Karori Cricket Club :: Results Pearce cup

V Easts Saturday 12-19 January

 

Karori went into their vital game against Easts in confident mood after winning the Regions 20/20 for the third year in a row!!!

After winning their previous game before Christmas against Petone to keep us in the title hunt it was imperative that we did not fall further behind the leading group.  

Easts went into bat first and soon found themselves in trouble at 60-5 and Karori looked to bowl them out cheaply.  Unfortunately a century from Scott Golder got them to respectful 210.  The score was disappointing as we hand a number of opportunities to dismiss earlier.  

Karori went into bat looking to get at least level with East on first innings.  However, regular wickets fell and we were not able to string any decent partnerships together and were bowled out 140, with Lee Edwards getting 45.  

Easts began their second innings with a lead of 60 and we really needed to bowl them out cheaply to have a good chance of a successful final run chase.  Easts made solid progress and reach 45-1, then with the last ball of the day Baker picked up a crucial LBW.  

Going into the second day with Easts effectively 110-2 we knew we had an uphill battle to win the game and we knew at the very least we had to stop them picking up full points.  However, the boys were confident with early wickets we could really get stuck into their batting line up.

Charlie Gallagher on debut for the club picked up a crucial wicket early on and then Chris Spring produced a crucial run out of their overseas professional.  At this point we knew we had to keep the foot on the throttle.  Regular wickets were now falling and we dismissed them for 111.  Gallagher was the pick of the bowlers with a 5 wicket haul and Edwards this time provided the support act at the other end.    

After this excellent bowling and fielding display we were set 180 to win.  Even in our wildest of dreams we did not expect to bowl them out for 70-8 on day 2!  We knew that this was a big opportunity for a two day victory against Easts,   It was going to be a tough run chase against a good bowling unit and they were strengthened by the returning Black Cap Jeetan Patel.  

We made a solid start and at 60-2 looked on course for victory.  However, with two dismals in an over really turned the pressure on.  From then on nearly every run was cheered and a valuable partnership between Murdoch and Allen got us to needing 80 to win.  Unfortunately when Allen was dismissed LBW (the 17th of the game!!!!!) and Edwards followed shortly after the game was in the balance. 

 

Jarred Sewell came to the wicket and played his normal aggressive game and runs came at a quicker pace and the target was coming down.  The last ball before tea saw the end of Murdoch for a quite outstanding 74 – the innings was of the highest order and he never gave a chance, it was a shame that he could not have been there at the end to see us home.  

This meant at tea we needed an agonizingly 18 with three wickets left.  It is fair to say the 20 minutes dragged slightly!!! Our confidence was still high as Baker came to the crease and played in his normal aggressive style to hit 11 before being caught on the boundary.  Fittingly Sewell drove the ball through the covers for the winning runs!  A quite outstanding turn around for a victory by two wickets!!! 

This win means we close the gap on the top three and are now in striking distance of them all.  It is now crucial that we do not let this opportunity slip and follow it up with another good performance against Taita next week. 

 

V Petone  Saturday 8 /15 December

 

Karori went to Petone for their last game before the Christmas break knowing a win was imperative if we were going to stay in the title hunt.

Lee Edwards won the toss and inserted the hosts.  They struggled early on with Edwards picking up an early wicket.  They never really had any partnerships of any note and wickets kept falling at regular intervals.  All the bowlers bowled well with Edwards and Maher the main destroyers, as Petone were dismissed for 166.

The boys were pretty happy with our efforts in the field as the wicket was still decent and anything that beat the infield raced to the boundary.

This brought Allen and Templeton to the crease and they both continued Karori’s run rate.  Templeton eventually was dismissed for 67 and Allen who batted excellently before falling LBW for 95.  

At the end of Day 1 we finished 387-7 with a huge lead of 221.  A good day at the office!

We started Day 2 with a declaration and looking for early wickets to ensure we got bonus points and not having to bat again.  The day could not have started better with Edwards picking up a wicket with the first ball of the day.  He followed it up with a wicket in the next over.  From here on Petone made us work hard for our wickets.  We eventually bowled them out for 207 with Edwards and Maher both picking up 5 wicket hauls.  

We know go into the break with a valuable two day win and some important bonus points for an innings victory.  We need to try and build on this momentum when we start again in January. 

Karori v Onslow Saturday 24 November / 1 December

 
Karori welcomed Onslow to Karori Park for the first Two Dayer of the season.  We were looking forward to getting our season back on track.  

