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jubilant Scots College first XI were crowned the 2011 Premier Youth champions following their emphatic 9-wicket win over Wellington College in the final on Wednesday.
Scots College made no race of a modest 69 that was set for victory by the favoured Wellington College side, following a controversial start to the match that saw Wellington College forfeit the coin toss and instead invite Scots to decide what they wanted to do.
Scots captain Toby Barton obliged and elected to bowl first, a move that quickly backfired on their Wellington College counterparts who soon found themselves losing wickets at regular intervals and their innings never got going. 30 for 3 and then 59 for 4 soon became 64 for 7 and Scots were well on top.
All the bowlers contributed greatly to Wellington College’s demise, but spinner Ben McMahon was the pick of them sending down 7.3 overs and taking 4 for 12. Opener Nick Swain top scored with 23 off 69 balls.
In reply, Scots lost an early wicket but Barton (not out 37) and Cameron Tonks (not out 19) saw them home in just the 15th over.
Scots College coach Christie van Dyk was thrilled with the win. “I was especially proud of the way the team stepped up and showed what can be achieved with a lot of hard work and dedication,” he said afterwards.
“Last year we were a Premier 2 side so it’s a terrific achievement for our players individually and as a group to not only compete with these bigger schools like Wellington College, but to beat them and win the title.”
“It’s the perfect send-off for our group of Year 13 students, and a huge boost for our younger players returning in 2012,” added van Dyk.
He said the team’s success this year has coincided with the recent opening of the school’s state of the art sports centre, allowing the cricketers to train and hone their skills in a world class facility. “Having the new sports centre to train in has really made a difference to the way the players practice and this has been a huge contributing factor to the results now on the field.”
Above and below: Moment of victory - Scots College celebrate their emphatic win.
This final ends the Premier Youth Grade for 2011, starting up afresh in late January 2012.
To view the scorecard from the match click here
Meanwhile, Wellington College’s Rakitha Weerasundara and Hutt International Boys’ School’s Will Brunton have topped the 2011 batting and bowling stats for the Premier Youth Grade.
Weerasundara made 314 runs in seven innings with a highest score of 126. Scots skipper Barton (297) and Hutt Valley High School’s Sushant Balajee (258) were the other two players to score more than 250 runs.
Brunton led the way with 15 wickets at an average of 8.27 and with a best of 6 for 12. Scots College’s Josh Lawrence –who took 2 for 11 in Wednesday’s final – finished second with 14 wickets at 8.36 with a best of 4 for 11.
Brunton’s 6 for 12 and HVHS’s Steven Carter’s 6 for 17 were the two best bowling performances of the grade.
To view the final Premier Youth batting statistics click here
To view the final Premier Youth bowling statistics click here