7 February, 2020

Takapuna Cricket triumphs in T20 comp

Takapuna District Cricket Club’s premier side beat Parnell on Anniversary Day to take the Auckland T20 trophy, a title two years in the making.

“We won 17 out of 18 T20 matches over the past two years so deserved to win this one,” coach Ryan Scivier said.

Takapuna lost to Howick Pakuranga in the 2019 final.

With the T20 cup in the trophy cabinet,  Takapuna still has a chance to also win both the Auckland one-day and two-day competitions.

It is leading the two-day championship and goes through to the elimination semi-
finals of the one-day competition.

“There’s still a lot of water to go under the bridge… where we are placed has given us an opportunity,” Scivier says.

It was the first time Takapuna has won the T20 Championship.

Parnell won the toss and decided to bat first at Onewa Domain, being bowled out for 98, with Takapuna’s bowlers proving economical: Will O’Donnell (2-21) and Jones (3-15) put the squeeze on the Parnell batsmen before Ryan Quinn (2-21) ensured Parnell was bowled out with a crucial 16 balls left in the innings.

At the break, few would have predicted the match would go into the final over.

But just as the game appeared to be drifting away from the visitors, Takapuna’s 30/1 became 65/6.

At 70/6 after 16 overs, Takapuna still required 29 from the final four overs. By then, Hendrik Van Vuuren was the established batsman, but it was Daniel James who took to the slog-sweep, clearing the square-leg boundary. Though his six swung the game in Takapuna’s favour, the tension remained.

Parnell took the game into the final over, but in the end, Van Vuuren (28) and James (16) were there to see Takapuna lift the T20 Championship.

• The full Takapuna team: William O’Donnell (c), Hendrik Van Vuuren, Matt Jones, Max O’Dowd, Ben Becroft, Michael Sclanders, Robbie O’Donnell, Simon Mathewson, Craig Cachopa, Guy Harley, Daniel James, Ross ter Braak, Ryan Quinn, Jordan Sussex, Andrew Simpson, Sam Collinson, Ryan Scivier (coach).