We were sent into bat on a fairly decent track but was going to offer assistance to bowlers early on as the pitch was fairly hard and green.  Karori got off to a poor start finding themselves 20-5 but Chris Spring and Lee Edward's put together a useful partnership and got us through to a moderate target.  Spring batted well to end up on 66.  We were undone by Scott Rasmussen who picked up 8 wickets for the visitors.   

The top order need to work out our game plans for pitches that offer pace and bounce as it is a bit of a change to come across these pitches in Wellington!!

Karori got off to a good start with the ball and ended Onslow found themselves in trouble 20-3.  We could have had them in more strife if we had taken all our catches early on.  On a pleasing note we fought hard in the field and at the end of the day Onslow had a lead of 10 with 3 wickets left.  Edwards and Baker were the pick of our bowlers on day one.  

We went into day 2 knowing we needed to knock them over early to go about setting them a competitive target.  We could not have started better with Wright picking up a wicket with his first ball! Richard Petrie and Hamish Wright polished off the tail and Onslow only had a lead of 20.

Unfortunately, the top order struggled again losing early wickets.  The middle order and lower order battled well and Petrie smashed 49 and we ended up setting them 142 off 42 overs.  

Onslow got off to a slow start and lost early wickets to give us hope of victory.  Entering the final stages of the game Onslow needed 4-5 and over and had 5 or 6 wickets left.  We got some key wickets and got on a bit of a roll.  Regular wickets were now falling and victory was a real possibility.  We ended up having a couple of overs at the last pair where they were now playing for a draw.  Unfortunately, we were unable to cap a good fighting performance and ended up with a draw.  All the bowlers bowled well with Baker, Sewell and Petrie picking up a couple of wickets apiece.  

We now go into the last game before Christmas knowing a victory is a must if we are going to mount a title challenge.  

V Norths Saturday 17 November at Karori Park

Karori welcomed North City to Karori Park on Saturday and were looking to get their season back on track.  As this was the last one dayer on the season, the boys were after some valuable points.  Lee Edwards won the toss and elected to have a bowl.  

North City got off to a solid start, with Karori struggling to make an early break through.  Templeton eventually got the first wicket, bringing in the dangerous Bowden, fresh from his maiden first class century for the Firebirds a few days ago.  Sewell bowled well in his allotted overs and picked up Bowden for single figures.  

Karori started to pick up regular wickets but Norths were still going at 5 an over.  At the end of their overs Norths had scored 278-9.  Edwards again bowled well and was well supported by Baker. 

The boys were confident of chasing down the total as the deck was still good to bat on.  We knew that we needed to get off to a solid start and have wickets in hand in the final overs.  Unfortunately, the opening pair of Cameron and Brunt couldn’t get us off to their normal start with both departing early on.  Karori found themselves struggling at 50-5 off 20 overs.  Murdoch and Edwards both batted well and started to get the scoreboard looking more pleasing on the eye.  Murdoch batted superbly and picked the gaps in the field, whilst Edwards hit the ball all around Karori Park.  

The partnership was starting to put us into a decent position until Murdoch got caught on the boundary for a well deserved 72.  There was still hope for us with Edwards at the crease as we still have good batters left to support him.  However, with the rate required being pushed up to 8 and 9 an over it was going to be a huge ask.  Hopes took a huge blow when Edwards was dismissed for 82.  

Some lusty late hitting from Simon Baker got Kaori to 255-9 in their overs.  The performance is still well below the standards we set ourselves and we need to improve in all departments if we are to turn results around.  Hopefully a change of fortune and an improvement in players’ forms will occur as we progress into the two game games.

V Naenae Saturday 10 November 

Karori hosted league leaders Naenae Old Boys on Saturday at Karori Park.  The boys were keen to put last week’s performance behind them and put in a solid display.  The side made three changes with Jarred Sewell returning; Simon Baker was welcomed back to the senior side after a few seasons in England and Brendon Maher coming into the side. 

Naenae won the toss and elected to bat on another good Karori pitch.  The boys new they had little margin for error against a strong batting line up which included Firebirds Jesse Ryder and Grant Elliot.  

Ryder has been in good form so far this season and this good run continued with a hard hitting century.  He was dropped a couple of times.  They were tough chances but against a quality player they need to be taken.  Karori chipped away with regular wickets with Baker and Murdoch picking up two wickets.  Skipper Lee Edwards celebrated his well deserved call up to the Firebirds with three wickets.  

