It was another strong performance from St Anthonys in the Gisborne and District Cricket Association’s Jensen Shield on the weekend, chasing Hanging Rock down with relative ease. ‘
After sending Hanging Rock in and dismissing them for 137, St Anthonys were able to chase the runs down in just 24 overs and only four wickets down.
Gurinder Singh Grewal was a clear standout for St Anthonys both with the ball and taking five for 16 from his seven overs, before making an unbeaten 57 in the chase.
“The team is going really well, and we’re building really nicely, hopefully towards a finals spot,” coach Jason Orr said.
“There is a lot of experience in that team, and I think the confidence is there with that bat that we can chase down any score.
“We’ve now got a couple of guys in the middle order who are quite quick and play it like a 20-20 style game and it worked for them yesterday and they got the score really quickly which puts confidence in us moving forward.
“We’re very happy with Gurinder, he’s been very consistent. A lot of the middle order guys have been really consistent throughout the year and the bowlers share the wickets around as well. They’ve had good years and Gurinder is a good bowler, he’s a smart cricketer, he’s been around for a while, he knows his game pretty well and played well.”
Another win sees St Anthony as equal ladder leaders with the also undefeated Aintree on top by just percentage. With just five rounds to go before finals, each win is becoming more and more important.
“We just take it one game at a time,” Orr said.
“I think the important thing for us is to try and get a home final, I think with a home final your half halfway there, or a good chance to get into the grand final.
“So that’s a big thing for us, but we need to keep winning, just to get confidence in guys and keep the momentum going.”
Next week the undefeated sides will face off in a mouthwatering clash at Woodlea Reserve, which Orr and his side can not wait for.
“It’s going to be a tough game, they’ve gone really well all year,” he said.
“The game earlier in the season was called off because of rain so it’s going to be a real test for us but I’m confident that we can get through it.”
