Taylor leads OBC to victory with blistering century
Old Boys Collegians opener Tom Taylor blasted a rapid-fire ton to lead the defending champions to the perfect start in the Christchurch Metro two-day competition.
Taylor slammed 107 from just 47 balls, hammering a staggering 13 sixes and five fours in his innings, which helped his team chase down Riccarton’s 257-9 in 44.4 overs on Saturday.
Their three-wicket win was one of three outright wins – setup by first innings forfeitures – in the opening round, despite rain washing out the first day of play the previous weekend.
With more wet weather last week forcing all matches to be transferred to artificial pitches at Warren Park, St Albans and Burnside West Christchurch University also snared outright wins, against Lancaster Park and East Christchurch Shirley respectively.
Taylor started his assault from ball one, whacking Jack Turner for five sixes to take 30 runs from the opening over.
Jeff Case (71 from 92 balls) and Craig Wallace (42 from 44) were the other major contributors, while Riccarton’s Ben Rapson finished with 6-74, including the wicket of Taylor.
St Albans also chased down
200-plus, with Dan Sharples (52) and Matt Holstein (34) leading the way in their pursuit of Lancaster Park’s 212.
But, after sliding to 190-8, they also needed a valuable knock by No
10 Aaron Johnstone to get them over the line in a tense finish.
Johnstone held his nerve, striking 22 from 19 balls, an innings which included three fours and a six.
It ensured Lancaster Park No 3 Michael Davidson’s unbeaten ton was in vain, with the left-hander holding his team’s innings together with 114 from 115 balls.
Davidson struck 17 fours and three sixes in his knock but, with opener Dom May (28) the next best scorer on his team, he lacked the crucial support needed to set St Albans a stiffer total.
It wasn’t quite so tense across the park, where Burnside West Christchurch University knocked East Christchurch Shirley over for
151 to win by 52 runs. Burnside’s Josh Peake (3-10), Matt Farrant (3-45) and Jackson Latham
(3-67) did the damage with ball in hand.
Regular wickets tumbled and ensured East Christchurch’s chase spluttered along and eventually ceased after 46.1 overs.
Opener Carl Huyser (51) and No 6 Matthew Hay (52) accounted for more than half of Burnside’s total of
203, while first-drop Liam Winn also chipped in with a patient 35.
East Christchurch seamer Joshua Milne was the pick of his side’s bowlers, snaring 4-39, while allrounder Darren Broom nabbed 3-50 with his medium pacers.
Meanwhile, Marist Harewood opted not to forfeit their first innings, a decision which ultimately cost them a rare outright win.
They went on to roll Sydenham for 137 and picked up first innings points but might be rueing their decision as three of the other sides who forfeited their first innings all achieved outrights.
Nevertheless, it was an encouraging first up performance from the perennial strugglers, who scored 216 on the back of Englishman Dan Freeman’s 62, and Des Kruger’s 58.
Sydenham openers Matt McCall
(46) and Dylan Goldstone (18) ensured their side made a strong start in reply, but when the later fell with 61 on the board, things quickly fell apart.
Marist Harewood right-arm seamer Indy Grewal (4-49) was the chief destroyer, while captain Chris Case finished with 3-39.