Unfortunately a last wicket stand of 40 odd pushed Naenae score to 286 in their 50 overs.  

Karori knew they had to bat well, but were confident as the pitch was still good to bat on.  Karori started off in good fashion and at a good run rate until Brunt departed to a smart catch at cover.  The brakes were put on with two more quick wickets until Cameron and Edwards started to rebuild the innings.

Cameron departed for another 41, he is in fine form at the moment but is looking to push on now and get a big score.  Edwards and Templeton put on a good partnership until Edwards departed.  It was another case of Karori’s batting woes, as regular wickets put Naenae in complete control.

Karori finished 100 runs short of the target and again failed to bat their allotted overs.  We go into our last one day game of the season next week in desperate need of a win to keep us in touch going into the two dayers. 

 

 V Petone Karori 1 Saturday 3 November

  

On Saturday Karori played Petone at Karori Park.  The boys were excited and relieved to finally be playing the first game at the new park.  Karori were determined to put last week’s loss behind them and get back to winning ways.

Petone won the toss and inserted Karori.  We were all interested in how the new pitch would play.  The pitch will certainly be one of the better ones in the league.  On Saturday the pitch played reasonably true but also gave the bowlers plenty of encouragement. 

Karori got off to another decent start with an opening partnership of 80 when Ben Cameron departed for a well crafted 48.  We were well set at this point to push on and score well over 200.  When Murdoch and Brunt (28) departed Karori were 110-3.  We still should have pushed on to reach our target but a familiar batting collapse followed with Karori 8 down in the 38th over and on 160.  Thanks to some good work from Ben and Fletch we managed to squeeze to 199-9 in our 50 overs.  This score was well short of what we wanted and everyone was disappointed at our efforts.   

We were determined to get early wickets and expose Petone’s soft middle order.  Their openers got off to a quick start and the ball flew around the park (with short boundaries) and Petone were going at 9 an over.  When we got our first wicket the score was 80-1 in about the 10th.  From this point victory was always going to be a struggle but regular wickets kept us confident of a win.  However, the scoreboard was ticking along and we could not defend our total and eventually lost by 4 wickets. 

 

Needless to say the boys were incredibly disappointed with our performance and some hard words were said in the shed afterwards.  We are at a stage now where we know what to do we just have to step up and perform on the pitch.  Every individual needs to seriously review their own performance and then address these issues.       

v Easts 27 October  Kilbirnie Park  

 

Karori went into the game against Easts in a positive frame of mind after back to back wins.  Amazingly Lee Edwards won the toss again! Hopefully he will now win 19 out of 19!!  Karori elected to take to the field, a tactic that had brought the previous two wins.

Karori started off brightly with Nick Hearn bowling tremendously into a howling southerly at Kilbirnie Park.  He bowled with great control and bowled his ten overs straight through for figures of 1-12.  The bowlers again did a solid job and at the 30 over mark Easts were 100-2.  However, throughout the time in the field Karori had to put up with constant drizzle and consequently bowled with a wet ball for the majority of the innings.  Easts managed to get to 227 in their overs, thanks to their English Pro James Francis 85*.  Stephen Murdoch picked up three wickets and Lee Edwards again bowled well. 

Karori set off in confident fashion and had a solid opening partnership until Ben Cameron was dismissed for 17.  When Murdoch fell for the second wicket Karori were well placed at 77-2 and ticking along at 4 to 5 an over.  However, a couple of quick wickets put Easts back into the game and set up a good finish.  Then Easts had a major stroke of luck in the 28th over.  Jono Sole struck a superb straight drive back to the bowler only for him to get a slight deflection on the ball and run opening bat Andy Brunt out for 61.  He was well set and looking comfortable against their attack.    

The loss of a few more wickets put Karori under more pressure, but skipper Lee Edwards hit an aggressive 45 with some huge 6s to get Karori close to their target.  However, when he fell so did Karori’s chance of winning.  We ended up falling 15 short of the target, which was hugely disappointing considering we had 4 overs left.   

This game was a big wake up call for the side, and lessons need to be learnt if we have a chance of making the one-day final.  The boys are now looking forward to putting things right with their next game against Petone at Wellington’s home of cricket – Karori Park - after over two years away from the venue.      

