Dynamic duo . . . Sam Jonas diving to take a catch from Samuel Payne’s [standing left] bowling in a 2017 match. PHOTO/FILE
CRICKET
CHRIS COGDALE
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It was the Sam and Sam show for Masterton Intermediate School in the Wairarapa final of the New Zealand Cricket National Primary Cup knockout tournament on Monday.
Opening the batting, Sam Payne and Sam Jonas each scored unbeaten centuries in the 157-run win against Greytown Primary School who fielded several representative cricketers.
Payne finished on 129 not out and Jonas 116 not out as the pair amassed 271 off 20 overs.
Greytown managed 114-6 in reply.
However, it wasn’t all plain-sailing for the pair.
Payne was dropped when he was on 99, and Jonas was dropped on the second last ball of the innings.
MIS coach Mike Smellie said on Tuesday that “the Greytown bowling was very good, but the boys were seeing the ball like a pumpkin”.
“They had to work hard and played some scintillating cricket”.
Wairarapa cricket development officer Simon Roseingrave, also witnessed the innings, and said “there was no slogging, it was simply good batting, with very good cricket shots”.
It is not the first time Smellie has coached players to score a century. He recalled coaching England all-rounder Ben Stokes to three figures when Stokes was a pupil at Plimmerton Primary School, Wellington.
Smellie is not certain who and when MIS will play next.
“It’s likely to be Palmerston North Normal Intermediate or Feilding Intermediate, and it will probably be away,” Smellie said.
Victory in that game will qualify them for the Central Districts playoffs for the second year.
MIS beat Herewith in last year’s semifinal, before losing to Huntly in the final.
Huntly then went on to win the National Championship.
The effort capped off a good few days for the two Sams.
Both played starring roles in the Wairarapa Year 7 representative fixture against Manawatu Under 12s.
Payne made 52, retired, off 36 balls, his fourth half-century of the representative season, while Jonas made 46 off 42 balls.
Wairarapa went on to win the match, scoring 253-8 and then restricting Manawatu to 193-7.
In other junior representative fixtures, the Wairarapa Under-15 boys defeated Manawatu by 11 runs. They scored 159-9 off 40 overs and dismissed Manawatu for 148.
The Year 8 boys completed the clean sweep, with a seven-wicket victory over the Manawatu Under 13s. They cruised to their target of 72 in 12.1 overs.
