Ton by Pile reveals promising future
ONSLOW opener Nicholas Pile has become the first player to notch a premier one century this term.
Pile, who still has three more years at school, made 105, from 123 balls, as Onslow reached 290 against Hutt Valley High School last Saturday.
‘‘He played straight and it was chanceless,’’ Onslow coach Matt Tilley said. ‘‘He’s quite big for his age, has good hand speed and is quite a powerful player.
‘‘He also knows how to go on and reach 100 after getting to 50 and and got through the 90s confidently. He has scored a few centuries at age group level.’’
Pile’s inning also suggested that the relaid wicket block at Onslow will provide good conditions for batting.
Onslow, who won by almost 200 runs after dismissing Hutt Valley for 93, provided the individual highlights of the round, with medium pacer Andrew Cooney taking 7-33 from 10 overs.
‘‘Those are the best figures by an Onslow bowler in premier one,’’ Tilley said. ‘‘Andrew bowled full and straight and swung the ball.’’
Onslow, who only just avoided relegation in January, have won 10 of their 13 matches this year and go into the final round, this weekend, in equal second place, with St Pat’s Silverstream.
However, they face competition leaders Hutt International on Saturday and the odds are shortening on a HIBS-Silverstream final the following weekend.
To make the final, Onslow would need to beat HIBS and rely on fifth-placed Tawa beating Silverstream, who lost to HIBS last weekend.
If Onslow and Silverstream both win, it would leave the three top teams on 44 points and Onslow would need to beat HIBS by a substantial margin to take their net run rate past either Silverstream or HIBS.
‘‘We are resigned to the fact that we probably can’t make the final but it’s still been a really successful season,’’ Tilley said. ‘‘HIBS look the best side [in the competition] but we will be looking to have a fair crack at them.’’
Onslow won a tight game against HIBS in March but lost to them in the Wellington Gillette Cup final.
Onslow will lose five players from their 2014 squad next year, including Cooney, experienced all-rounder Alex Ridley, and skip- per Tim Johnston. ‘‘We basically lose our pace attack and Alex is a pretty hard player to replace,’’ Tilley said.
Hutt Valley were always struggling against Onslow but opening bowler Liam O’Brien maintained his form, taking four of the six Onslow wickets to fall. ‘‘He [O’Brien] bowls full and really straight,’’ Tilley said. ‘‘He bowls good channels and does a bit with the ball.’’
HIBS had a tough battle with Silverstream, getting home by three wickets in a match reduced to 36 overs.
Silverstream batted first and were all out for 144, after being 53-5. Kenneth Tuffin took his premier one run tally past 325 when making 47 and rebuilt the innings with a 44-run partnership with Ben Murrow.
‘‘It was very windy when we bowled and our boys struggled a bit but Ollie Flemmer did a really good job into the wind,’’ HIBS coach Mark Borthwick said.
Ben Sears, Troy Johnson and Flemmer made good contributions with the bat for HIBS but Silverstream got back in the game by taking three wickets within six balls, leaving HIBS seven down and needing 37 runs from the final six overs.
However, Timmy Matthews and Sunny Kanuparthi proved up to the task and got the runs with eight balls to spare.
Silverstream spinner Peter Aitken ceded just 15 runs from seven overs.
Tawa, helped by half-centuries from James Lewis and Michael Fenton, beat Scots, though Scots skipper Josh Lawrence returned to form with 90. Thivindu Kithulagoda took 5-23 when the Wellington College first XI beat their second XI.
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