Four club sides get their T20 campaigns off to a perfect start
Cadets1, Punjab Te Puke, Hawks and Mount Maunganui all won both their encounters in the WBOPCA Division 1 and 2 T20 Championship on the opening day of the Western Bay of Plenty cricket season.
Hawks looked to be on the back foot against Cadets2 after the Tauranga Domain-based team posted 155 for the loss of a solitary wicket. Cooper Hurley smacked an unbeaten 67 with Daniel Hall 59 not out.
But, with the scores tied going into the last over of the match, a Cadets’ wide gave their opponents the win, for the loss of six wickets with five balls to spare.
Cadets1 laid down the gauntlet to the other contenders in losing just three wickets in their two matches.
First up they rolled Bay Blasters for 81 then cruised home with nine wickets to spare. Their second matchup resulted in a nine-wicket victory over Katikati.
Mount Maunganui tussled with Pa¯pa¯moa in their round one match. Pa¯pa¯moa reached 123-6 with the Mount side getting home with just two wickets in hand. Nathan Walker top scored with a hard fought 43.
New recruits, Punjab Te Puke, showed plenty of promise in earning two wins. They beat Katikati in their first match before defeating Bay Blasters.
Thirty-year Greerton club player, Scott Drabble, showed he is as competitive as ever in taking seven wickets on the day. Facing Cadets2, he took 4-5 — then grabbed three wickets in his side’s loss to Baaj Sports.
The highest score on the opening day was provided by Baaj2’s Mani Panjeta who belted 78 against Tauranga Boys’ College. A honourable mention is accorded to Greerton’s Richie Earl, with 71 from 49 balls in a win over Cadets2.
■ Results
Round One
Falcons 115 (Harsh Badham 59no; Mandeep Singh 3/26) lost to United Indians2 118/6 (Maynak Tandon 54; Nits Kumar 3/36)
Pa¯pa¯moa 123/6 (Josh Short 30: Jonathan Brewis 3/24) lost to Mount Maunganui 126/8 (Nathan Walker 43: Mathew Libby 3/18)
Bay Blasters 81 (Luca Mockford 3/12) lost to Cadets 84/1 (Harrison Miles 50no)
Cadets2 — 143 (Cooper Hurley 58, Fin Dempsey 53; Scott Drabble 4-5) lost to Greerton 145/4 (Richie Earl 71) Katikati 120/6 (Gurjant Singh 3/19) lost to Punjab Te Puke 124/7 (Jamie Morton 3/15)
Te Puke 132/5 (Benjamin Hunter-blair 44) lost to Tauranga Boys College 133/6 (Rhydian Spice 41; Mathew Eaton 3/31)
Baaj Sports 121/8 (121/8 Vikas Tiwari 38; Tej Singh 3/11) lost to Hawks 125/2’(Kuljit Singh 61no)
Baaj2 v United Indians: no result posted
Round Two
Mount Maunganui 127/6 (Andrew 32; Raj Karan Singh 3/14) defeated United
Indians 117/9 (Gurpreet Singh 86no) Pa¯ pa¯ moa 152/5 (Finn Watson 35no) defeated Falcons 98 (Karan Sood 49) Greerton 131/9 (Narginder Bass 4/21) lost to Baaj Sports 132/8 (Scott Drabble 3/25)
Baaj2 169/8 (Mani Panjeta 78; Rhydian Spice 3/26) defeated Tauranga Boys College (Jason Spice 39; Mandeep Dhillon 4/20)
Cadets2 155/1 (Cooper Hurley 67no, Daniel Hall 59no) lost to Hawks 156/6 (Kush Randhawa 34)
Katikati 103 (Mathew Earl 30; Sam Maclauchlan 4/40) lost to Cadets1 104/2 (Daniel Maathuis 42)
Bay Blasters 154/9 (Arjun Bhaskar 46; Sukhpreet Singh 3/21) lost to Punjab Te Puke 158/3 (Karandeep Singh 65) Te Puke v United Indians: N/R posted.