Four wins and two losses in this week’s games, with a big win for the Championship side putting them clear of the field in the 2-day competition and the overall standings. Also two big milestones passed, as noted below, while Andy Richards’ recent good form continued with an 88 taking him past 800 runs for the season. Two more weeks to go!

Congratulations to Bombay Tandoor Pressies lynchpin, Steve Van Grunsven, whose 8-over spell of 3-7 against Sydenham Cardinals included his 700th career wicket for Merivale-Papanui Cricket Club. Steve's MP career began back in the 1998/99 season, and this is the second major milestone he has broken this season, having already brought up 6,000 runs for the club. He's only the 6th MP player to reach 700 wickets, one of only 10 to reach 6,000 runs and, unsurprisingly, is the only player in the club's history to reach both of these milestones. A fantastic achievement by a great club man!

Congratulations to James Comet Duncan, holder of the club record for the highest individual score (216), whose second run batting for our Sporting Edge Championship side brought up 3,000 club runs on Saturday 11 March.

Upcoming club social events

The MPCC Curry Night is set for Saturday 18 March. Ash Reddy has once again offered to put on a range of curries for our members and guests – thanks in advance, Ash, for your generosity. There will be a choice of curries and a free stubby in exchange for your $22, plus the chance to see some of MPCC’s self-described alphas fail to deal with a slightly spicy sauce.

Still time to grab your place. Please email mpcricket@xtra.co.nz, sign up on the clubrooms noticeboard or indicate you are going on the Facebook page if you’re keen to come along.

Match Reports from Saturday 18th February..

MP Sporting Edge Championship vs OBC @ Hagley 4 (2DAY – day 2 - Win)

The 2nd innings of a big game vs Old Boys, a win would put us mere points from promotion, a loss means we allow to be caught. It was a glorious sunny day at Hagley Park, a delayed start due to the wet outfield allowed for us to sit back and relax before starting out 2nd bowling innings. We entered the field and opened up with our usual pair of Jacob and Samuel. The Old Boys batters looked to block out early on, building a platform to then score quick runs later on in the day. But Jacob had other plans. 17 runs for no loss, he decided to rip through the opener and then trap their number 3 LBW, putting him on a hat trick ball! It unfortunately wasn’t to be, but it didn’t stop Jacob from claiming another victim leaving Old Boys 21-3, we were on the hunt! Jacob finishing with impressive figures of 3-10 off 12 overs. A change of ends saw Samuel replace Jacob, whilst the mighty mullet Benny Mac came on at the other end. With Samuel and his cast charging in at one end, the change of ends had worked as he managed to nick off the other opening batter, 4 down. We knew that Old Boys had stacked their middle order, so this was where we had to switch on now and really attack the Old Boys batters. It was then time for the Ben McLennan show. He ripped through one batter, 5 down. Next ball, Scott was our biggest wicket, as the ball slid down leg Scott looked to hit it over square leg. He edged it straight to the one handed fielder on our team Samuel, who took the catch as it rebounded off his cast! Fair to say we were all buzzing after that one. 6 down. Ben then didn’t stop there, he ripped through another Old Boys batter and left them 49-7! BENNY BENNY MAC, BENNY MAC, BENNY BENNY MAC! After lunch we came back out and looked to try and take the last 3 wickets as quickly as possible for as little runs as possible. Sammy G and Bert came on to finish up the game, the pitch offering plenty of turn and bounce. Sam G got unlucky with his bowling, bamboozling the Old Boys batters but only for one wicket. Bert picked up the other 2 at the other end and left Old Boys 75 all out. A great bowling and fielding effort which left us confident but knowing there was still a lot to be done and we weren’t taking the low total for granted.

