NZ v Rest of the World

Mandeville Oval,

Friday the 27th February 2026

Another toss, another loss, another bowl first for NZ. As a bowler though it’s good to get stuck in straight away so I for one don’t mind bowling first. It was a cold and overcast day when we started. The sun made a few appearances but wasn’t out for long.The ROW made a slow start to the match thanks to a great opening spell by John Cushen taking 2/10 in his 6 over spell. Supported at the other end by Chris’s 1/17 off 6. But those wickets brought in D. Griffiths and P.Ganatra who would go on to post a 164 run partnership with some very impressive manoeuvring of our field and sharp singles and two’s. Prior to their entry the scoresheet looked like the start of a dot painting. But all that changed once those 2 got going and they toyed with us at times. When they got together the run rate was 2.4 and when they were finally parted by Roger Stachursky in the the 39th over it was 4.8 an over.  Ganatra carried on attacking our bowling and lifted the run rate up to the final number of a tick under 5. But he lost his wicket in the 45 over with John Cushen coming back to finish what he started getting him out caught by Paul Facoory for 98. JC bowling a great spell of 3 for 26 off 9 overs. ROW setting NZ a target of 5 per over to win. Facoory and King settled into their work and steadily raised the run rate to 6.0 with 90 off 15 overs and it looked like another cruisey afternoon for the non batters. But when Cliff departed in the 17th over the run rate started to decline and more drama was yet to come. Down to 5.5 after 20 overs, 5.0 after 30, and 4.8 after 37 overs.As if the scoring rate wasn’t a problem we suddenly had Gary Rudolph needing a runner, getting one, then having him sent back to the pavilion after he ran to the other end himself, twice!!But Paul is still there until he isn’t after he skies a shot in the 42nd over being bowled by the man who got 98 and who Paul caught to get him out. The bowler runs after it himself snatches at the catch, drops it, juggles it forward, then catches it again all while running at top speed. A healthy dose of Karma there and Paul is out for 98 as well.Enter Tony Penny but then what the heck he gets injured  as well taking a sharp 2 runs and it was mayhem out there. Not sure if he needed a runner as well but he didn’t get one.It’s now the start of the 44th over and we need 15 runs. Holy hell how did it come to this? Tony and Gary limp, stumble, scurry through 2 lots of legendary 2’s. A dot ball then Gary is gone. We now need 11 off 8 balls.Enter Roger and he whacks a 4 and a single to keep the strike. Now it’s 6 off 6 with the opening bowler back on for his 9th over.  2 lots of 2 and 2 singles and we are home with 2 balls to spare. What the hell were we worried about?ROW’s MOTM went to P. Ganatra for his 98 and 2/26 bowling. He deserved for his running alone. NZ MOTM went to John Cushen for his great bowling and the Angus award bottle of wine went to Paul Facoory.ROW 224 for 6 off their 45 overs and NZ 225 for 5. NZ  win by 5 wickets.In the other matches England accounted for the USA by 112 runs helping their net run rate, Canada beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets, and Australia beat India by 9 wickets.

NZ v India

Bert Sutcliffe Oval

Thursday 26th of February 2026.

Another toss lost and another side putting themselves in first. India electing to bat on an overcast day that was promising rain and eventually delivered it as well. The umpires taking us off the field after 21 overs with India 74/1. During the delay lunch was taken and we were off the field for about an hour and a half.

As with all the teams we’ve played so far the openers were strong batters and India made a steady start before losing their first wicket in the 13th over to Morris Dawson in his first over of a great spell of 7 overs 1/14. When he finished that spell India were 93/1 after 25 overs. 

India decided to accelerate after the 25th over and took to our bowlers and by the 32nd over they were up to 5 per over. Enter Gary Rudolph and in his first over he removed one of the destroyers. They continued to attack though until Gary removed 2 more in his 4th over and another in his 6th finishing with a great spell of 7 overs 4/35. 

India finished with 222 runs with only 6 wickets down at a good run rate of 4.9. After a short break to get ready for NZ’s innings a light drizzle started up then came and went for all of NZ’s innings.

The DLS calculators were out and we watched anxiously as the drizzle continued and the overs ticked slowly by. The towels were out and the umpires consulted but elected to carry on. The ground staff standing by poised to cover the wickets. 

With Facoory and King batting steadily and seemingly under little duress out in the middle the first target of getting an official game after our 20th over,  with minimal loss of wickets finally arrived. But that over took a long time and the ball had to be changed before it could be completed. 

Once the 20th over was done with NZ 174 for 0 the game continued but at an accelerated pace. The final 52 runs came in the next 5 overs in a manner very similar to the ending of the Sri Lanka game. 

But this time there was a theoretical possibility of both batters getting centuries. 

During those last 5 overs India bowled 2 no balls and that threatened to upset the opportunity for both to score centuries. Paul reached his century first then did the right thing by defending and leaving just enough for Cliff to make his hundred. With the score poised on the tie and only 1 run needed Cliff had to hit a boundary or run a three. A final “alleged no ball” was swatted by Cliff to the boundary and in the 25th over he reached his 100 and in doing so hit the winning runs. 

