Day one
We drove through to Rathkeale in Masterton and were superbly received once again.
We lost the toss and were put into bat. Dillon Kelliher (46 off 25 balls) and Kippa Fawcett (9 off 26 balls) put on 69 for the first wicket. Dillon particularly played a number of superb shots in his 46 which included 8 4s and a 6. Scott Finlayson , in his debut game as captain also scored freely as he compiled 39 off 24 balls including 2 6s and 3 4s and was well supported by his vice-captain Chris Swanson 28• off 24 balls including 2 4s and a 6 for St Paul's to end on a very creditable 161/5.
Rathkeale put up a spirited fight in chasing the total of over 8 an over, but due to excellent bowling and fielding we restricted them to 130/7 off their allotted overs to win comfortably by 30 runs. Josh Malpas (2/23), Guy Wilkins (2/29), Simon Morbey in his debut game (1/27), Tom Harsant (1/16)- the pick off the bowlers all bowled superbly. Cameron Wratt is also congratulated as he made his debut too.
Players of the day were: Dillon Kelliher and Tom Harsant
Day two
Rathkeale won the toss and elected to bat. They struggled against the very tight bowling of the St Paul's boys with Scott Finlayson 3/26, Guy Wilkins 2/5 in 10 overs with 6 maidens and Tom Harsant 2/35 the pick of the bowlers, restricting Rathkeale to 134 all out in 56 overs.
St Paul's started off well scoring 37 for the first wicket before Peter Winkelmann (14) was run out. We then lost another three wickets before Kippa Fawcett 129• and Dillon Kelliher 50• put on an unbroken stand of 124 before Scott Finlayson declared at 237/4 after 56 overs – a lead of a 103. Kippa Fawcett's maiden century for the 1st XI comprised of 20 4’s and 1 6 and was a mixture of aggression and patience with an array of superb shots.
Rathkeale were put into bat again and were struggling at 84/7 but managed to scrap together a total of 118 all out in 44 overs. Our best bowlers were Tom Harsant 2/16, Josh Malpas 2/16, Guy Wilkins 2/17 and Simon Morbey 2/15.
St Paul's then had to score 17 runs to win the game which Jacob Robb 15• and Peter Winkelmann 0• did quite comfortably did to see us win by 10 wickets.