Due to our 17 run lead, we were chasing 58 to win as Rory and Lingy headed out to the crease. Unfortunately Rory fell early as Lingy looked to be attacking and started manoeuvring the Old Boys seamers around. Lingy departed for 10 after some nice strokes, bringing Luke to the crease with Teddy. Luke looked to place some shots but couldn’t hang around for too long, departing for a well made 6. We needed a partnership at 23-3, that brought Aaron to the crease. Teddy and Aaron dug in and ticked the scoreboard along, showing great patience and concentration. Teddy departed at 40-4, making 19 off 59 balls, a very mature and hard worked innings which we needed at the time. Comet then joined Aaron at the crease when we needed 18 to win, it wasn’t to be, however, as he got run out for 2. A desperate outstretched dive not being able to save him. Bert then joined Aaron at the crease at 52-5, 6 runs to win. A quick boundary from Bert followed up by a sweeping boundary from Aaron saw us home. Aaron finishing on a solid 16 off 31 balls, Bert 4*.

A great win for the champs, we look to win next week against Halswell and keep our unbeaten streak in the 2 day comp to win it and get the promotion. Big thanks to the supports who came down to watch the game, and the Div 1 lads who helped us see the game home.

Thanks for reading,

Bert.

MP Sporting Edge Div.1 vs Heathcote @ Heathcote (2DAY – day 2)

Day 2 of our 2 Day match against Heathcote saw us start the day with a 1st innings deficit of 105 runs. Ash and Jibin opened for us and showed some early resistance before both departed with edges to the slips cordon. Louis, batting at 3, followed soon after, missing a straight one. Lewis managed to get a few boundaries away and top scored with 16 but saw his partners disappearing rapidly at the other end as Heathcote's disciplined bowlers demolished our middle order. A few players tried to stick around and few tried some silly shots (Basa) but the result was the same as, ultimately, we were vastly outmatched by a talented Heathcote side who completed the rout, bowling us for 55 and winning by an innings. Congrats to them on their promotion to Champs next year. For us, unfortunately, a trip down to Div 2 beckons.

Joel Singer

MP BBS Timbers Division 3 vs Lancaster Park @ Garrick 1 (Loss)

No report.

MP Frame'n'Copy Panthers vs Prebbleton @ Prebbleton (Win)

The Panthers made the trek south to sunny Prebbleton domain this week. When we arrived, there were about a million rugby players there playing their pre-season games. This meant we didn't have access to the changing rooms which was a bit of a bummer considering it was a bloody hot day and there was a distinct lack of shade at the ground to store our gear. Skipper Sunnie won the toss and decided to bat, this giving Andy R ample opportunity to clock up some more runs and he certainly took full advantage of it.

Andy R and Dean started the innings well, however Dean, on 8, fell in the fifth over after he decided to 'Believe In The Leave' to a ball which then crashed into his off peg. This brought Connor to the crease, who played some nice powerful shots, including a beautiful lofted drive down the ground which unfortunately stopped just short of the boundary on the slow outfield. After Connor fell for 8 Sunnie arrived at the crease who knocked it round a bit till he got a top edge and was caught at gully for 7. Andy A was in next, he and Andy R then stabilised the innings with an 83 run partnership, they ran lots of 1s and 2s with the odd bad ball being dispatched to the boundary, at this stage Andy R started lifting the tempo with some aggressive strokes down the ground. Andy A eventually fell for 36. Steve came in and paddled it round before he sacrificed his wicket for a suicidal run-out on 5. Not long after Andy R ran himself out in the final stages of the innings for a brilliant 88. The Panthers ended up on 169.

At the innings break we knew we had a decent score but would need to take our chances because Prebbleton had a couple of handy batters. Andy A and Harsha started the bowling well to the two lefties but couldn't get the breakthrough. After the 6th over Jack was brought on and immediately made an impact. On his first ball the batsmen skied it over mid-on, Connor ran back and took an amazing diving catch, which could go down as the catch of the season. Just a couple of balls later Jack got his second wicket, Prebbleton's best batter, who edged it through to keeper Dean. At the other end, Steve was brought on and got a wicket in his second over, a nice ball which came in and sneaked through the gate. The next bowler on was Ronnie, who immediately made an impact with a sharp run-out, the batsmen hit it firmly down the pitch and Ronnie parried it onto the stumps, with the non-striker having no chance to get back to his crease in time. Ronnie also picked up a wicket in his next over, bowling the batsman with a nicely flighted delivery. Harsha was then brought back on and removed the danger-man who had picked up a fifty, a sharp catch to Sunnie at mid-wicket. Andy R was next at the bowling crease, to add a bit of credibility to his all-rounder tag, and he grabbed a brace in his third over. Andy A came back to knock off the final wicket with a yorker which smashed into middle.

