The Aquinas College 1st XI cricket team defended their BOP T10 title with a dramatic ‘Super Over’ victory in the deciding match played against John Paul College on Sunday 26th February 2017.
Aquinas College and John Paul College both won all their pool games during the tournament, forcing a super over decider – six balls each to decide the winner.
Aquinas won the toss and decided to bowl first. Louis Robinson was selected as the Aquinas’ bowler. His leg spinner proved difficult for the JPC team as they only managed 6 runs off their 6 deliveries. In reply, heavy hitters George Cato and Fergus Lellman were sent to the crease as the two batsmen. Tactical running between the wickets saw Aquinas needing just an exciting 2 runs from the last 3 balls. However only one more ball was needed as George Cato hit a beautiful cover drive for four to give Aquinas the win.
Throughout the day, Aquinas played consistent cricket to record 3 victories from their 3 pool games.
In their first match against Tauranga Boys’ College, Aquinas batted first and scored 84 off 10 overs. Despite a strong start from Tauranga Boys’, they lost wickets in the middle overs and were eventually all out with one over remaining.
The other pool games were against Bethlehem College and Mount College. In both games Aquinas bowled strongly to restrict their opposition and then chased down the totals easily.
This momentous result will hopefully add further confidence to the team as they proceed into the next round of the Gillette Cup on Thursday 2nd February, against Bethlehem College and Gisborne Boys’ High School.
