Hi <<First Name>>

 

What a weekend it was!
The team had everything to play for and they laid it all out on the line.
Although Sunday was a Semi-Final for us we knew Saturday was a very important day in the context of our season.
We wanted to play aggressive cricket and try and force an outright with the aim of taking the lead in the Two-Day Championship and that is exactly what we did.
Things got a little hairy in our second innings and I'd like to pay tribute to our captain Michael Olsen who batted through significant pain to steer the team to an outright victory.
Sunday will live long in my memory.
I've simply never seen a better innings than the one Ronnie Hira played.
We knew we were going to be up against it playing a star-studded side like Suburbs so it was no surprise to see them come hard at us and for us to have to chase 300+.
At 5 for 100 hope looked lost and I had started to resign myself to focusing solely on the Two-Day Championship.
However, Ronnie didn't play for the Black Caps for nothing. For Ronnie and Ben to bring us to the brink of another finals appearance at Eden Park shows the heart and resolve this team has.
Although we didn't come away with the lollies I'm so proud of the boys and how they represented our club. 
Watch this space because some special stuff is on the horizon.  

-  Chris Reid
Coach

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Two Great Days of Cricket

Stephen Baard, cruelly run-out on 97.

Premiers
Saturday v Waitakere Two-Day Competition

There was no time to waste for the Premiers, who were already 107/1 at the start of the day.
Stephen Baard continued from where he left off last week, clocking up 12 fours and 6 sixes. He and Mike Olsen put on a 118 run partnership before he was cruelly run out on 97.
Michael Olsen (67*) then took over the role of finding the boundary. The boys quickly knocked off the Waitakere score and then pushed on to 182/2 to secure a batting bonus point before declaring to try and move the game forward.
Shore quickly rocked the Waitakere order as Carl Brungar removed the two openers within the first five overs. The boys never really slowed down from there as Carl finished with 5/31 and Tendai took another four to go with his seven from the 1st innings to quickly bundle Waitakere out for 133. Tendai had match figures of  40.1 overs, 13 maindens, 74 runs, 11 wickets!
This left the boys chasing 104 in 42 overs for the outright. The side made hard work of it, falling to 23/5 and then 39/6 before a 40 run partnership between Olsen and Carl Brungar steadied the ship. When Carl was dismissed with the score on 84 there were a few more nerves but Ben Wall held up his end as Michael finished the game in style with some lovely strokeplay to finish 47 not out and see the boys home to an outright victory.

An important result which puts Shore 12 points clear at the top of the Two-Day competition with three rounds to play.

Premiers
Sunday v Suburbs, Jeff Crowe Cup Semi-Final

When Ben Wall went out to the crease to join Ronnie Hira, Ronnie said to him,
"We're the two smallest in the team.
We're going to have to play like the biggest."
And they did!
Here, Ben congratulates Ronnie on his 100.

Suburbs New Lynn won the toss and batted first on a used wicket.
After a quick start from the Suburbs opener, Brungar found the mistake and Sam Hinds took a steepler at deep square leg. Another partnership then started to develop before Matt Strain removed NZ batsman Jeet Raval to a diving catch in the deep from Tim Duncraft.
Shore then managed to drag the run rate down but with two Auckland Aces batsman at the crease, they knew that wickets were going to be crucial. Wickets, however, did not eventuate to near the 40th over when Olsen executed a sharp run out to get Shore in the hunt to try and restrict Suburbs to around 270.

Ronnie takes a catch standing on his head

Although wickets kept falling through the later stages of the innings a superb 50 off just 24 balls from the Suburbs skipper saw them through to a strong total of 304/9.
Brungar was a serious threat with the ball thorughout the innings, taking 4-56. 
The start of the chase mirrored the first innings. Stephen Baard raced out of the blocks with four boundaries before edging one to slip.
Regular wickets then put Shore in trouble; The Suburbs spinner proved particularly difficult to get away with a strong wind behind him.
At 143/7, Ben Wall joined Ronnie Hira.
Suburbs were eager to finish things off quickly. The Shore pair had other ideas. Wall and Hira combined solid defence with brave hitting. Hira brought up a 34-ball 50 while Wall chimed in with crucial boundaries. The second drinks break came with no respite from Hira’s constant peppering of the long-on and mid-wicket boundaries.
When North Shore required 76 off 60 balls, the game was firmly back in the balance. There was still a tightrope to walk, however, as Shore only had three wickets to play with. Another towering six over the legside powered Hira to a 58-ball century. By now, Shore had reduced the required run-rate to a six an over.
With 15 needed from the final four overs, Solia came back into the attack. He got the breakthrough – Wall edged a slower bouncer through to the keeper. A double-wicket maiden left Hira on strike for Sam Devereaux’s next over. The tall seamer started with a wide, but Hira caught the next one with an inside edge and the ball cannoned onto his stumps. Suburbs took victory by 13 runs.
In giving Shore a chance from a truly lost position Hira ended up with 128 off 78 balls including 11 sixes. Surely one of the greatest innings seen down at the 'D'. 

