St Paul’s batted first on a good looking home wicket (despite being covered for the previous 36 hours) against a well performed Wanganui Collegiate side. Baxter Mackay with 31 continued his excellent early season form playing aggressively with some sparkling shots while Kip Fawcett with 32 played the sheet anchor role as St Paul’s put on 70 for the first wicket. Scott Finlayson with 23 kept the momentum going, but it was Chris Swanson back from Tihoi with 42 and consistent skipper James Chenery with 37 not out who ran the Wanganui field ragged with some intelligent shots and swift running between wickets. Chenery and Swanson put on 64 in the last 10 overs as St Paul’s made a creditable 207 for 5.
St Paul’s then turned in their best bowling effort so far when Josh Malpas bowled a superb early spell hitting the stumps twice in taking 2 for 7 from 5 accurate overs, well supported by the miserly Guy Wilkins. Devon Nolan was fiery and quick in taking 2 for 13 from 4, while Freddy Walker took 3 for 10 and Scott Finlayson 3 for 6 as Collegiate were demolished for only 56. St Paul’s were very sharp in the field, taking their catches and handling the wet ball well. This rounded out a very successful first 3 matches for St Paul’s against a strong Wanganui side who had beaten Hamilton Boys High School only 3 days previous.
Result: St Paul’s defeated Wanganui Collegiate by 151 runs
Players of the day: Scott Finlayson 3/6 and 23 runs; Freddy Walker 3/10 and Chris Swanson 43
