Avondale, Kelston battle

Avondale College and Kelston Boys' High School go head to head in the final stage of their two-day cricket championship tomorrow.

Both teams are near the bottom of the secondary schools cricket competition and a win for either side will move one team away from the wooden spoon.

Day one of play took place at Avondale last weekend. The Avondale bowlers struck early and had Kelston at 50/3 after 20 overs.

But a strong partnership of 55 runs between Tayler Adams and 15 year-old Matthew Vercoe-Curtis helped steer Kelston clear of a disastrous total.

The partnership was broken only when Vercoe-Curtis was run out after bringing up his half-century.

Avondale grabbed a fifth wicket, but that saw Adams joined at the wicket by lower-order batsman Nathan Jones.

Their sixth wicket partnership took the score to 180/5, with Adams out just before tea with a team-saving 67 runs. Jones and Keegan Hay put together a partnership that carried Kelston over the 300-run mark.

It was broken only when Jones was dismissed before stumps after posting a magnificent century.

At stumps, Kelston were 310/9 with Keegan Hay (28 not out) having the option of another 10 minutes of batting when play resumes tomorrow.

- © Fairfax NZ News