Round 2 saw all teams in action with the exception of our T20 lads who had a bye.  Great to see the first game of the season on the back track at Edgar Macintosh with the Div 7 team having that honour.

In the afternoon grades, while not every team was able to get the W this week we at least all looked the business in our new uniforms!

 

Thanks to our sponsors

A huge thank you to our club and team sponsors for your support this year: Sporting Edge, BBS Timbers, Bar 185, Manetain Building Inspections, Lewis Excavator Hire &  Paav Tiling.  We also acknowledge the support received from grants from Pub Charity, NZ Community Trust, Kiwi Gaming and the Lion Foundation.

Your generous help makes a massive difference to the cricketing experience we can provide to our junior and adult members this season.

Match Reports from Saturday 18th October

MP Sporting Edge Championship vs St Albans Sabres @ Hagley 5 (2-day - ??? )

No report submitted - and technical issues with PlayHQ means scoring has not been uploaded.  Understand our lads are a few behind in the first innings with a couple wickets in hand heading into day 2....

MP Sporting Edge Div. 2 Red vs Marist Harewood @ Bishopdale (2-Day - 1st innings MH 216/10 - MP 122/10)

We turned up at Bishopdale Park, greeted by an excellent looking wicket. Our thanks to Dakesy for providing such a good wicket this early in the season.

Andrew Saunders (Pixie) lost the toss, and Marist Harewood elected to bat first. MPCC opened up with Nathan Columbus and Rohit Sharma. The first ten overs saw some effective stroke play over the top of the ring field, with a wicket to Rohit being our only reward. Mike Beattie and Sam Coughlan were brought on searching a breakthrough, but not to be as Marist Harewood were 120-1 at the mid innings drinks break.

A much improved performance after drinks saw the opposition dismissed for 216. Jason Stove, bowling quick and Pixie, not bowling quick, picked up a wicket each, and Rohit finished with a deserved 2 wickets. The star of the fightback was undoubtedly Nathan Columbus, who, bowling into a breeze, picked up 5 wickets for 39 from his 13 overs. Some excellent death bowling from Nathan, who kept it full and straight. Our fielding effort was led by Mike Beattie with a couple of good catches, and Sam Hall behind the stumps kept the standard high.

We started our response with Spandan Mukherjee and Tony Burroughs (who answered an 11th hour cry for help). They got us off to a reasonable start getting us through the first 8 overs. When Tony departed, Rohit and Spandan built a 30-run partnership before Rohit fell for 11. Pixie and Spandan applied themselves and were both batting well until Spandan fell for a very good 36 from 63 balls. Young Rueben from North West scored a quick 10, including 2 boundaries. We were 90 - 4 after 30 overs and then collapsed, trying to up the scoring, to be all out for 122. Pixie the next best of the batters scoring 34 off 74 balls. Mike Beattie struck a couple of lusty blows to get us past the follow-on.

There is much to do next week. However, we are up for the challenge !

Pixie

MP Burger Station Bar 185 Div 3 vs Lancaster Park @ St Albans Park (LP 131/10, MP 136/6 - Win)

We got our first win of the season! Merivale won by 4 wickets.

After bowling first, our bowlers did a great job and restricted Lancaster Park on 130. Birender was our star bowler who grabbed 4 wickets by giving away just 17 runs in his 8 overs. Vansh had Harry got 2 wickets each. The rest of the bowlers bowled very well too.

Chasing 131, we won with 6 overs to spare. Good contributions from top & middle order got us over the line.Contributions from Sagar(35), Monty(32), Harry(23) & Birender(17)* marked this win.

Overall, plenty of positives from this game, which will definitely gonna help us in the coming games.

Well done boys!

Akki

MP BBS Timbers Div 5 vs Sydenham @ Barrington 2 (MP 71/10, Syd 72/3 - Loss)

Mp travelled across town to play Sydenham at Barrington park. The pitch was green and with 11 players to start the game bowling first was the plan but unfortunately we lost the toss and were asked to bat first.

We didn’t get off to a good start and lost wickets at regular intervals finishing our innings at 71 inside 24 overs . With only 71 to defend we needed a few early wickets to have any chance unfortunately that didn’t happen either. The Sydenham batters chased the score down with ease in 13.2 overs.

Next up we play Marist at Nunweek park hopefully We can show some improvement as a team in batting, bowling and fielding.

Ash

MP Lewis Excavator Hire Div 6 Panthers vs Prebbleton @ Prebbleton Domain

(PB 102/10, MP 104/5 Win)

The Panthers arrived at the picturesque Prebbleton Domain on a scorching day to take on the local side. Skipper Andy A lost the toss and the Panthers were sent in to field under the blazing sun.

Prebbleton’s openers came out swinging, getting off to a flying start with some aggressive stroke play. It was Isuka who broke through first, inducing a mistimed shot that was safely pouched by Charan with a well-judged catch at mid-on.

Andy A struck next in his fifth over, getting some movement off the pitch that found the edge through to keeper Andy R. Just a few balls later, Isuka pulled off a stunning catch at slip to remove another batter. Andy A followed up with the big wicket of Lachie, who drilled one straight to Steve at cover.

Isuka added another scalp to his tally with a clean bowled dismissal, before Max came on at Andy’s end and continued the momentum, picking up three wickets with consistent line and length. Steve then came on to mop up the tail with two quick wickets. Stand-in keeper Andy R had a day to remember behind the stumps, taking four catches as Prebbleton were bundled out for just 102 inside 26 overs.

In reply, debutant Kish opened alongside Steve and both had to navigate some tight bowling early on. Kish fell for 5 and Steve followed soon after for 8. Max, as reliable as ever, came in to steady the ship. He was joined by Andy R who chipped in with a handy 12 before Joel came in and looked to accelerate the scoring. Max eventually departed for a well-made 26, followed shortly by Joel for an entertaining 22.

That left Andy A and Matt at the crease, who calmly guided the Panthers to victory without further loss, sealing a comfortable win.

A top effort from the Panthers, showcasing disciplined bowling, sharp fielding, and a composed chase. The team remains unbeaten this season with momentum firmly on their side.

Andy A

MP Paav Tiling Div 7 vs Kaiapoi @ Edgar Macintosh 2 (MP 108/10, KP 110/1 - Loss)

No report submitted

MP Manetain Building Inspections Masters vs New Brighton @ Rawhiti Domain

(MP 169/10, NB 170/2 - Loss)

The Masters Manetain Building Inspections played New Brighton on Saturday at Rawhiti Domain.

We lost the toss and batted. We started well, but a top order collapse saw us at 27/3 after 6 overs, with Rakesh Verma the main contributor at that stage, being dismissed for 20.

It was then that Ben Gill joined Mark Hume and our best partnership of the day began. They progressed the total to 74/3 at drinks.

After drinks, momentum swung our way with Humey and Gilly scoring freely and quickly. At 114, Humey was unfortunately run out for 43. From there a steady fall of wickets saw us end at 169 all out. Ben Gill top scoring with 48. Prakesh Saudigal was the only other batsman to get into double figures made 18.

In reply, Paul Dearsley picked up an early wicket, Steve Van Grunsven bowled tightly and we slowly raised their required run rate. However, the wickets we were looking for didn’t come and they slowly got on top. Petros Kapralos chipped one out with his first ball, with the score at 90, but that was it as New Brighton with wickets in hand took control and passed our total with 2 overs remaining. Paul Dearsley ended with 1/27 off 8.

It was a good tight tussle, another 20 runs in the bank may have put them under more pressure, but it wasn’t to be.

PK

MP T20 vs BYE

Article added: Wednesday 22 October 2025