Two days of excellent competition with Kings' High School.
DAY ONE - Sunday 5 March
Cricket Firsts
Muliaina Century
Winning the toss and electing to bat on a well worn wicket Southland Boys' lost wickets at regular intervals. With Kings' bowling tightly and in the right areas Southland Boys' found themselves 6 for 113. Duncan Tait 28 and Nick Brown 33 the only players kicking on. We needed a partnership and it came in the form of Mika Muliaina and Shahen Wijesinghe. Mika started slowly and was prepared to leave a lot of deliveries, but as he started to middle the ball the tempo increased. He dealt to anything loose and his lofted shots were hitting the picket fences at a rate of knots. His fifty came up and with Shahen working the ball into gaps the partnership grew. Mika raced into the 80s and was in control of the bowling taking toll on the Kings spinners. Shahen passed his half century with a textbook cover drive. As Mika approached his century, he was prepared to get there in singles and he bought up his 100 with a push to extra cover. With Shahen 70 not out and the partnership passing 140 runs Southland Boys' declared at 262 for 6.
The bowlers continued where they left off against Shirley last week. Rutledge, Riley and Hawkes tore the top order apart and at 6 for 30 the carnage was witnessed by all. Kings' worked hard to form a partnership but with Hawkes uprooting the middle stump and sitting on a hat trick unfortunately he would have to wait for the second innings as Kings' were bowled out for 60.
Hawkes 4 for 19, Riley 3 for 10, Wijesinghe 2 for 5 Rutledge 1 for 21.
With a lead of over 200 runs Southland Boys put Kings back into bat and when the umpires called time on the first days play Kings' were 1 for 21.
Colts
Batting first on what looked to be a flat wicket Kings' openers were in no real trouble as they put on 73 for the first wicket. Southland Boys' bowlers as a group didn’t make the batsman play enough deliveries and often let them off the hook with a four ball. We couldn’t apply consistent pressure and Kings' continued to score at a good rate. Eventually we started to get the ball in the right areas and were rewarded with a couple of wickets. Kings' continued on and with Blake Broome 52 and Calder Ushitha 59 they reached 236 for 5.
Mann 2 for 28 Dermody 1 for 24 and Witheford 1 for 54.
Southland Boys' were in immediate trouble losing their first wicket without a run on the board. With Angus Manson and Carter Witheford working hard we reached 30 before our second wicket was lost. At 60 for 4 we were in trouble and looking vulnerable. Travis Mann and Alex Gwynne answered the call and showed great maturity. They knuckled down, treated every ball on its merits and started to develop a partnership. Mann in particular curbed his natural aggression and hit balls along the ground. He reached his fifty with a boundary and with Gwynne working the ball around they started to apply some pressure on the Kings bowlers.
At the close of play Mann was unbeaten on 83, Gwynne unbeaten on 37 and Southland Boys' were 194 for 4.
A great recovery.
DAY TWO - Monday 6 March
Cricket Firsts
The First Eleven completed a demolition job and completely ran through the Kings' batsman in the second innings. The bowlers hunting as a pack, circling their prey and looking for every opportunity to send the Kings' batsman back into the pavilion. Lachie Riley 5 for 11 had the ball on a string like a puppeteer and he was unplayable. Swinging the ball both ways he produced a masterclass and put his name up on the honours board. Dylan Hawkes operating with good pace ripped the stumps from the ground and had them cartwheeling back. His 3 for 11 gave him 7 wickets for the match. Gregor Rutledge the spearhead of the attack bowled without a luck 1 for 7. Shahen Wijesinghe who had a fine all round game with bat and ball finished off the match. He bowled his leg spinners with great control and guile and his 1 for 11 showed his mastery over the batsman.
Kings' all out for 54.
Not having to bat again Southland Boys won by an innings and 149 runs.
Colts
Wow what a game!
When we left Travis Mann was poised on 83 and eyeing an Interschool hundred. As scarce as finding gold on a sandy beach. He showed no nerves. He bought up his hundred with a pull to midwicket. A fantastic effort, he dominated the innings and played with maturity not often seen in one so young. Travis’s all round game continues to improve and he is developing into a genuine allrounder. He was ably supported by Alex Gwynne 48 not out. Alex was like a rock showing the full face of the blade and waiting for the loose ball. He wore the Kings' bowlers down. Finishing at 217 for 4 we were 19 runs behind on the first innings.
