Cricket final a cracker
Invercargill-Old Boys opening batsman Brayden Thomas hits out hard as Waikoikoi fielder Kurt Thompson looks on during Southland’s ILT Premier League club cricket final in Invercargill on Saturday. Waikoikoi won in a last-over thriller.
The Waikoikoi Cricket Club has added yet another chapter to its already special story.
In the small farming district of Waikoikoi, you won’t find a lot. There’s no pub, no dairy, no petrol station.
But there is a 128-year-old champion cricket club.
Their latest triumph came on Saturday when they beat Invercargill-Old Boys in a lastover thriller to win Southland club cricket’s ILT Premier League final.
It came 12 months after Waikoikoi topped the Southland standings only for the emergence of Covid-19 to prompt the cancellation of the final.
Rain on Saturday threatened to do the same, but play eventually got under way at 1.15pm for a reduced 34 overs fixture.
Invercargill-Old Boys opener Brayden Thomas kickstarted his team’s innings with a knock of 41.
However, Invercargill-Old Boys went from 48 without loss to 98 for eight as Waikoikoi’s Ben McCall ripped through the batting lineup, taking five for 24.
It took arguably Cody McKenzie’s most important knock ever of 68 from 53 balls to get his side through to a total of 155 for nine from their 34 overs.
He struck eight fours and three sixes in an entertaining innings to give his bowlers something to aim for.
Waikoikoi got off to a runa-ball start before losing Kurt Thompson with the score at 23.
Ryan Acland then trapped Southland Hawke Cup captain Jarred McKenzie in front for a duck and Todd Thayer and Hamish Cooke also went in relatively quick succession, which gave Invercargill-Old Boys the edge as Waikoikoi stuttered at 45 for four.
Liam McFaul (28), Nathan Howden (18), Nick Reed (21), and Jamie Chittock (10) all then made useful contributions to get Waikoikoi to 146 for seven and needing just 10 runs for victory from 15 balls.
However, they lost Reed and Ben McFaul to slump to 147 for nine, setting up a tense finish.
It was left up to Jack Hilton (three not out) and Warrack McKenzie (seven not out) to get Waikoikoi home with three balls to spare to claim the 2020-21 title.
Waikoikoi led the way for the entire season and topped that off with Saturday’s win in the shortened game.
Invercargill-Old Boys were the big improvers throughout the season and finished well despite Saturday’s loss.
The Queens Park-based club will be confident that if they can retain the bulk of this season’s squad they will give the ILT Premier League competition a good shake next season.