V Upper Valley Monday 22 October

 

Karori went into the Monday’s game with Upper Valley full of confidence after their good win over Taita 2 days earlier.  It was a historic day with Lee Edwards winning his first toss in 19 attempts!!  Lee is so accustomed to losing the toss he was not quite sure what he was going to do!

 

Edwards decided to put Upper valley into bat.  The bowlers backed up their excellent performance on Saturday with another fine opening spell from Edwards and Wright.  Edwards picked up the key wicket of Matthew Bell early on and first change Hearn picked up the other vital wicket of Michael Parlane for single figures. 

 

Upper Valley were under pressure with at 20-3 and 50-5 and the bowlers did not let up and eventually bowled the hosts out for 93.  Edwards was the pick of the bowlers and ended up with match figures of 4-8.  Nick Hearn ended up with figures of 3-13, with all wickets top order batsmen.  Jarred Sewell bowled tidily with figures of 2-12. 

 

The bowlers certainly backed up their performance from Saturday with another excellent performance.  A pleasing note from this game was that the fielders backed up the bowlers with no dropped catches with some excellent chances being held. 

 

Karori didn’t set off in chase of the small target in ideal fashion by losing a wicket in the first over.  Ben Cameron continued his good start to the season with 48 not out and he was well supported by Chris Spring (22 not out).  Karori ended up winning by 8 wickets with over 20 overs to spare.

 

Karori have started the season in good form and now look in good shape to take on Easts in their next one day game. 

 

  

V Taita Saturday 20October 2007
 
The start of a new season and there was an air of expectation around Ben Burn where Karori were starting off their challenge for the Pearce Cup against Taita.  However, a similar story unfolded prior to the game with Lee losing the toss (he failed to win a single toss in any game last season!).

  

However, Taita elected to bat and Karori were happy to take to the field.  Karori started off well and kept the runs to a minimum.  Wright picked up his first wicket of the season with a steady opening spell.  The bowlers performed well throughout the 50 overs but had little support from a sloppy fielding performance, with several dropped catches going down.  All the bowlers performed well with Lee Edwards, Nick Hearn and Hamesh Templeton picking up two wickets apiece.  Taita finished their allotted overs 193-9.   

  

Karori were confident of chasing down Taita’s score particularly with Stephen Murdoch slipping back into the number 3 spot.  Openers Ben Cameron and Andy Brunt set off at a rapid run rate until Brunt was needlessly run out for 18 in the 3rd over with the score on 32. 

  

Murdoch continued the momentum the openers had started and establish an excellent partnership with Cameron.  Karori were racing along at 8/9 an over until Cameron departed for 42.  Murdoch was the pick of the batters scoring an effortless 64.   

  

The fall of regular wickets left the lower order (Hearn 18*) to see Karori home by 3 wickets with over 10 overs to spare.

  

For the first game of the season it was a good performance but there are a number of areas where we can work on.  The fielding needs to back up the bowlers efforts in the next game.  The batters need to value their wicket a little more as their were a number of soft dismissals.  We will certainly take this opening game, one from one!!

2006-2007 Season Summary by Senior team captain – Lee Edwards

 
“Close but no cigar”. This is probably a fair summary of our season. We just missed out on playing in the one-day final against Naenae, and also just missed out on playing in the three-day final. Our season (upon reflection) was influenced and ultimately decided by a one day loss to Eastern Suburbs (pre-xmas) in a game that we should have cruised home. In saying that however, I think there were more positives this season than in recent years.    
 
This season was filled with many outstanding performances and showed signs of a team that is starting to find its feet in the Pearce Cup. There is no doubt that “Winning is a habit”. East’s have proved it with winning the Pearce cup again this year, but we further supported this theory when we successfully defended our club 20/20 championship in February. We just need to realise and believe that we can win the Pearce cup.Standout seasons came from Chris Spring, Andrew Brunt, Jarred Sewell, and myself.   
  
Chris Spring had a top score of 115not out which is made to look even better by the fact that when he approached the crease and looked at the scoreboard, it read 5 for 16. Andrew Brunt was undoubtedly the find of the season, proving that he was more than capable of not only scoring runs at the top of the order, but doing it in an aggressive yet calculated way. Andy ended the season only a couple of runs short of the magic honours board figure of 500. A great effort for an opener, to get that many runs in Wellington in his debut season. A mention must be made to Ben Cameron who also did well picking up his 1st senior century in his first season with the team.  
 