Prebbleton were all out for 118, so a nice win for the Panthers in Sunnie's final game for us. The win was brilliantly set up by Andy R, who has proven time-and-time again this season as the rock at the top of the order for the Panthers. It was another classic Andy R innings, lots of shots down the ground and through the covers and great running between the wickets picking up lots of 1s and 2s.

Cheers,

Andy Anderson

MP Geeks on Wheels vs Fitz Wanderers @ Edgar Mac 1 (Win)

The Geeks on Wheels Div 7 side really were spoiled on Saturday afternoon. Not only did we have the privilege of playing on the superb looking Edgar Mac #1, we also had the services of Mr President Ranjith and Dakesey! I would also include Mr Monger, but he's played enough games for us to be part of the (wobbly) furniture, now. Who could ask for more.

Other than winning the toss and batting first, which Alan failed dismally to do, and so we were fielding first against The Fitz Wanderers, who had dealt to us in our previous encounter. Nithissh and Sanith opened the bowling up for us, and despite the pitch being a belter, really had the opening batsmen under pressure from the start. The runs were hard to come by, and when Sanith took the first wicket there were only 10 runs on the board, but quite a few deliveries had been used up. Wanderers then had their best batsmen at the crease, and they put together a bit of a partnership before Frosty struck, 2/38. Just prior to that however - drama!!! Nithissh took an absolute screamer of a catch (good enough for the opposing team to also applaud). Only for it all to be for naught, as Frosty had knocked the bails off during his delivery, thus making it a dead ball. Still, Frosty made up for it by removing the same batsman not long after. And took out another one in short order after that too - 3/40.

Change of bowlers brought Monger into the attack. Who immediately delivered his customary "oh sh*t!" followed by a double bouncer. Still, it was only a double bouncer, and it turned out to be the only multi-bouncing delivery he produced. He in fact made the next break-through, reducing The Wanders to 4/57. Pav was on at the other end. When he finally decided to bowl over the wicket (instead of bowling around the wicket and getting all hot and bothered when the umpire, unsurprisingly, wouldn't give him any lbw decisions), he produced a pearler of a delivery that prompted Dakesy, bung knees and all, to take a blinder of a catch at slip - one handed, low to his right. 5/67.

The Wanderers then decided to hang around a bit, before Nithissh was brought back into the attack and struck again, when the batsman decided to go for a bit of a wander and was stumped. 6/105. The very next ball Nithissh struck again, 7/105. And not long after that, yet again, 8/105. When Nithissh removed their best performing batsman they were on their last legs, supposedly, at 9/111. No-one told their final pair, though, who put on a further 20 runs before Pav finally took the last wicket in the 37th over, all out for 131.

So a good all round bowling and fielding effort. No real dropped catches, and only 8 extras. Nithissh was the pick of the bowlers, with 4/13 from his 8. Frosty took 2/23 from 6, and Pav 2/20 from 5.1. Sanath ended with 1/16 from 5, and Monger chipped in with 1/40 from 8. Karim returned 0/7 from 2, and Dakesey 0/12 from 2.

So 132 to win - on that pitch, so long as we kept our heads it should have been very gettable. Alan and Ranjith opened up for us, and got us off to a solid start, before Alan was out for 24, 1/35. Dakesy was next in and made 8 before virtually walking on a lbw decision, it was that plumb. 2/55. Harry and Ranjith then combined for a good (and rapid) partnership before Ranjith missed a full toss and was bowled for a fine 39. 3/94

I didn't bother the scorers at all, 4-94. Which brought Karim to the crease - and from that point it was pretty plain sailing. Harry (as per the norm) had zero intention of hanging around. Some big hitting from him saw us knock off the required runs in pretty short order, reaching the target in the 28th over. Harry ended on a fine 48*, with Karim 9*.

