ACA Report

If the match between Papatoetoe and Takapuna will be remembered for anything, it will be performance of Takapuna skipper Will O’Donnell.

The first innings from Papatoetoe went much as expected. At 51/4 early in the first session thanks to a good start from Ross ter Braak, Papatoetoe were all out just before tea. Navdeep Aujla led the recovery with 55, Matt Jones impressed with the ball, taking 4-31.

Takapuna started reasonably slowly as well. O’Donnell joined Max O’Dowd in the 20th over with the score at 58/2.

At the end of day one, O’Donnell was on 93 not out, and Takapuna was 235/5. The next morning, O’Donnell made his hundred, and he was off. His performance overshadowed the decent showings of lower-order batsmen Daniel James and Ryan Quinn, who scored 57 and 44 respectively.

Ter Braak left him standing on 198, but Jordan Sussex came out to first run the two needed for O’Donnell’s double century and then to see him plunder 30 more runs from eight balls to get Takapuna over the 500-run mark at the end of the first session.

Papatoetoe, however, were not lying down. They knew they couldn’t win. But there was every chance of escaping a loss if they could last the day.

Josh Plummer and Jake Dunford both made half-centuries at the top of the order. Then Damanpreet Bhatti, Mick Hosking, and Sanjit Birla gritted their teeth at the bottom. Hosking took 43 balls to make 8, Birla would see out 32 without getting off the mark.

What to do when your strike bowlers are getting strings of maidens and the close of play is looming? You throw the ball to the man of the moment, of course. When O’Donnell finally bowled Bhatti for 22 off 94, Papatoetoe had batted for more than 70 overs to be all out for 208.

Takapuna had the win by an innings and 124 runs, and yet somehow still by just the skin of their teeth.

Papatoetoe 172 (N Aujla 55, J Plummer 33; M Jones 4-31, J Sussex 3-59) and 208 (J Dunford 63, J Plummer 54; W O’Donnell 3-6, D James 3-38) lost to Takapuna 504/8 (W O’Donnell 230*, D James 57; M Hosking 2-60) by an innings and 124 runs.

Match 1 vs Cornwall

Papatoetoe won the toss and elected to bowl first on a green Lloyd Elsmore number two. Cornwall got off to a decent start with a quick-fire 40 runs in the powerplay with Saachi Shahri continuing her good run of form with 53 off 50 balls. With 150 easily on the cards, Papatoetoe's 13-year-old young gun, Kiri Anderson (1/9) put a halt to that with some economical bowling at the death picking up her first premier wicket with the dismissal of Shahri out bowled in the 18th over. From that point on, wickets fell at regular intervals with Lagi Telea the pick of the bowlers taking 2/20 off her three overs while Malia Tato and Hannah Burns chipped in with one wicket each. After Cornwall's flyer of a start, Papatoetoe did well to slow up the back end of the innings restricting them to 131/6 off their 20 overs.

Papatoetoe's chase did not get off to a good start with openers, Regina Lilii (2) and Kolotita Nonu Lui (3) both out within the powerplay. Papatoetoe's remaining top order, Lelia Bourne (18), Feala Vaelua (17), and Lily Mulivai (29) provided a bit of resistance in the middle stages plus a late cameo from Mereana Hyde (18*) but unfortunately, it wasn't enough as Cornwall's bowlers ran through the tail to have Papatoetoe all out in the 20th over with the team on 102.

Cornwall 131/6 (S Shahri 53, L Telea 2-20) defeated Papatoetoe 102 (L Mulivai 29; K Patel 3-15 A Hucker 2-20) by 29 runs.

Match 2 vs Parnell

Papatoetoe lost the toss and were thrown in to bat. Papatoetoe's openers, Kolotita Nonu Lui and Regina Lilii were put under pressure straight away with tight opening spells from Parnell's Maddy Curran and Shriya Naidu. Curran was quickly rewarded with the dismissal of Nonu Lui in only the third over with a good catch at gully to bring skipper, Lelia Bourne (25) to join Lilii (48) at the crease. The pair put on a 68-run partnership before Lilii found herself caught in the 13th over searching for boundaries. Cameos from Feala Vaelua with 26 off 21 balls and Lagi Telea 14 off 11 balls helped finish Papatoetoe's innings on a high setting a defendable total of 133-4 off their 20 overs. 

Parnell got off to a good start putting on a 56-run opening stand despite some tight bowling from Lily Mulivai only going for 16 runs off her four overs. However, it was Vaelua (2/18) that provided the team with a much-needed breakthrough in the 10th over dismissing Ella Farrell (28) out caught, sparking a collapse in Parnell's batting order. Some sharp fielding saw the remaining top four, Olivia Lobb (25), Yasmeen Kareem (13) and Lexy Bassett (0), all dismissed run out as Mereana Hyde put the squeeze on with an economical spell of 0/15 off her four overs. With the run-rate climbing to 11 runs an over in the final overs, youngsters, Hannah Burns and Caitlin Hakeagatoa held their nerve to ensure Papatoetoe cruised to a 16-run victory with Hakeagatoa picking up two wickets along the way. 

Papatoetoe 133/4 (R Lili’i 48, F Vaelua 26*; J Barker 2-14) defeated Parnell 117/7 (E Farrell 28, O Lobb 28; F Vaelua 2-18, C Hakeagatoa 2-20) by 16 runs.

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