It was sporting of India to play on in the light rain and make a match of it. Not long after the completion the rain came down properly and full set of covers were on.

India’s MOTM was their patient opener N. Singh for his 69 runs and for NZ it was Cliff King again.  The Angus Award went to Gary Rudolph for his terrific bowling spell. 

India 222/6 off 45 overs and NZ 226/0 winning by 10 wickets. 

In the other matches the USA beat Canada by 5 wickets, Australia beat the Rest of the World by 5 wickets, and England beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets. 

NZ v USA

Mainpower Oval

Feb 24 2026

USA won the toss and decided to bat. They made a breezy start to their innings getting to 28 after 5 overs. Unfortunately for them they also lost their first wicket in that over. All of their 10 batters managed to get starts with no ducks at all which is unusual. Their opener and their No.10 both scored 9 but all the rest got into double figures. They eventually made 196 runs for 8 down and most bowlers got at least 1 wicket.Bevan Guthrie was bought on as the 7th bowler and in 4 overs managed to take 2 for 12 taking out the 4th and 5th wickets who also happened to be their 2 top scorers. But he wasn’t finished there he then ran out one of the next batsmen with a direct throw hitting the stumps. There was some controversy with some claiming the bowled had dislodged a bail before the ball arrived!! But the score book says he was out.USA ran well despite that run out but we did think they left a lot of runs out there and that 196 was an under par score. Their top scorer made 39 runs but also faced 71 dot balls. Their whole side face 148 dot balls and if you add in the 8 wickets thats 26 of their 45 overs not scored off.NZ innings started with a string dots then a couple of blots and we were suddenly 2 down for 20 with both the Hagley Park hero’s scuttling back to the pavilion. Jeremy Wilson followed not long after but not before he had smacked a superb 6 over long on, perhaps deciding after that he couldn’t improve on that shot.53/3 after 12 overs and there were some nerves in the dugout. But 2 cool heads in Mike Scrumpy Johnston and that man again, Bevan Guthrie, batted with discipline and calculated hitting to wear down the USA attack. From the sideline you could almost see the point where the USA team seemed to stop trying too hard in the field not being able to stop our guys from taking singles, blasting the occasional 4, and several 2’s. Once the USA spirit seemed to be subdued the runs kept accumulating in a steady manner and we reached the target on the 40th over with only the loss of 3 wickets.Guthers finished 98 not out and Scrumpy 54 not out in what looked like a comfortable win despite the nervous start.USA’s MOTM was their very quick opening “bowler?”Dash Sankhe who bowled 9 overs and got 2/25.Bevan Guthrie was NZ.s MOTM and Scrumpy was the recipient of the Angus award. USA 196/8 after 45 overs. NZ 200/3 in the 40th over. NZ won by 7 wickets.In the other games Australia toppled their nemesis England chasing down 248 with only 4down. Canada beat India by 115 runs posting 280/6 in their turn at bat, and Rest of the World beat Sri Lanka 6 wickets chasing down 188 runs.

NZ vs Australia 

Sunday 22/2/2026

St Andrew's College

Another beautiful day and another amazing venue. NZ versus the team in yellow and green. A team who has traditionally dominated the over 70’s encounters between us. Would today be our day? NZ won the toss and put OZ into bat and as expected they batted with a mixture of patience and intent. Prepared to wait for a ball to score off then punishing it when it did arrive. Their opener, Trigg, was the first one to go but it wasn’t from one of the few hard chances he offered us. He retired with what looked like cramp but not before he’d amassed 79. Despite it being the top score of the match he still showed a great deal of patience facing 48 dot balls and running 32 singles.  That translates to just over 13 overs (or 30% of their balls faced) for only 32 runs. When he departed we had visions of having opened up their “tail” but their 3rd man in, Smith,  ended up their second top scorer and remained not out on 61. It took a brilliant side on throw by Evan Watkins to run out the other opener, Hardman, for 52 to gain our first genuine wicket. It was a great sight to see the zinger bails and wickets light up. Their score at that point was 144 after 31 overs. A modest 4.6 RPO which would have seen them finish around 210. However they had other plans and steadily pushed their run rate up until finally getting to 259 at the end of their 45 overs. Along the way Tony Penny took a great catch off Scrumpy and we got 2 more wickets in the last 3 overs so we only got half of them out in total. It was a good total to defend but the 2 NZ openers, King and Facoory got us off to a great start. 50 without loss after 10 overs, taking toll on the loose deliveries, and Australia were showing concerns about the run rate and how they were going to put the squeeze on us. Their usual chirping on the field sounding more like arguing at the time. They responded with bowling changes that helped slow us down bit by bit. NZ made it through to the 21st over before losing our first wicket with Cliff King run out for 45. The very next over Paul Facoory was out also for 32. Jeremy Wilson and Gary Rudolph took over and got us through to the 34th over before the wickets started falling again. Jeremy pushed the rate along nicely scoring 48 off 53 balls to be our top scorer and playing some great drives all around the wicket. Australia however had continued to squeeze our batters through those middle overs and with 10 overs to go our required RR was up to 11. With little choice left but to go after the runs and Australia bowling straight and full it was an uphill struggle that eventually cost us several wickets and saw us fall 56 runs short of the target. We did at least last the 45 overs with only 8 down and made more than 200 runs but still it wasn’t enough. If we learned something it was that Australia showed us the way to win a game like that and the standard that we need to aspire too.Australia’s MOTM was Trigg and for the second time in a row Cliff King was ours. The Angus award this time went to Chris East who bowled the last 2 wickets, lighting up the zingers again, and finished with 2 for 42 of his 9 overs. Australia 259 for 4 defeated NZ 204 for 8 by 56 runs. In the other 3 matches, India defeated Sri Lanka by 37 runs,  the USA defeated the ROW team by 115 runs, and England dominated Canada with a 120 run victory. All winning teams batting first this time. In round 1 it was 3 of the teams batting second who won their matches.

