Howick Pakuranga Cricket Club’s (HPCC) premier women have been crowned winners of the Pearl Dawson Trophy T20 competition to cap off a dream weekend of cricket.
The star-studded line-up of women’s domestic players showed their strength, continuing their unbeaten competition run when they faced Cornwall on Sunday.
After losing the toss and being asked to bowl first, HPCC’s premier women’s (Llamas) season standout bowlers Marama Downes (2-20), Josie Penfold (2-18), Ayaan Lambat (2-16), and Amberly Parr (3-16) shared the wickets around.
Cornwall were restricted to 90 runs, leaving a decent chase for the women if they wished to take out the grand final in front of their home crowd at Lloyd Elsmore Park.
Openers Saachi Shahri (21 off 28) and Radhika Patel (19 off 28) all but sealed the deal, putting on a partnership of 50 runs before the first wicket fell.
Josie Penfold closed the match out with an important innings of 19 not out off 23 balls.
HPCC chased the total down with just less than two overs to spare and five wickets still in hand to crown themselves winners of the Pearl Dawson Trophy T20 championship.
After making the finals for each of the past four seasons- finishing 2nd once and 3rd three times- the Llamas are finally in the winner’s circle.
The premier women had a dominant weekend all round, also winning their Saturday 50-over match against table-toppers Takapuna.
It was the Neena Woollaston story, taking six wickets for only five runs after Howick Pakuranga was asked to bowl first.
Takapuna were dismissed for just 68, which left an easy chase for HPCC.
Saachi Shahri top scored again with 21, with supporting roles from Auckland Heart’s teammate Skye Bowden (14* off 12 balls) and Northern Braves all-rounder Marama Downes (19 off 23 balls).
The Llamas are on a strong run to make the finals of the Prichard Cup Limited Over Competition to cap off an outstanding season to date.
HPCC’s premier men had a bittersweet first innings victory against Ellerslie on day two of their Tom Hellaby two-day match.
After being in a strong position after a Liam Winn batting masterclass last week, HP bowled Ellerslie out for 157 to win the first innings.
Howick Pakuranga then batted again, and with the end of the day approaching, declared with a lead of 172 runs in hopes of achieving an outright victory.
Ellerslie’s openers, Abrar Alam (85* off 83 balls) and Shannon Wimalaratne (82* off 99 balls) came to play and chased down the target with 10 wickets still in hand.
The premier men face Grafton United at Victoria Park on Saturday in the first day of their final two-day match in the 2022/23 season.
Premier Cricket Results
Premier Women – Pearl Dawson Trophy T20 Competition | Grand Final
Cornwall 90 (C Crooks 20 not out; A Parr 3-16) lost to Howick Pakuranga 92/5 (S Shahri 21; A Todd 2-12) by five wickets.
Premier Men Hedley Howarth Two-Day Competition | Round 6
Eden Roskill 219 (H Chakraborty 78; N Perera 6-76) and 217 (H Chakraborty 68; N Perera 6-82) lost outright against Parnell 211 (F McGregor-Sumpter 94; S Safi 5-35) and 230/8 (F McGregor-Sumpter 71, A Parikh 62; D Ratra 5-77).
Suburbs-New Lynn 135 (M Barry 67; M Gibson 6-32) and 105 (S Martin 53; L Wheeler 3-16) lost outright against Cornwall 253/5 declared (S Crooks 88, D Gallage 71; L Devereaux 3-45).
Auckland University 150 (A Olliver 66; J Sussex 5-39) and 323/3 declared (A Prasad 111, S Sharma 101; C Neal 2-79) won outright against Takapuna 141 (M Sclanders 47; K Mackenzie 4-13) and 75 (G Harley 37; N Stobart 5-27).
Papatoetoe 84 (Private 36; T Chitongo 4-34) and 133 (B Rowland 44; T Chitongo 5-64) lost outright against North Shore 200 (M Olsen 49; Private 3-35) and 22/0 (A Dhadwal 13 not out).
Premier Men Tom Hellaby Two-Day Competition | Round 6
Howick Pakuranga 222 (L Winn 84; A Sreenivasan 7-71) and 107/3 declared (D Young 37; S Edkins 1-18) lost outright against Ellerslie 157 (D Kharel 70; C Thompson 3-29) and 177/0 (A Alam 85 not out, S Wimalaratne 82 not out).
Kumeu 175 (S Jean 52; L Delport 5-69) and 270 (E Sayed 76; L Delport 4-99) lost outright against East Coast Bays 222/5 declared (C Briggs 105, R Harrison 53; J Crichton 2-54) and 224/3 (I Bird 70, R Harrison 65 not out; A Christian 1-21).
Hibiscus Coast 153 (R Lakmal 82; T Bayly 3-28) and 72 (Z Thomas 17; A Ridley 4-34) lost outright against Grafton 293 (D Taylor 77, R Sandhu 48; Z Thomas 3-54).
Birkenhead City 259 (J Newman 66 not out, A Jayampathi 58; S Variath 3-91) against Waitakere 241/8 (Private 77, S Variath 68; M Masand 4-43) after day two of two.
Barfoot and Thompson Royal Oak Premier Women Prichard Cup Limited Over Competition | Round 9
Takapuna 68 (K Irwin 28; N Woollaston 6-5) lost to Howick Pakuranga 72/3 (S Shahri 21; K Irwin 2-11) by seven wickets.
Parnell 62 (C Pedersen 23; B Illing 3-6) lost to Cornwall 63/2 (S Carnachan 25 not out; R Jaswal 2-20) by eight wickets.
Papatoetoe 144 (M Templeton 41; S Court 2-14) lost to Auckland University 147/4 (J Prasad 47 not out; J Veale 3-42) by six wickets.
Howick Pakuranga Cricket Club Upcoming Fixtures
Round 7, Day 1 Tom Hellaby Two-Day Competition- Howick Pakuranga Premier Men VS Grafton United CC Premier Men at Victoria Park- Saturday March 18, 11am.
Round 10 Prichard Cup Limited Over Competition- Howick Pakuranga Premier Women VS Parnell CC Premier Women at Shore Road Reserve- Saturday March 18, 11am.
