By Gary Caffell
Two centuries and a five-wicket bag helped take Rathkeale year nines to a massive 273-win over their Wairarapa College counterparts in their regional knockout qualifying match for the NZCT national cricket tournament.
Opener Caleb Burling made 100 from 102 deliveries after Rathkeale lost the toss and were sent in to bat.
His excellent placement was indicated by the fact he struck just the three boundaries during a knock which ended one ball after he had reached three figures.
Burling and fellow opener Gus Borren gave their team a flying start with Borren the aggressor, hitting five fours in his 42 made from 41 balls, and when Borren was out Burling was joined by Ralph McLeod and in 22 overs they added 177 runs between them.
The dismissal of Burling saw McLeod up the ante even further and his 103 came from just 89 balls.
Along with Issac Noble he put on 48 in the last six overs with Noble doing his part with a lusty 21 from 11 balls.
The Rathkeale total of 303-3 was imposing by any standards and they backed that up with an equally impressive effort in the field, dismissing Wairarapa College for only 30 runs.
It was the effort of Joe Quinn with the new ball which did the bulk of the damage for Rathkeale.
He finished with the stunning figures of 5-6 from his six overs while Noble chimed in with 3-6.
The victory takes Rathkeale through to the Central Districts-wide knockout series starting in mid-February with Palmerston North Boys High likely to be their next opponent.
Meanwhile it will also be the Battle of the Colleges in Wairarapa men’s senior cricket tomorrow.
Wairarapa College will host Rathkeale College in an Umpire’s Cup fixture with the form book clearly pointing to a Rathkeale victory.
They currently sit third on the ladder with 16pts, just 2pts in arrears of second placed Greytown and 6pts behind pacesetters Lansdowne.
Fourth with 10pts are Red Star while Wairarapa College are lonesome at the bottom of the table on 2pts.
The batting stats for the Umpire’s Cup have four Rathkeale players in the top 10 runscorers.
They are Miller Paton-Masters, Jack Forrester, Kelsey Fahey and Quinn Childs, and two from Wairarapa College, Michael Brewster and Brad Griffith.
That and the fact that Fahey, Childs, Brewster and Griffith are also key elements in the bowling departments clearly suggests the impact these six have tomorrow will play a big part in the end result.
For Fahey and Griffith, in particular, this match will provide a royal opportunity to press claims for selection in the Wairarapa squad for their Hawke Cup qualifying round fixture with Whanganui the following weekend.
Both are similar players, aggressive in nature with bat and ball, but while Fahey has already made a decent showing at senior rep level Griffith is still to be given the chance to display his talents there.
