John McGlashan College beat Hutt International Boys' School in the playoff for fifth and sixth to finish its first appearance at the finals of the Gillette Cup on a high.
McGlashan was soundly thrashed by seven wickets when the sides met earlier in the tournament, which was staged in Palmerston North this week, but bounced back to win by five wickets yesterday.
Hutt elected to bat and reached 181. Fergus Bevin-McCrimmon took four for 32 and Toby Batchelor two for 34. Barry Schmidt also produced a tidy spell of bowling, taking one for 17 from 10 overs.
He then guided his school past the target with an undefeated 74 and Sam Pringle chipped in with 40.
Auckland's Kings College (159) beat Christchurch Boys' High School (78) in the final.
In the New Zealand Cricket Community Trust secondary school tournament, St Hilda's Collegiate was well beaten in its final game, losing the playoff for seventh and eight to Wellington Girls' College by 60 runs. Wellington Girls reached 170 for seven with Umaya Ranaweera top-scoring with 44. Neelum Patel chipped in with an undefeated 28.
Mandy MacDonald was the pick of the St Hilda's bowlers with three for 28 and Ginny Wilson took two for 33.
MacDonald performed strongly throughout the week and, while her side struggled to compete, she was named in the tournament team.
Batsman Caitlin Blakely also had a good tournament, top-scoring for her school in its last match with a tidy innings of 21.
Christchurch Girls' High School beat Hillcrest High School by 15 runs in the final.