Unfortunately the loss sees the end of the Premiers One-Day campaign. One that had a lot of positives and a lot to build on for next season
 

Reserves

Coming into the second day Shore required a solid partnership to take the bulk of the required runs down.
As has been a common trend this season the innings never took off, with some good bowling, a bit of luck and a few contentious decisions, Shore struggled slightly past the follow on with the only silver lining being a 40 from Simon Keene fresh off a week in Premiers and a 36 from Simon McGowan.
With only 140 on the board trailing by 83, it was hoped an outright could be on the cards with an aggressive declaration to be made by Bays.
Instead a slow meandering innings followed with Bays being bowled out for 100 in 32 overs with some fine bowling by Goosey taking three and Syme grabbing three himself. Frew, Watto and both Simon's also enjoyed a spell picking a wicket in a dominant display. 
Leaving 24 overs to get 184 it would take some fireworks to see this happen.
Jimmy got the innings started with a blast hitting 11 off 5, but a truly magnificent knock from Simon Keene (left) was to follow.
Blasting 66 off 32 he kept Shore in with a sniff of doing the remarkable. The curse of the drinks break occured and when two more wickets fell in the same over the dream was snuffed out. Safely batting out the rest of the day Shore can take pride in two very good sessions. 

The next two Saturdays will be spent in the hub of Papatoetoe where Shore will look to put the lessons of previous weeks into play and play the brand of cricket that the side is capable of.

3rd Grade

The Liam King - 30th Birthday Edition
After a brilliant all-round team effort on day one the boys came down to The Domain licking their lips like a pack of hungry hyenas ready to rip to shreds the carcass of their Birkenhead prey.
With their fearless African leader, Liam ‘Simba’ Jacobs (left), turning 30 on the eve of the match the boys were soon revved up and ready to claim everything the light touches (mostly the jugs of Buck in the pavilion). 
Resuming on 202/7, a lead of 138 runs, the plan was to go on a stampede with the bat and put as many runs on the board as quickly as possible.
The opposition’s despair extended to full emotional scarring as James Ferris promptly bludgeoned 41 off 18 balls. Eventually Shore posting 258 runs, leaving Birkenhead a deficit of 194 runs to make up and completely demoralised.

The 3rd grade hyenas could smell blood. 

Wanting to back up the efforts of the first innings, the team went out laughing maniacally across the savannah of the Devonport Number 2 as Birkenhead’s faith in their leader went over the edge of the cliff. Initial resistance from the opening pair was broken by some vicious in-swing from Alex Pascoe and, soon after, Logan Clinch pouncing in-close to snare Birkenhead’s overseas and number 3 bat. A streaky 50 from the other opener the only highlight of the innings as the claws came out and wickets fell at both ends regularly. 

Fiery bowling from James Ferris quickly put to an end any resistance as he took 5/15 in 8 overs. Manaia Harris’ brutal runout from square leg drawing roars from the team, before the final wicket was taken the following ball. Alex Pascoe’s top effort of 4/63 off 17 overs felt like getting hit on the head with a stick by a baboon as he missed out on a much deserved 5-for. 

It’s back to the Kingdom of The Shore aka. Devonport Domain No 2 next weekend against a weaker Ellerslie side where the team hopes to say Hakuna Matata and come away with another big win to further press the case for promotion.
Happy 30th birthday to Liam Jacobs.
Long Live The King. 

Y7 Devonport Hammer Hardware 
 

The top six tale so far…

Memories were made when a powerful Parnell side visited Vauxhall Road in Game One. Shore’s tightest bowling and fielding display saw Parnell rattled early on. Three maidens from Sol Vermeer, three wickets from Cooper Harrison-Tubb, and two each for Alex Waldron and Sam Pita, combined with some high-energy fielding to create a strong start for the home boys who held Parnell to 194/10 after 39 overs.


Next came some batting to match. A magnificent maiden century (101) for Cooper, who retired on 54 and came back in to hit another 47, was aided by Eddie Biss who retired on 37 and a lower order show of grit from Evan Moorby, who affectionately earned the nickname ‘Beaver’ after his 4 runs off 24 balls was a selfless, and smile-filled, display of sportsmanship to keep Cooper on strike for his ton and hold his wicket for the win. Shore made 202/9 by the 32nd over. 
The traditional coaches ice cream shout from White’s Dairy for the win followed with coach Mark Davies’ pool getting a post game workout (and a memorable victory jig courtesy of manager Grant Simpkins).

Auckland University came to Vauxhall the following Saturday, putting plenty of early pressure on the Shore batsmen whose wickets fell fast throughout the order. Eddie made 43 after coming back in following retirement, with Ollie Davies also retiring and ending up not out at the end. But University’s consistent bowling kept Shore to 159/13. They followed with 235/7. No ice creams this time boys.

Game three was away to the top Cornwall side. The boys were put into bat knowing they had to make the most of the quick outfield to give the  citysiders a big chase.
And they did.
The guns came out firing with Eddie hitting 23 off 15, and Sol launching five sixes to reach an eventual 62. Both Cooper and Aidan batted solidly and also retired to give Shore plenty of power in the shed for later. But it was the all-round display of quality batting throughout the order that allowed Shore to make 255/8, with every player reaching double figures.
Captain Cooper kept a well-set field and the boys sent Cornwall packing with some solid bowling, catching and boundary saves throughout the team. An on-fire Darcy Taylor took three wickets, with Evan ‘Beaver’ Moorby also bagging three. Grant danced the victory jig again.

The team sits second in the top six with a place in the finals a real chance. It is worth reflecting that Cornwall have around 15 Y7 teams.  NSCC have two.  So just to be competing with the biggest clubs in Auckland – let alone winning – is a great reflection of the talent in this bunch of lads. And although the games are tough and there is always pressure the best thing about the team so far is that they are doing their best to stick to Tendai’s motto: “play for each other, not yourselves”.  Keep that up and win, lose or draw the season will be a success.