Club cricket is back in action! And it was a very promising start for the Howick Pakuranga Cricket Club [HPCC] at the weekend.
Premier Men
Under the guidance of new coach Matt Blandford, the club’s premier men made the trip to Huapai to face Kumeu in the first round of the Hedley Howarth Two-Day Competition.
Blandford, formally the club’s Academy Development Coach, took over the head role from last season’s coach Dickie Kruger, who left the club after being offered a position with Cricket Tasmania.
HPCC bowled first, making light work of the Kumeu batters and dismissing them for 139.
Azharudin Lambat took three wickets while Harmeet Singh and Bill Walsh contributed finely with two wickets each.
It was HPCC’s batting that was most impressive however, overtaking Kumeu’s total with ease to win the first innings of the match and setting themselves up for an outright victory.
Opener Bill Walsh (41 off 73) and first drop David Winn (65 off 63) got things off to a fine start before Andrew Morrison built on the lead, finishing the day on 69 not out.
It was Lachie Stackpole who was the pick of the batters though, scoring an unbeaten 167 off only 92 balls. Stackpole hit 11 fours and 12 sixes.
The hard-hitting, talented left-hand batter will be eyeing up a double century and an outright HPCC win on the final day of the two-day match at the weekend.
The men finished day one at 346/3 and have a lead of 207 runs.
Premier Women
Meanwhile, HPCC’s premier women (Llamas) kicked off their Prichard Cup Limited Over Competition, hosting Parnell at Lloyd Elsmore Park.
The side at the weekend had a development focus, with three players making their debuts, and five players who were aged 15 or younger.
This was due to the club’s Auckland Hearts and Northern Brave domestic players being away at a Quad tournament in Taupo.
The Llama’s White Ferns, Brooke Halliday and Molly Penfold, were also out of action having just returned from their tour of South Africa.
Nine senior premier women players were unavailable.
The Llamas notched up 128 runs off their 40 overs and started strong with the ball, but it was not enough, with Parnell chasing the total down with seven wickets to spare.
Despite the loss, last year’s promising youngsters were straight in the action with 17-year-old Neena Woollaston scoring a well-worked unbeaten 50 runs.
Ayaan Lambat was the pick of the bowlers, taking two wickets in testing, windy conditions.
The women are back at Lloyd Elsmore Park this weekend as they play Cornwall in a rematch of last season’s final, where the Llamas prevailed.
Premier Cricket Results 21/10/23
Premier Men Hedley Howarth Two-Day competition | Round 1
Eden Roskill 370/7-d (K Gambhir 127; J Hayes 2-51) against Cornwall 43/1 (J Cassidy 23; S Rawat 1-14) after day one of two.
Parnell 160 (N Perera 40; N Stobart 4-50) against Auckland University 128/9 (A Olliver 24*; H Cullen-Hieatt 3-37) after day one of two.
North Shore 145 (R Langford 36; M Sclanders 4-22) lost first innings to Takapuna 216/3 (T Van Ingen-Kal 82*; R Bessell 2-58) after day one of two.
Suburbs-New Lynn 175 (T Patel 53; K Kieser 5-43) lost first innings to East Coast Bays 272/5 (C Briggs 102; S Devereaux 2-41) after day one of two.
Premier Men Tom Hellaby Two-Day competition | Round 1
Kumeu 139 (K Munro 30; A Lambat 3-19) lost first innings to Howick Pakuranga 346/3 (L Stackpole 167*; A Christian 1-37) after day one of two.
Waitakere 303/9-d (N Lombard 81; A Jayampathi 4-70) against Birkenhead City 25/1 (J O’Brien 14; M Suri 1-5) after day one of two.
Hibiscus Coast 165 (U Ranaraja 37; N Robinson 3-35) & 8/0 (J Grobler 5*) lost first innings to Ellerslie 167/6-d (A Alam 38; T Treadaway 2-29) after day one of two.
Papatoetoe 99 (H Singh 46; N Bhana 5-25) lost first innings to Grafton 271/4 (J Houghton 93*; P Shally 2-19) after day one of two.
Premier Women Prichard Cup Limited Over Competition | Round 1
Howick Pakuranga 128/7 (N Woollaston 50*; C Beck 2-14) lost to Parnell 129/3 (I Mills 43*; A Lambat 2-23) by seven wickets.
Papatoetoe 112 (D Anderson 23; J Tully 3-9) defeated Kumueu-North Shore 51 (J Tully 19; D Anderson 7-7) by 61 runs.
Cornwall against Takapuna 208/8 (T Hurley 58; I O’Connell 2-34) defeated Cornwall 91/8 (I O’Connell 18; E Watton 3-16) by 117 runs.
Auckland University 202/5 (K Van Spall 81; Z Samadi 2-44) defeated Suburbs-New Lynn 129 (H Siegers 40; N Matthews 3-27) by 73 runs.
Howick Pakuranga Cricket Club Upcoming Fixtures:
Round 1, Day 2 Premier Men Tom Hellaby Two-Day Competition- HPCC VS Kumeu at Huapai Domain- Saturday October 28, 11am.
Round 2, Premier Women Prichard Cup Limited Overs Competition- HPCC VS Cornwall CC at Lloyd Elsmore Park- Saturday October 28, 11am.
