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WARWICK SMITH/Stuff
Ross Taylor played an important part with bat and ball in team Slog’s win over team Sweep.
With the way the car park was peppered with cricket balls, it was too hard to pick who hit the biggest or best six.
There were 25 sixes hit in the Slog Sweep cricket game, a festival match at Fitzherbert Park on Friday evening put on by Palmerston North Boys’ High School for old boys of cricket and rugby fame and the crowd was treated to a good-natured and entertaining game.
The game between Slog (cricket) and Sweep (rugby) also paid homage to former Boys’ High student Ross Taylor, who recently retired from international cricket.
Team Slog won the match in a super over, with man of the hour Taylor stepping up with the bat and ball.
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Slog set an intimidating total of 202-4 batting first, but Sweep managed to level the scores on the last ball of the innings and could have won the game if not for a run out.
Sweep then batted first in the super over and set a total of 22 thanks to Bevan Small, then Taylor did the job in five balls to win the game, reaching 25.
“Cricket does strange things,” Taylor said afterwards. “At the end of the day it’s good to come back and play with some familiar faces. Guys I went to school with and played a lot of cricket with.”
Both teams were stacked with guys Taylor had played with in his school and professional career.
Taylor had a massive hand in the win, smashing 44 from 14 balls in Slog’s innings and then took two wickets in Sweep’s innings with his spin, including the wicket of former professional rugby player Craig Clare, who just about won the game for Sweep with some late boundaries.
Taylor got rid of Clare and Roald Badenhorst in the last over, but Sweep still managed to tie the scores by running two on the last ball, before Brett Davis was run out attempting a third.
Taylor stepped up and bowled the super over and made sure he was facing the first ball when it was his turn to bat.
“After letting it go in that last over I had to. It was a bit of fun and it’s nice that at least cricket got one over rugby.”
Dane Cleaver was at the other end but wasn’t needed. Earlier he had hit 52 from 22 balls, before retiring.
Cleaver punished former rugby professional Dean Budd, smacking five sixes from one over, with two going into the grandstand.
Taylor also teed off with six sixes and two hit the top of the grandstand.
Others to clear the rope were Dave Meiring (30 not out), Scott Larsen (50 retired out), Small (56 retired out) and Bryce Grant (36).
Slog had a spin-heavy attack, including Boys’ High rector David Bovey, a former Manawatū and Hawke’s Bay rep.
The weather helped dry the ground out after a wet week and a couple of hundred people attended.
Freestyle motocross star Levi Sherwood came out of retirement to perform a few jumps in the innings break with a group of friends.
Slog 204-4 (Dane Cleaver 52 ret out, Ross Taylor 44, Mathew Sinclair 39 ret out, Dave Meiring 30*) tied with Sweep 204-7 (Bevan Small 56, Scott Larsen 50 ret out, Bryce Grant 36, Craig Clare 33; Dane Cleaver 2-16).
Super over: Sweep 21 (Small 20) lost to Slog 25 (Ross Taylor 24*).
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