Jarred Sewell had an improved season, falling only 2 wickets short of the honours board for claiming 40 wickets in the season. He did however claim two 10-wicket bags during the season against Hutt Districts and Eastern suburbs. I had a satisfying season (personally) finishing with 45 wickets. For an unprecedented 3rd time in a row, I managed to end up the leading wicket taker in the Pearce cup. I earned my best season figures of 7-21 against North City. 

The team seemed to run either “very hot” or “very cold”. We had a pretty good run-in at the end of the season, beating Hutt Districts by 200 runs and then beating Taita the next game by 10 wickets. But then we struggled to compete in a must win game against East and found ourselves at least 200 behind with only 1 wicket in hand at the end of the game.

We are certainly a good team, but we are not a great team yet. What’s exciting is that I think we are not far off greatness. We will have our fortress in Karori Park back next season, and we will have the same bunch of guys, so it’s promising to be another competitive year with high hopes and high expectations.   

 
I look forward to donning the whites and stepping out onto the home of Wellington club cricket next season.

 

 11 November V Easts played at Ben Burn Park.
Another week of dreary weather saw the game transferred to Ben Burn again. Having played here only two weeks before, we knew what was needed to win. The question was: could the boys deliver this time around?
Winning the toss, Easts elected to bat – an outcome that brought a smile to skipper Lee Edwards face.
The lads bowled and fielded with purpose – Edwards was first to strike getting the first wicket (taken in a stunning catch at 1st slip by Spring) in the 1st over. While the 2nd wicket was a little slow coming (at 50) so were the runs. This time the bowlers bowled with much more discipline and consistency, something that was inevitably going to yield wickets. And so it proved. When they started to come, the wickets fell consistently 109/3 at the drinks became 223/10 in the 49th over.
All of the bowlers contributed but particularly Edwards 35/2 off 10 overs, Paul Taylor 43/3 off 10 overs and Hamish Templeton 25/2 off 10 overs.
Now it was our turn to bat – 224 seemed a reasonable ask, but was it?
Unfortunately it wasn’t to be – although we got off to a reasonable start losing our 1st wicket at 22 in the 5th, we lost too many wickets, too frequently, to far too needless shots. At 117/6 at the drinks we were going to have to rely on our ability to bat all the way down if we were going to pull it off.
The needless run out of Hamish Templeton for 37 in the 30th over brought a fearful sense on inevitability about the outcome that was to follow. A sensational last wicket stand of 41 (ironically the best of our innings) by Jarred Sewell (31) and Hamish Wright (9*) brought us to within an inch of what would have been an amazing win, but it wasn’t to be. The only other batsman to contribute was the increasingly reliable Andy Brunt who scored 38.
Dismissed for 202/10 in the 39th over we were left wondering ‘what if?’ It was one of those games where we could be forgiven for thinking that we genuinely ‘lost’ the game rather than Easts ‘winning’ it. The sense of disappointment was extreme, however what followed in the shed during the team debrief was remarkable. Stung by the entirely unnecessary loss, the sense of honesty in review and unity to improve going forward was unmistakable – an small insight into what lies ahead for this still very young but tight team.
4 November v Onslow played at Nairnville Park
We arrived at Khandallah hungry to make amends for last week.
Winning the toss was always going to be important on this, our first, grass wicket. With skipper Lee Edwards calling correctly, we invited Onlsow to bat first.
 A much better bowling and fielding effort followed this time. With Lee Edwards leading the way (17/1 off 9 overs), this time the bowlers went about their task with far more consistency and accuracy. All of them chimed in, especially replacement player Si Kent 27/1 off 7 overs, Hamish Wright 19/1 off 5 and Jarred Sewell 25/1 off 10.
 
Not surprisingly, Onslow struggled from the outset losing early and consistent wickets. 72/3 at the drinks became 166/7 after 50 overs.
 
Although we didn’t bowl them out, we were nonetheless extremely happy to have restricted them to 166, a score we thought was very gettable.
 
Having made a change at the top, with well performing Reserves team opening bat, Ben Cameron, getting his chance, the new opening combination of Brunt & Cameron did the business – getting us through to 30 before Cameron was caught behind in the 7th over.
 
Having done enough to get to his first maiden 50, a moment’s lapse of concentration robbed Andy Brunt of the milestone being bowled for 48 just before drinks in the 25th over. 88/3 at the half way mark and on track.
 
The remaining batsmen set about knocking off the target getting us home with relative ease in the 44th over & finishing with 1637/6. Other batsmen to ship in with useful innings were Steve Murdoch (20), Hamish Templeton (24) and Chris Spring 43*.
 