So a very good win by 6 wickets, with over 11 overs remaining, and redemption for the previous outing. Last game of the "finals" round next week, with all 4 teams on the same points. Will be interesting!

cheers, Richard

MP Bombay Tandoor Presidents vs Sydenham Cardinals @ Bishopdale (Win)

MPCC Tandoor Bombay Gold played Sydenham Cardinals at Bishopdale. The pre match build up included the groundsman showing up at 12.30pm to give the pitch an extra roll. Something appreciated by both sides. Humey won the toss and Cardinals were put into bat. M-P had success in each of the first two overs with Mendis and Pickle picking up a wicket each to leave Cardinals at 0 for 2.

Mendis and Pickle continued the great start, knocking off the Cardinal’s top 5 with only 22 runs on the board. Pickle, with his second wicket, let out a squeal of delight as he proceeded to tell us that his 2nd wicket brought up 700 wickets for him in Merivale-Papanui colours. A wonderful effort by Pickle, who is fiercely competitive and one of the nicest guys you’ll run into on a cricket pitch.

No more wickets were lost by Cardinals and they limped to drinks at 40 for 5. After drinks, the M-P bowlers maintained tight lines and lengths. Frankie Kokiri captured an early post drinks wicket, which ended up being the last the M-P bowlers took. At 42 for 6, Winder, who came to the wicket in the 12th over with the total at 15 for 4, and Spence, tried to increase the scoring and apart from one over from which they took 11, they had to be content pushing singles with the odd rare boundary against an accurate M-P bowling attack. Cardinals finished with 98 for 6 off their 40 overs. Winder not out 42 and Spence not out 29, held their innings together. Pickle was the pick of the bowlers 8 overs, 5 maidens, 7 runs, 3 wickets. Kelum 8,1,15,2 Millar 6,0,14,0 and Kokiri 6,1,8,1 also bowled tightly to deny the batsmen any momentum. I must also mention that the pitch was playing slow and the 99 to win, we thought was going to be a tricky chase.

Captain Hume, gave an inspirational speech during the interval and Bell and Pickle went out to begin the M-P innings. The chase started slowly with tight bowling from Winder and Van Dyke. With the total at 14 after 8 overs, a pre-meditated shot across the line by Bell found a gap in the field and the boundary. This seemingly opened the floodgates for Bell and Pickle and the scoring rate surged. Pickle was eventually caught by Spence for 35 off Walker with the score at 60. This capped off a great double for Pickle, his innings came from 46 balls and included 4 boundaries and a 6.

Hume, batting at 3, was brilliantly caught by Winder, also off Walker, to leave Bell and Zwies at the wicket when the winning runs were scored. Simon Bell finished with 51 not out, an innings which included 5 boundaries came from 69 balls. Walker the only wicket taker for Cardinals 2 for 19 off 6.

The game ended in good spirits and what happened on the field, stayed on the field. Both teams gathered around to celebrate Pickle’s 700 wickets and he gave a surprisingly short speech. The celebration included a round of vodka shots, presented by Graeme Peters who packed vodka and plastic cups into his kit bag this morning. (He possibly got a sly text from Pickle who keeps meticulous records.)

I took the report writing off Pickle this weekend to allow him to enjoy his wonderful performance and milestone.

Cheers,

Petros Kapralos

Subscriptions

Please note that adult playing subscriptions are due for all players. If you have not yet paid your subs or organised an AP with the Treasurer, please organise this urgently. The late subscription rate is $300 ($170 for students).

The club’s bank account details are:

•             Westpac 03 0866 0269318 000

•             Merivale Papanui Cricket Club Inc

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If you have any queries send us an email to mpcricket@xtra.co.nz

Article added: Wednesday 15 March 2023