Baywide cricket: Fourth Williams Cup play-off spot hotly contested

Dominic Crombie bowls for Tauranga Boys' against Greerton last weekend. Photo / File

With just two rounds to the Williams Cup playoffs, Greerton, Mount Maunganui and Central Indians have almost certainly booked berths in the semifinals.

The winner of the clash between defending Williams Cup title holders Element IMF Cadets and Cooney Lees Morgan Tauranga Boys' College on Saturday will move into fourth place on the standings and have a good shot at grabbing the remaining semifinal spot in three weeks' time.

Cadets have won the Williams Cup, which was first contested in the 1930s, on 10 occasions in the last 20 years and are past masters of playing pressure cricket.

Another strength has been added to their team with the return of Gurwinder Singh to the side from injury. Last weekend, the Bay of Plenty representative bowler grabbed a place on the 2018 Williams Cup honours board taking 5-19 in Baywide action.

Tauranga Boys' College First XI can lay claim to one of the best secondary schools teams in the country, after a third-place finish at the NZ Cricket First XI Cup National Finals in December.

They backed that up at the 2018 Super Eight cricket championship posting another meritorious third place. One player to make a real impression in the Williams Cup is Taylor Bettleheim, who sits third on the batting stakes with 147 runs and a highest score of 98.

The Western Bay of Plenty premier challenge prize of the Baker Cup will be on the line in a top of the table clash between Eves Realty Greerton and Carrus Mount Maunganui at Blake Park. The former Tauranga Cricket Association championship trophy is held by Greerton who took the silverware that dates back to WWII from Cadets in the opening round of this year's Williams Cup.

GM Painters Lake Taupo CC and New World Te Puke face each other. Te Puke have been unlucky, having been on the wrong end of a couple of tight results. Against both Mount Maunganui and Greerton, they posted 200-plus totals only to see their opponents chase down the required target.

BOPCA Williams Cup
GM Painters Lake Taupo CC v New World Te Puke, Owen Delaney Park; Cooney Lees Morgan Tauranga Boys College v Element IMF Cadets, Nicholson Field; Carrus Mount Maunganui v Eves Realty Greerton, Blake2; Bayleys Central Indians the bye

Points Table: Greerton 27, Mount Maunganui 21, Central Indians 21, Tauranga Boys College 9, Cadets 9, Te Puke 3, Lake Taupo CC 3.

BOPCA Williams Cup Honours Board 2018
Batting (Centuries) 103Josh Bates (Element IMF Cadets) v Greerton
Bowling (Five wickets) 5/19 Gurwinder Singh (Cadets) v Lake Taupo CC, 5/46 James Boyd (Eves Realty Greerton) v Cadets