Angus Manson 2 for 37 and Carter Witheford 2 for 54 were our most successful bowlers.
It was all on.
Kings' looking to set Southland a run chase in the second innings went about their work. Playing aggressively and looking to force the pace they hit out. The bowlers were under the pump but stuck to their task picking up wickets with some good deliveries. Kings' declared at 192 for 6 leaving Southland Boys' 212 runs to win.
Southland Boys' were again in trouble losing their first wicket without a run on the board. Will Lankow 13, Jacob Brady 14, Angus Manson 10, Henry Hopcroft 20 all got starts but at 5 for 68 we needed a partnership. Callum Temple-Doig and Travis Mann stepped up. The tide started to turn and they applied pressure to the Kings' bowlers. An excellent 90 run partnership Callum 30 and Travis 47 saw us edge closer. Alex Gwynne and Sam Dempster kept chipping away and with 3 overs left we needed 21 to win. A couple of mighty hits right out of the middle of the bat from Sam saw the ball race to the boundary. Two overs 12 needed. A delightful cover drive from Alex and some quick singles. One over 3 needed. The pressure was on both for batsman and bowlers. As calm as you like Southland Boys' hit the winning runs with with two balls remaining. Sam 34 not out, Alex 24 not out. A superb effort from both boys and a great team effort.
The game was a great testament for all that is good in sport. Kings' entered into the game setting a target and the result could have been the other way.
Well done to both teams.
Tennis
A clean sweep to Southland Boys' 6 matches to nil. Our team of Raff McIntosh, Jack Claridge, Charlie Standish and Leo Tagg all played well. They were strong in all areas and won their matches in very convincing fashion. Leading 4 matches to nil after the singles we went to the doubles Raff and Jack were far too polished winning 6/0 6/1 in the no 1 spot. Charlie and Leo overwhelmed their opponents 6/0 ,6/0 to complete the win.
Touch Senior
With a squad of 16 our senior boys had a great deal of potential and were really an untapped beast. A number of them had been members of the Southland Mixed team that won a national title a few weeks ago so hopes were high but measured for the match against Kings'. Runners up at the Nationals last year.
The team played well showing great athleticism and game understanding. Their organization and ability to read plays was a feature. The team worked hard on defense and this put Kings under real pressure often resulting in an error and turnover. On attack we were controlled and elusive with all members contributing in a positive and productive manner.
A three game to nil win to Southland Boys'. A great result guys.
Touch Junior
The team made up of year 9 and 10 boys had been training at lunchtimes over the past two weeks in readiness for the match against Kings'. Our senior boys had been taking the team and putting them through their paces.
Winning the first game with some excellent play and working very hard on defense the team grew in confidence. Kings' High were always going to be a tough nut to crack and they stormed back winning the second game to tie it up one all going into the decider.
This was a cracker and the game was on a knife edge. It ebbed and flowed with each team taking hits and then counter punching almost straight away.
Southland Boys' kept their composure and with some excellent attack and well worked plays they pulled off a great win.
A two game to one win to Southland Boys' High School.
Waterpolo
Featuring for the first time in couple of years the Waterpolo team was really excited and pumped to be playing an interschool.
In the first game we came out of the gates strongly The score was locked at one all after the first quarter. Great defense from Alesana Lafoga stopped them scoring and some sharp shooting from Aiden McKenzie saw the score two all at the half.
The second half saw us score a couple of early goals. Kings fought back strongly and lead 5/4 with time just about up. Aiden equalized with a top bin shot 5 all Thirty seconds to go we stole the ball on our goal line Sam passed the ball to Aiden and Aiden a deft move to Lucas Jennings in the middle. We drew a penalty. Time up on the clock Lucas scummed the ball into the top right corner to take the win 6/5.
The second game was a tense affair. Kings' led throughout but Southland Boys' kept in touch. Going into the last quarter Kings' were ahead by one 6/5.
It was intense, it was fierce, it was war on the water and under the water. Kings' managed to snag another goal. The final score 7/5.
Overall a draw one game apiece. Both teams were exhausted. Well done.
