Dannevirke have been playing some impressive cricket this season and even a casual glance at the MVP rankings shows you that their performances have been based around several strong players not just 1 or 2. Dan HS are also lucky in that the adults who run their side Bruce Hooper-Smith in particular do a fantastic job and have achieved something that most of the Highschools in the Manawatu have not been able to achieve.
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| Umm - Dan HS start the day by doing warm up drills? Made us feel tired and old just looking at them |
1st Innings - Dannevirke
Damien Samson & Navin Wewala opened the bowling for us and both started well getting a lot of early movement. Damien also put down some nice bouncers and their bowling while wicketless restricted Dan HS scoring. Supporting their efforts was one of the best fielding efforts I have seen a Bloomfield team put in. Campbell Ingram DHS young opening batsmen was showing some great touch though and the game was eveningly balanced at this early stage. The first wicket fell to Craig Dawson, who is bowling superbly this season. He nabbed Liam Duff for 7 with Sheriff taking a great low catch at 1st slip.
John Murrie wasn't on song with his first spell at the other end and he replaced himself with Cory Adams but before that Cory took a good catch of Craig to nab our 2nd wicket reducing DHS to 45/2 off 14 overs. Cory continued his solid form with the ball his spin proving a real handful for opposition batsmen. Together he and Craig put the brakes on DHS scoring and while no more wickets fell DHS struggled through to 63/2 at drinks.
The next 20 overs were some of the best we have put in post drinks, a period we struggled at significantly in the last 2 seasons. Cory continued at his end and new club member Ben McKelvie joined him with his spin at the other, John saving Craig for the end of the innings. Like Cory Ben's spin proved difficult to play and he nabbed his 1st club wicket removing the dangerous Greg Berry to a stunning catch from Dan Hamid standing up to the stumps. Cory then joined in taking a 4th wicket to yet another catch from Dan and DHS were now 75/4 off 24 overs. But their opener C.Ingram was still in and looking very good. But unfortunately for him he was run out just 1 short of what would have been a very well deserved 50, Cory Adams once again proving his worth in the field with his 5th or 6th run out of the last couple of seasons.
A quick bowling change by John reaped instant rewards when Damien Samson removed S.Cordell with his 1st ball Sheriff taking another great catch. Cory continued to bowl well his 8 overs reaping 1/22. Damiens wicket and the run out put DHS on 114/6 off 32 overs and we were looking good but Bruce Hooper-Smith was at the crease and he has proven difficult to remove in the past.
John Murrie returned for a 2nd spell at this point and it was a good one. In 4 overs he removed Bruce Smith, J.Arts, R.Galloway and A.Herbert (to a spectacular diving catch at 1st slip by Matt Waldin) capturing 4/2 off his last 4 overs, those 2 runs both being wides and DHS were bowled out for 129 off 39/2 overs.
As a final comment I have to praise DHS for their sportsmanship during the game with 2 batsmen walking to very faint edges difficult for the umpire to pick up, some very friendly banter in the field and just a great all round attitude to the game. A very nice bunch of kids to play against and a credit to the school.
2nd Innings - Bloomfield
John and Navin opened the batting for us up against two of the best bowlers in the grade this season L.Duff and G.Berry. Berry was reasonably quick and got some impressive bounce but the ball wasn't moving for him and after John took 10 runs off his 3rd over he was taken out of the attack. An OKish opening stand of 29 was cut short though when John played a bad shot caught at mid-off for 17. But he and Navin had done a great job forcing DHS to make 3 bowling changes in the opening 10 overs. Sheriff joined Navin at the crease and blasted a quick fire 18 before being removed to a great leg side catch by DHS keeper. We were now 55/2 after 15 overs so very well placed with a lot of batting still to come, more importantly DHS seemed to be struggling to find any consistency.
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| Dan Hamid waiting to bat |
Navin though was still batting and playing some quality shots. Pat Arnold made a welcome return to the club after a long absence and it was great to have him back playing for us again. But unfortunately both he and Damien Samson came and went quickly. The game had now turned slightly as we were 114/6 off 34 overs requiring 26 off 6 overs to win. DHS had managed through good bowling and fielding to cut off our runs and the game was now very finely balanced.
Navin was a key wicket and he fell to a well compiled 20 in the 29th over having done a superb openers job of not only seeing off the opposition's opening bowlers but batting to and past drinks as well. It was now left to another of our new members Gary Francis as well as Cory Adams to finish the innings off for us. Both batted well waiting for their chances and pushing the singles when they were available. Gary's 4 runs may not sound a lot but the 23 balls he faced were important as they keep our run chase alive and allowed runs to come at the other end. DHS continued to bowl tightly though but a single bad ball dispatched to the square leg boundary by Cory kept the runs coming. When he got out for 8 we were 125/7 with 3 overs left to secure the win. Matt Waldin joined Gary at the crease and together they slowly added to our score and in the 39th over we were 127/7 needing 4 to win. Matt Waldin blocked the first ball of the over and then smashed the 2nd, with what he called the ugliest shot of his life, for 4 over mid-off to secure a fantastic win. Our first over DHS for sometime, DHS first loss of the season and our 3rd win.
Key Performances
Dannevirke HS
C.Ingram 49, R.Ferrick 8-2-22-3
Bloomfield
D.Hamid 27, N.Wewala 20, J.Murrie 17 & 8-3-16-4
CricHQ Scorecard
