By Dominic Smith-Hodgson
After having our fixture against the Future Aces (Auckland Cricket Under-19s Academy) changed to St. Kentigern's, which provided an incredible facility for the day, the Kookaburra New Zealand Croatia boys were straight into their warm-ups. JV won the toss and elected to bat first on a flat deck that looked like it could cause some problems later in the day. Temapare was the aggressor of the two openers, setting off with a quickfire 20 off 20 balls. This was followed by captain JV with 30 off 30 balls, while Dom was frustrating the bowlers down the other end with a VERY patient 18 off 69 deliveries.
Dan (21 off 27) provided the game with its first maximum, with a glorious straight drive before he was undone by a ball that kept a bit low (which he may have mentioned once or twice later). Making his Cro debut, James Banicevich from Dargaville was the pick of the batsmen with a very classy 66 (from 73 deliveries) with contributions from the others lads around him. Kookaburra New Zealand Croatia dismissed for 208 eventually.
The Auckland Under 19s got off to a quickfire start at the expense of James Piskulic, his two overs going for 25. Temapare (2/35 off 5) snared the first wicket with 59 runs on the board. The Cros kept themselves in the game with regular wickets and tight bowling, the skip JV showing us how it was done with 1/14 off his 10 overs. Josh (0/37 off 7) beat the batsmen for pace many times and was unlucky to not pick up a wicket. Jason (2/27 off 7) picked up his wickets with some great line and length bowling. Sadly we were about 20 runs short from our innings, Auckland Under 19s reaching the total in the 49th over 8 wickets down.
A massive thank you to Grant Jackson from Kookaburra Cricket New Zealand for not only organising a sensational day, but spending the day with us Croatians. We hope you felt welcomed into our family as we wholeheartedly appreciate you joining us, and look forward to many more encounters.
Until next time prijatelji i obitelj (friends and family)
After having our fixture against the Future Aces (Auckland Cricket Under-19s Academy) changed to St. Kentigern's, which provided an incredible facility for the day, the Kookaburra New Zealand Croatia boys were straight into their warm-ups. JV won the toss and elected to bat first on a flat deck that looked like it could cause some problems later in the day. Temapare was the aggressor of the two openers, setting off with a quickfire 20 off 20 balls. This was followed by captain JV with 30 off 30 balls, while Dom was frustrating the bowlers down the other end with a VERY patient 18 off 69 deliveries.
Dan (21 off 27) provided the game with its first maximum, with a glorious straight drive before he was undone by a ball that kept a bit low (which he may have mentioned once or twice later). Making his Cro debut, James Banicevich from Dargaville was the pick of the batsmen with a very classy 66 (from 73 deliveries) with contributions from the others lads around him. Kookaburra New Zealand Croatia dismissed for 208 eventually.
The Auckland Under 19s got off to a quickfire start at the expense of James Piskulic, his two overs going for 25. Temapare (2/35 off 5) snared the first wicket with 59 runs on the board. The Cros kept themselves in the game with regular wickets and tight bowling, the skip JV showing us how it was done with 1/14 off his 10 overs. Josh (0/37 off 7) beat the batsmen for pace many times and was unlucky to not pick up a wicket. Jason (2/27 off 7) picked up his wickets with some great line and length bowling. Sadly we were about 20 runs short from our innings, Auckland Under 19s reaching the total in the 49th over 8 wickets down.
A massive thank you to Grant Jackson from Kookaburra Cricket New Zealand for not only organising a sensational day, but spending the day with us Croatians. We hope you felt welcomed into our family as we wholeheartedly appreciate you joining us, and look forward to many more encounters.
Until next time prijatelji i obitelj (friends and family)