’ School 232-5 (McIlvride 70, Timoti 3-34)

Result: HUTT INTERNATIONAL BOYS' SCHOOL won by 3 wickets

Full scorecard: http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1217/scorecard.aspx

Overall standings after 4 rounds of the Gillette Cup finals:
King’s College - 8 points
Christ’s College - 6 points
Otago BHS - 3 points
Hutt IBS - 3 points
Tauranga BHS - 2 points
Palmerston North BHS - 2 points

Schedule, scorecards, match reports, results - http://www.blackcaps.co.nz/domestic/gillette-cup/122/schedule.aspx