Bay of Plenty Cricket: Mount Maunganui look to bounce back in Rotorua

Central Indians will host Mount Maunganui in Rotorua. Photo / File

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.

This Saturday sees the current Baywide champion of champions on the road to Smallbone Park in Rotorua, where Bayleys Central Indians await the opportunity to deal the visitors back-to-back 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 in their ranks. 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 attack.

Competition leaders Eves Realty Greerton take an unbeaten season record into their meeting with Craigs Investment partners Geyser at Pemberton Park.

Greerton all-rounder Lee Watkins sits second on the bowling statistics with nine wickets and is a more than handy lower-order batsman.

Geyser skipper Cody Fell knows how to lead his troops from the front and has a season highest score of 63 not out to his name.

Joe O'Donoghue has taken a highly sought after five-wicket bag, returning 5-22 against Pāpāmoa.

Pāpāmoa will have their sight 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 Taupō visit Alice Johnson Oval.

Lake Taupō 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 seasons highest score of 118 runs.

Bay of Plenty Cup Draw:

Pāpāmoa v Lake Taupō, Alice Johnson Oval; Te Puke v Tauranga Boys' College, Te Puke Domain; Central Indians v Mount Maunganui, Smallbone Park; Greerton v Geyser, Pemberton Park; Cadets the bye.

Points:

Greerton 33, Mount Maunganui 27, Cadets 20, Central Indians 20, Te Puke 19, Tauranga Boys College 16, Papamoa 12, Lake Taupo 6, Geyser 6.

Honours Board:

Runs: 234 Ben Musgrave (Mount Maunganui), 214 Ben Guild (Pāpāmoa), 204 Taylor Bettelheim (Greerton). Season high score: 118 Tim Pringle (Tauranga Boys' College).

Wickets: 10 Cameron Riley (Te Puke), 9 Lee Watkins (Greerton), 8 Chris Atkinson (Mount Maunganui), 8 Christian MacDonald (Te Puke). Season best bowling: 5-10 Chris Atkinson (Mount Maunganui).