Playing for the Dave Hoskin trophy the “Ranfurly Shield” of Waikato Secondary School cricket, St Paul’s Collegiate had a tardy warm up and a very slow start to their innings teetering at 25 for 3.
Enter Alistair Blackett in his first competition match for the 1st XI to join Scott Finlayson. The pair batted slowly giving the bowling the respect it deserved, slowly accumulating the ones and twos to build a partnership. Finlayson was the aggressor as he worked his way to his hundred, with Blackett rotating the strike intelligently for him. When Blackett was finally out for 55 the pair had put on a record 185 for the 4th wicket. Malcolm Luman with 27 put on 59 in 7 overs with Finlayson as he reached a brilliant 163 not out, the 4th highest score in school history as St Paul’s made 281 for 5.
A long wait due to rain at lunch saw Boys Highs target adjusted to 203 off 30, but they were never in it in the face of excellent bowling from Freddy Walker with 5 for 8 from 6 and Josh Malpas 2 for 27 as they were left at 69 for 9 from 25 when the rains returned giving the match and the Dave Hoskin trophy to St Paul's Collegiate for only the second time.