Chris East

NZ vs Sri Lanka. 

Friday 20/2/2026

Christ College No.1 ground adjacent to Hagley oval.

Following the postponement of Wednesday the 18th ‘s round to Friday the 27th there were a few extra days to prepare and also a few extra days to feel nervous. But finally Canterbury’s normal warm dry days returned and so we started with round 2.NZ won the toss and elected to bowl first. SriLanka came out with all guns blazing taking 11 off the 3rd over, 10 off the 4th with several more double figures overs to follow. After 8 overs without the loss of a wicket they were running at 7 an over and looking threatening. Their opener, Thavenda, was thumping 4’s all over the ground and with only 3 fielders outside the circle we were finding it difficult to contain him. But finally in the 9th over Peter Nixon trapped the other opener LBW. Julian Van Dyk after changing ends bowled their No.3 just 2 overs later. In an eventful 12th over by Chris East that was going for plenty a miscommunication between SL batters saw their next batter run out for 8 followed 2 balls later by an LBW and suddenly they were 4 down. The run out batsmen, Goonawaldna, we later learned was one of their most prolific and better batters so that was a big blow to their hopes of a good score. Their run rate, which was just at under 7, started falling from then on and by the 19th over had fallen to 5.5.  The 19th was another double wicket over with Roger Stachursky having the first one stumped off a wide. It was a little bit comical with 1 umpire standing with his arms spread wide and  the other with his finger pointing skyward. A few balls later and another LBW and they were 6 down. Evan Watkins chimed in with a wicket in the next and 20th over. SL were now 7 down and with the previous 6 batsmen going out for 2, 8, 0, 6, 0, 0 things were looking bleak for them despite the run rate still being a healthy 5.5. Enter stage left Johnny Premachandran and after a couple of sighters it was all guns blazing again. These 2 hammered out a 53 run partnership in just 7 overs and the run rate was back up to just under 6.  But all good things come to an end and Peter Nixon provided that by bowling Johnny for a 26 ball 36 and SL were now 8 down. What followed was a drawn out 2 runs an over struggle until Roger ended SL’s ailing innings with 2 wickets in 2 balls. 178 all out 2 balls into the 36th over. A reasonably healthy 5 runs an over total for them but with no wickets left and NZ having 45 available our target was under 4 an over.The NZ innings started under a darkening sky and a few spits of rain and while the sky looked dramatic it was all show and not much else and the innings progressed without interruption. Paul Facoory and Cliff King started NZ’s run chase in a steady fashion getting a good look at the bowling. Cliff’s first 8 balls were all dots and you’d be forgiven if you  thought you were looking a Paul’s stats not Cliff’s.  By the 5th over though the run rate had climbed to the 4 an over target and the numbers rose steadily from then on. By the 10th over it was 5 and by the 20 it was over 6. With the Southerly blowing the sounds of the Christchurch railway station across the ground it was NZ’s 2 openers who were the ones steering the run away train to victory. They banged out the final 50 runs in a little over 4 overs and the 179 run target was met in 24.3 overs. Both took only 75 balls to score 78 for Paul and 81 for Cliff. NZ’s next 2 batters in, Mike Johnson and Jeremy Wilson were reduced to extras in the scene warming their seats for the hour and 45 minutes that Paul and Cliff took to finish the act. NZ’s run rate was 7.3 and SL’s 3.95 (their total is divided by 45 overs even though they didn’t bat all of them) so a net RR of 3.35 for NZ. SL’s MOTM was their opener, Thavenda, with his 87 runs and NZ’s was Cliff King. The NZ team had a further award, the Angus award for the inspirational play and that was awarded to Roger Stachursky for his 4 for 33. In the other matches Australia accounted for USA, England for India, and Canada for the Rest of the World team.

Sri Lanka 178 all out from 35.2 overs. NZ 179 for 0 from 24.5 overs. NZ won by 10 wickets.

Chris East