So, 3rd win out of 4 and we’re still in with a  chance of making the finals.
28 October v Hutt Districts  played at Ben Burn Park.
Week 3 of summer and still the weather is playing its hand as the game is transferred to our back yard, Ben Burn Park.
Having loss the toss and put into bat, the lads knew they needed to post a score north of 270 to win. We were also aware of the different mind set needed when batting first: we needed to set a winning target on a ground with notoriously short boundaries.
At 37/5 after 13 overs with our top 5 batsmen back in the shed we needed something special just to bat out the full 50 overs, let alone post a winning target. In walks Chris Spring who from the first ball he faced played a masterly, well executed innings, thoroughly deserving of his maiden Pearce Cup century walking back to the shed at the end of the 50th over at 116*. A fine knock from a fine young batsman who emerged from the carnage of 5 early wickets as the saviour of our innings. Cricket is a game where runs are scored in partnerships and today we saw two fine examples – the first with Matty Atkin who scored a valuable 25 in a partnership of 83, the second with Marcus Hill who continued his explosive run hitting 64 off 52 balls in an unbeaten partnership with Spring of 143.
 
We finished with 268/7 – almost the target, but was it enough? We were in with a chance but the bowlers had a job to do.
 
We started well enough, reducing them to 17/2 after 4 overs, but what followed was disappointing. On a wicket that demanded full and offside deliveries, we served up far too many short and legside balls. Extras (39 – including 21 wides) and the too many fielding lapses played their part. Although we held them to 117/2 at drinks, there was one clear target in the 2nd half: wickets – they had them in hand and we needed them if we were going to win.
 
Unfortunately it was a case of more of the same in the 2nd 25 overs. Wickets were all too slow and infrequent coming as their batsmen chased down the target, getting home in the 49th over and finishing with 272/8.
 
An unnecessary loss – one that we hope the players will learn from. The result shows a win to Hutt Districts, but there is no doubt in this observers mind that K’Town is the better team. One hopes that they will grow through this disappointing loss.
21 October v North City played at Elsdon Park.     
                               
Week two – different ground, different opposition, same appalling weather – oh joy. Nonetheless, this highly spirited team of talented young men arrived at the ground having primed themselves the team breakfast.
Sensing there was an opportunity not to be missed here, no sooner did we win the toss than we invited Norths to bat.
Our quickies lapped up the opportunity to do some damage on a wicket that offered great promise and deliver they did. New club member Paul Taylor (ex Petone) offered good support to skipper Lee Edwards who finished with 18/2 off 10 overs. Other bowlers to chip in were Hamish Wright 10/1 off 4, Jarred Sewell 20/3 off 9 and Marcus Hill 40/2 off 10.
Having done well to restrict Norths to 90/6 at the half way mark, the lads kept the pressure up after drinks limiting them to 150/9 after 50.
With the weather once again looking to ruin the day, the lads knew that run rate was a key focus. Once again our new opening batsmen, Andy Brunt (23) and Dan Clark (14) did the job getting us off to a flyer before losing the first wicket at 38 in the 8th over. Solid and consistent batting effort followed anchored to a large extent by a fine 46* by Hamish Templeton and finished off by an explosive 21* by Marcus Hill.
End result: 152/6 after 39 overs.
Two up, two down – a win and we’ll bank it.
14 October v Petone Riverside played at Fraser Park
                                    
