Cricket Wrap-Up

Tuesday, 31st March 2026 at 10:50am

Final matches of Jnr Cricket (Term 1). Report by Alain Baillie (Coach):

Round 5 GBHS 4-113 lost to Lynfield 7-124" We started brilliantly in this game, winning the toss, sending Lynfield in and taking 7/53 in the first 10 overs. Wickets were shared, with Oscar Raos taking 2/24, Nangial Khan 1/4, Creig Fernando 1/6, Mac Kalksma 1/13 and Kavi Rohit 1/18. A great throw from the outfield by Ilyas Naushad resulted in a run out. Unfortunately we missed a few chances after that and couldn't quite finish the Lynfield side off, so they finished on 7-124. Bowling our less experienced boys meant 85 extras made up the bulk of the Lynfield score.

I decided to limit our best batters in this game to give others an opportunity, Although we didn't lose many wickets, Max Doig top scored with 10, and Mac Kalksma made 8no. 75 extras bolstered our score, meaning the difference in extras was the margin between the sides. Despite the loss, the game demonstrated we could compete even with our best two players playing little or no role in the game, a promising sign for the future.

Round 6 GBHS 2-148 lost to Western Springs 5-157 Nathan Ballie again called correctly and sent WS in. Kavi Rohit (1/25) again took an early wicket, but WS' two best batters then settled in for a big partnership until their number 3 retired with 52. We managed to take 4 late wickets, with Nathan Hawkins (2/23) bowling his best spell of the term and Kritesh Navaneethan taking 1/25. Creig Fernando effected a fantastic run out through great backing up and then a direct hit, showing the value of cricket basics.

We got off to a fast start in reply, with the first four overs yielding about 45 runs. Some tight WS bowling then gradually slowed the rate. Kritesh retired on 14, but Nathan B went on to score his first 50, his retirement leaving us needing 30 off the last 3 overs. Despite our best efforts, some good bowling and fielding meant we came up just short, but did make our highest score of the season.

Thanks to Cliff Hawkins for managing the team and scoring. Navaneethan Subramaniam and Brendan Doig for umpiring and Christy Kalksma for scoring.

With a squad of 15 it was tough to get all the boys as involved as I would have liked. The best solution to this is to find more players and have 2 teams in term 4, so if you're interested in cricket make sure to let GBHS Sport Coordinator Leo Drake-Rogers know, even if you haven't played before.

Looking forward to seeing everyone again in October.

Alain Baillie Coach