Te Puke open cup campaign with win
Te Puke opened their Williams Cup campaign with a big home win over Tauranga Boys’ College. Winning the toss and batting first, the students got an early breakthrough with the wicket of Ben Vyver, who was caught out with his side on 7.
Batsman Tai Bridgman-raison went for 12 before Cameron Riley (43) and Josh Earle (22) steadied the ship.
Stephen Crossan top-scored for Te Puke with 53 as the hosts were all out for 220 after 48 overs.
The visitors had an even worse start to their innings, with the first wicket falling with just three runs on the board.
Only two players scored more than 20 as the students were bowled out for 98 in the 25th over.
Te Puke’s Iman Nahal took three wickets at a cost of 14 runs.
Mount Maunganui picked up from where they left off the previous weekend in winning the Bay of Plenty Cup and handed Element IMF Cadets a cricket lesson.
The Mount’s opening pair of Matt Golding (55) and youngster Ben Parlane (69) put together a 123-run opening stand.
Their replacements, Ben Pomare and Niven Dovey, both reached the 30s, with Mount Maunganui in a strong position at 205 for the loss of four wickets.
Harry Burns, batting down the order at seven, contributed an extremely handy 37 runs from just 18 balls, with the Mount removed for 261 with the second-to-last ball of their innings.
Ollie Curtis was the best of the Cadets’ bowlers with three wickets for 30 runs.
Cadets made a reasonably solid start to the reply. However, when
Blake Pentecost was adjudged LBW for his team’s top score of 40, the visitors to Blake Park were well behind the eight-ball at 134/6. The Mount Maunganui bowlers tightened the noose and removed their opponents for 145 to grab a 116-run victory.
Lake Taupo¯ had plenty to celebrate on their way home from their Western Bay of Plenty encounter with Greerton, after snatching a 10-run win in enemy territory.
Derbyshire Second XI player Nafis Shaikh showcased his skill with the bat in crafting 96 runs from 110 balls,
including 12 boundaries, as his team set Greerton a target of 238 for victory.
Michael Mitchell and Archie Harrison made useful contributions in the 30s, with the last two Lake Taupo¯ batsmen at the crease putting on what became a winning partnership of 25 runs. Greerton’s second-change bowler, James Boyd, took five wickets for 44 runs.
Greerton got tantalisingly close to taking the win points on offer but were removed just 11 runs short of their target. Lake Taupo¯ bowler Roger Urbahn did the damage at the top of
the order with a five-wicket bag.
Geyser City won the Rotorua derby, beating Central Indians by 10 runs.
■ BOPCA Versatile Williams Cup Craigs Geyser City 233 (Alexander Roy 82, Sean Gapes 37; Stephen Nicholls 3/36) defeated Sanford Wall Lawyers Central Indians 223 (Lovely Sandhu 63, Jeff Simmons 63; Ben Dyson 4/31)
Flying Mullet Te Puke 220 (Stephen Crossan 53, Cameron Riley 43; James Stratton 3/30) defeated Craigs Tauranga Boys’ College 98 (Iman Nahal 3/14)
Generation Homes Lake Taupo¯ 237 (Nafis Shaikh 96, Archie Harrison 32, Michael Mitchell 31; James Boyd 5/44) defeated Eves Realty Greerton 227 (Tom Macrury 100, Patrick Davenport 42; Roger Urbahn 5/54 AJ How 3/42) Bond & Co Mount Maunganui 261 (Ben Parlane 69, Matt Golding 55, Harry Burns 37, Niven Dovey 32, Ben Pomare 31; Ollie Curtis 3/30) defeated Element IMF Cadets 145 (Blake Pentecost 40, Fergus Lellman 39; Gus Tustin 3/34, Nick Smith 3/35) Pa¯pa¯moa had the bye.