Berkley Intermediate win ND Primary School Cup

Published on 03 Apr 2019

Berkley Intermediate have won the ND Primary School Cup and will head to Lincoln to compete in the National Primary School Cup in November.

Sunday, March 31, saw the opening matches of the closely-contested tournament played at John Kerkhof Park in Cambridge; the sides arena for the next three days.

Max Makeham of Morrinsville Intermediate starred with both bat and ball on day one as he helped his side to a first-up win against St Peter's School of Cambridge. His 3-28 in the first innings was the key bowling performance as St Peter's posted 106/8, before his 54 not out opening in the second innings saw Morrinsville Intermediate chase the total down with seven balls to spare.

The other eye-catching performance from round one was Blake Beardsell's 42-ball 72 for Kamo Intermediate as they chased Southwell School's 124/5 inside an impressive 16 overs.

The final match of round one saw Berkley Intermediate defend a first innings score of 88 all out by bowling Mount Maunganui Intermediate out for 73 to earn a 15-run victory.

Unfortunately Monday brought heavy rain and no play was possible, but Tuesday brought plenty of sun and a packed schedule to try complete all matches. Where all matches were initially planned as 20 overs per side affairs, the first three matches of the day were reduced to 15 overs per side, with the last match reduced further to 10 overs per side.

Round two passed without great fuss, Southwell School, Mount Maunganui Intermediate and Berkley Intermediate all registering comfortable wins; the latter to remain as the only unbeaten side in the competition.

Round three saw a final-over thriller when Morrinsville Intermediate successfully defended 78 by dismissing Southwell School for 76: Max Makeham in the action again with a run out off the second-to-last ball of the innings to secure a two-run victory.

Berkley Intermediate scored an impressive 116/7 off their 15 overs in a 12-run victory over St Peter's School; the stand-out performance of the match coming from St Peter's bowler Caleb Woodfield, who claimed fantastic figures of 4-24.

Mount Maunganui Intermediate secured an impressive 60-run victory over Kamo Intermediate in the round's last fixture; Mount Maunganui's first innings score of 103/2 built on the back of Angus Tustin's 51 not out.

The final round of 15-over fixtures witnessed arguably the game of the tournament, as Southwell School came so close to surpassing Berkley Intermediate's large score of 132/4. Solid contributions throughout the side meant Southwell were in the chase throughout their innings, but they ended on 128/5 to fall an agonising four runs short of Berkley's total.

Morrinsville Intermediate and Mount Maunganui Intermediate, who had Harry Burns make the equal-highest score of the tournament with 72 not out, also won in round four, meaning that Berkley Intermediate were in the box seat heading into the final round, but Morrinsville and Mount Maunganui both had a chance to win the tournament as they were only one win further back.

It was a slight change of focus again, as the final match shed a further five overs per side to be 10 overs per team.

Mount Maunganui Intermediate earned victory against Southwell School, meaning they had done their bit to win the competition, with all eyes on the Berkley Intermediate vs Morrinsville Intermediate fixture, which would effectively decide the competition.

Berkley Intermediate were in no mood to let the tournament slip away from them at the last hurdle however, scoring an impressive 108/1 from their 10 overs, headlined by 52 not out off just 30 balls from skipper Sam Keightley, which was the driving force behind a 42-run win and a well deserved tournament victory.