What a start to the new summer campaign: overcast skies, strong northerly winds a misty drizzle all day. Who said cricket was the summer game?
Knowing how important it was to kick the new season’s campaign off to a good start, the lads met early for a compulsory team breakfast – something that has become a real tradition in recent years for this team.
We asked Club stalwart and long serving ex-president Mike Curtis to come out and hand out the new season’s gear to the players and say a few words. As we head into the 125th year of the Club, none of this was lost on the team.
Having loss the toss and fielded first, we did well in rapidly deteriorating conditions to restrict Petone to 261/7 at the end of 50 overs. At 160/5 after 40 it was looking like we would finish them off cheaply, but unfortunately the weather deteriorated to such an extent that skipper Lee Edwards was forced to restrict the bowling to the wristies. The bowlers run up had become so slippery that it was impossible for the quicks to come in. Even so, the spinners had a terrific battle just holding the ball as they came into bowl. Not surprisingly the last 10 overs were reduced to an on side slug feast with 100 runs coming off the last 10.
While this might sound disappointing, the flip side was that it was shaping up well for our batsmen.
Bowlers to acquit themselves well were skipper Lee Edwards’ 8 overs 19/0, while ‘new boy on the block’ Hamish Wright (aka ‘Tower’) debuted well with 10 overs 43/2. James Hill also chimed in with 47/3 off his 8 overs.
Our new & imported opening batting combination of Andy Brunt (UK) 35 and Dan Clark (Oz) 7 started the season off well with an opening partnership of 32 off 5 overs. Run rate was clearly going to be important in a game which looked increasingly unlikely to go the distance – something the batsmen understood and set about achieving. Steve Murdoch 58 and Chris Spring 50* formed a solid partnership to keep our run rate well ahead of Petone’s.
This all paid huge dividends and saw us record a win when inevitably the umpires bowed to the appalling conditions and offered us the opportunity to pull the pin at the end of our 30th over, when we were comfortably ahead at 180/5.
One up, one down – what better way to start the campaign ahead.
 
 


Season Review First Team 2005-06

 

 
This season has been one of concern.
Fortunately for us, the concerns are for our future opponents and not us. The reason I make this bold statement is purely because of the threatening talent that is now starting to produce promising results.
 
For me there were several standout moments and achievements this season that I think are worth mentioning. The first of which is recognition to Steve Murdoch and myself. Steve finished top Pearce cup run scorer, and I finished top wicket taker for a second year running. These results are indicative of the talent our team has and will hopefully inspire others to produce similar performances next season. Steve Murdoch broke a major barrier this season, scoring his maiden Karori century against Petone mid way through the season. Once this happened, Steve got a taste for runs and became a run-scoring machine. He notched up a further two hundreds before the season ended, one of which was in a 20/20 match. He then carried his form to India during a post-season tour with the Wellington development team, scoring another ton in his first knock. Steve was accompanied on this tour by three other Karori teammates, James Hill, Hamish Templeton, and Chris Spring. As part of my season tally, I managed to sneak a cheeky hat-trick against Onslow in a close fought one-dayer that we subsequently won.
 
The most significant success the team enjoyed this season was in winning the inaugural Wellington club cricket 20/20 competition. This event was run over 2 days and consisted of two sudden-death pool games, a semi-final, and then the final. With this version of the game being foreign to all, our lack of 20/20 experience provoked us to take a haphazard approach. I’m sure that those who have played for and watched Karori in the past would quickly agree that a game dictating unorthodox cricket, is one tailor made for Karori. As it turned out, we played what we considered “our final” in the semi’s against the eventual Pearce cup winners Eastern Suburbs. This was a see-saw match that kept all those watching, and playing, on edge. Firstly, we found ourselves reeling at 90/9 after just 9 overs but thanks to some calculated batting by Tama Walker and Jared Sewell, we limped through to 168 all out in the last over. As it turned out, that was the match winning effort. We were then able to restrict Easts to 156/7 off their 20 over allocation. We then faced Naenae in the final and won that game with consummate ease.
I attribute this seasons success largely to the depth of the top two teams. 
 
The healthy situation of players having to perform to earn their keep certainly kept players honest and focused. I found that there was a greater awareness of upcoming players. This produced good competitive pressure on those in the senior team.
 
One of the pleasing aspects of this season for me was that we showed good grit and determination at trying times. A ‘die hard’ attitude is one thing that we have traditionally been lacking. It could be said that although we lost a few close ones this season (namely both games to Taita and the three-wicket two-day loss to Petone) we certainly fought hard in those matches to give ourselves an unlikely chance of winning. In addition to that, we won games this season that we would not have previously won in the past. Well done boys.
 
This season we had an “All Kiwi” team. We elected to bypass an overseas professional and take on board two homegrown talents from the Wairarapa. Tama Walker and Craig Tennant each bought with them a variety of skills that was very much suited to what our team required. Tama proved an invaluable spinning option with his left arm orthodox turners, whilst Craig proved himself to be a competent Opening Bat/Wicker-keeper.
 
I think the key to our next season is proving that this year was no fluke. If we are to prove that, then our opponents concerns will further escalate and soon everyone will label us as the team to watch out for. There is no reason why we shouldn’t win the Pearce cup next season. I have high hopes for our boys and think that we are long overdue for a league win.
 
Have a safe winter and I will see you all next summer.
 

Lee Edwards

Karori Senior Team Captain.

 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

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