Wairarapa College’s Mark Steventon scored 186 runs not out from 119 deliveries on Tuesday. PHOTO/SUZANNE OLIVER
CRICKET
Wairarapa College batsman Mark Steventon wasn’t holding back on Tuesday as he led his side to a 227-run win over Whanganui High School in an annual inter-school fixture.
The fixture, held in Masterton, involved the colleges’ boys’ and girls’ First XIs as well as a boys’ Colts team.
After electing to bat first, the Waicol boys got off to a solid start in the 50-over match thanks to William Sargent [26] and Josh Nelson [20].
Oliver Bunny and Steventon combined to put on a massive 245 runs for the third wicket, rotating the strike with ease and punishing any loose bowling from Whanganui.
The partnership ended when Bunny was dismissed for 97, which included 10 boundaries.
Steventon was in imposing form, taking just 78 balls to reach his century. But there was no respite for the fielders as he picked up the scoring rate by swatting the bowling all around the ground in the final overs.
He needed just another 41 deliveries to push his score out to 186 and was not out when Waicol’s innings ended at 388-5.
When the dust settled, Steventon had peppered the boundaries with 20 fours and seven sixes.
Whanganui responded with a steady start but at 41-0, Waicol’s Hadley Wiramanaden struck, taking two wickets in two balls to spark a collapse.
Whanganui ran out of batsmen at 161 as wickets fell at regular intervals.
Waicol’s Jake Young, 3-23, led the attack and Zac Te Maro [2-20], Steventon [2-11] and Caleb Anstis [1-16] provided able support. Sargent chipped in with three fine catches.
The Colts game also had Waicol emerge comfortably on top with an eight-wicket win.
Whanganui were bowled out for 98 with Waicol’s Cohen Scott taking 2-6, Max Donaldson 2-9, Makaia Sutton 2-0 and Angus Durry 2-10.
Waicol lost just two wickets as they chased down their target in the 15th over.
Jesse Edwards and Oliver Gillespie opened the batting, scoring 25 and 12 respectively, while William Clarkson [19] and Max Donaldson [24] guide the team to victory.
The Waicol girls made a winning start to their season by scoring 110 in their Twenty20 match and then bowling Whanganui out for 74.
