Mount Maunganui want awin on road
Mount Maunganui, who shared the Baywide cricket competition lead heading into round five, will want to get back to winning ways this weekend.
Their Bay of Plenty Cup title aspirations hit a speed bump after being towelled up by Flying Mullet Te Puke last weekend.
Tomorrow sees the current Baywide champion of champions on the road to Smallbone Park in Rotorua, where Bayleys Central Indians await the opportunity to hand the visitors back-toback losses.
Bond & Co Mount Maunganui, at full strength, are very hard to get past and have a strong batting lineup. Ben Musgrave leads the Bay of Plenty Cup batting stakes, with 234 runs, and can take a game away from the opposition when in full flight.
Another to shine in early season action is Ben Pomare, who hit a match-winning 77 for the Bay of Plenty representative side last weekend. Mount quick Chris Atkinson has produced the season’s best bowling figures taking five wickets for just 10 runs.
The Rotorua combined team also have plenty of batting firepower. Captain Stephen Nicholls hits a big ball while Lovely Sandhu has been one of the form batsmen of the Baywide season.
Veteran Central Indians bowler Andrew Gibbs is still rocketing the ball down and could trouble the visitors’ batting.
Competition leaders Eves Realty Greerton take an unbeaten season record into their meeting with Craigs Investment Partners Geyser at
Pemberton Park. Greerton allrounder Lee Watkins sits second on the bowling statistics with nine wickets and is a more than handy lowerorder bat.
Geyser skipper Cody Fell knows how to lead from the front and has a season highest score of 63 not out.
Joe O’donoghue has taken a highly sought after fivewicket bag, returning 5-22 against Pa¯pa¯moa.
Pa¯pa¯moa will have their sights on back-to-back victories after posting their maiden Baywide win last weekend.
Ben Guild, who has experience in spades, led the way to his team’s first Bay of Plenty Cup win and is likely to be the danger man again when Generation Homes Lake Taupo¯ visit Alice Johnson Oval.
Lake Taupo¯ have been slow starters this season and captain Habib Malik is sure to have his troops primed for battle in the Western Bay of Plenty.
A mid table clash will take part at the Te Puke Domain where the home side meets Holland Beckett Law Tauranga Boys’ College, with both sides having an individual competition front-runner in their ranks.
Te Puke bowler Cameron Riley is the leading Bay of Plenty Cup bowler with 10 wickets, while Tauranga Boys’ all-rounder Tim Pringle owns the highest score of 118 runs.