15/03/2026
🏆🏆🏆Senior Reserve Partridge Cup Cricket Champions are….Cromwell 🏆🏆🏆
MATCH REPORT - https://www.playhq.com/account/my-teams/new-zealand-cricket/cromwell-senior-reserve-partridge-cup/003d1aec/game/2e408b99
The final of the Otago Country Senior Reserves’ Partridge Cup (40 overs) was an absolute humdinger on Saturday March 14. Cromwell and Mount Aspiring College met in Alexandra’s Molyneux Park for the showdown in perfect conditions. Lots of sun, little breeze and not too hot.
A bit of drama occurred pregame when the captain’s car wouldn’t start and needed jumping to get going, leaving about half the team very late for the meet-up time. Mount Aspiring would win the toss, and elect to bat. This was eerily the same pattern that had happened in the two previous encounters this year, leading to 100+ run losses for Cromwell.
The early exchanges saw a punch and counter-punch as MAC shot out to 30 before the breakthrough came from skipper Kayne Parata. Sam Dobbs followed suit and snared a couple of wickets, including a dramatic off-cutter that jagged back a foot to hit the off stump. MAC were all of a sudden 43-3.
For the 4th wicket, MAC, through Luke Haig (49) and Will Noble-Kirkbride (65) methodically put on 96. For Cromwell, a couple of chances were dropped, and a few other near misses landed agonisingly in gaps. In between times, that partnership put away the bad balls, absorbing pressure before skilfully turning momentum their way.
The partnership was finally broken from the bowling of Ross Anderson. An expertly taken boundary catch by Pierre Wiese settled some nerves and anxiety that had crept in. Cromwell would take a couple more wickets. MAC stoically rallied to make a very good score of 184-6 from their 40 overs. Dobbs was the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets, Anderson 2.
Given the MAC bowling attack, 184 was plenty of a big enough score to defend. Runs on the board in a final are always hard to overcome. Cromwell needed every ounce of fortitude and skill to make the chase competitive.
As had been the theme of the game, it was even-stevens the first 15 overs or so. Some cautious early batting was met with a couple of wickets. A counterpunch was provided by Wiese, who made a fluent 38 with 6 boundaries.
Three wickets fell with the score at 72, 73, and 79 to leave Cromwell 5 down with 106 to get. All of a sudden a full-on collapse was on the cards.
With the season on the line, 2 of Cromwell’s most experienced players teamed up to begin the fightback. Campbell Morton, fresh off a 50 last week, carried on in some belligerent fashion, particularly with some ferocious offside boundary scoring. Ross Anderson favoured the area behind square leg with pulls and flicks.
Periods of dot balls were met with roughly 1 boundary an over. For Cromwell, the required run rate was being maintained. For MAC, Cromwell didn’t get away from them either. The ebbs and flows built the match towards a frenetic crescendo.
Morton and Anderson brought up their 100 run partnership, leaving 6 to go from 9 balls. A desperate slide on the boundary saved a run before Morton was bowled 2 balls later for a well-paced 54. 3 runs were still needed off 6 balls. MAC were bowling very well in this death phase, landing frequent yorkers which were impossible to score from.
Anderson was then out bowled for 41 going for the winning runs leaving Luke Ashe and Abhishek Kumar to deal with the pressure of needing 3 off 4 balls. A single each levelled the score, much to all of Cromwell’s delight and relief. The last run came courtesy of a wide, meaning that Cromwell won with 1 ball to spare and 3 wickets in the tank.
You couldn’t ask for a better final. Lots of contributions were made from everyone on both teams. It’s one of those results where either team was deserving of the win, and the fortune of the day landed for Cromwell luckily. Players to stand out for MAC were Luke Haig (who also bowled very well after batting expertly), Will Noble-Kirkbride, Lucas Simpson (3 wickets). Well done to MAC for a top quality season.
For Cromwell, Ross Anderson had the 2 for 31 to go with his 41 with the bat. Sam Dobbs 3 for 27. Pierre Wiese with the catch and 38 with the willow. Campbell Morton topscoring with 54 with 7 boundaries anchored the second half of the run chase. Also worth mentioning the efforts of Benny Blanche fielding all innings for Michael Dobbs (who then courageously batted with cracked/broken ribs). Michael was the MVP of the celebrations later on, no question!
The resulting win wasn’t just from the 12 that were on the field yesterday. Performances earlier in the season from players such as Ryan Croall and Mark Ruston helped us get into contention. Thanks to everyone that contributed in short or long stints. Our English imports, Ryan and Jake Harland added a bunch of skill and enjoyment to the team and we’re very grateful for their involvement!
Kayne Parata as captain marshalled the team very well all year. A great reward for a stressful position. Well done sir!
The team will savour this moment because competition wins are as rare as hens teeth. Enjoy the winter everyone. Well, hopefully a little bit of warmer weather for a while yet.
See you next season.
