“It’s a good wake-up call.”
That was the reaction from captain Jeremy Anderson as Burger Kings Red Star were on the wrong end of a seven-wicket thumping from Kapiti Old Boys in their Coastal Challenge match at Wellington’s Sky Stadium on Saturday.
After winning the toss and batting, Red Star could only muster 119, with the main contribution coming from number three Trey Bidois, who continued his good form, scoring 44, while Anderson was the next best with 17.
Although disappointed with the overall batting effort, Anderson credited Kapiti for good bowling rather than bad batting, saying that four of the top six wickets fell to good balls on a pitch that didn’t play as they thought it would.
“It was pretty sticky, and a few would keep low and then a few would pop up, but we didn’t score enough runs and didn’t adjust to the wicket as we should have, and that was probably the main gist of it,” Anderson said.
“We went out there and looked at it, and we thought there’s no way we’re doing anything other than batting first; it was hard, and it looked good.”
Red Star had early hope of defending their meagre total, taking the first three Kapiti wickets with only one run on the board, but that was as good as it got as Tristan Cloete [57no] and Taine Halbert [49no] batted with control, bringing up the winning runs in the 25th over.
Cloete’s unbeaten half-century completed a good double for the all-rounder, who had knocked off the top of Red Star batting lineup bowling openers Robbie Anderson and Quinn Childs and finishing with 2–3 off six overs.
The loss ended Red Star’s unbeaten run in the Coastal Challenge and dropped them to second behind Whanganui United, with Anderson saying it is probably the wake-up call that is needed.
“I’ve said it all along there are no easy beats in this competition, so you’ve got to be on your game every week.”
The loss sees Red Star slip to second equal along with Kapiti Old Boys and Whanganui Marist, but they are still in line for a home semifinal if they win their final two games against Weraroa and Paraparaumu.
As for playing on Sky Stadium, Anderson said he enjoyed the experience, and the plan is to try and do something similar with Kapiti Old Boys each year, possibly at the Basin Reserve, where the clubs could have spectators and put on full lunches.
BRIEF SCORES
Red Star 119 [Trey Bidois 44; Michael Newell 3–29, Martin Harrison 3–12, Tristan Cloete 2–3, Carter Andrews 2–27] lost to Kapiti Old Boys 123–3 [ Cloete 57no, Taine Halbert 49no; George Deans 2–33] by seven wickets.
PROVISIONAL POINTS
Whanganui United 13; Red Star, Kapiti Old Boys, Whanganui Marist 11; Levin Old Boys 7; Weraroa, Paraparaumu 6.
