Baywide Cricket: Te Puke and Pāpāmoa tie

Te Puke’s Mikaere Leef scored 50 runs and took five wickets for 32 in the game against Pāpāmoa.

Baywide Cricket

Te Puke was one of the three top Baywide teams that failed to bank win points in the Versatile Williams Cup at the weekend encounters.

Making the short trip to Pāpāmoa, Te Puke batted first with Mikaere Leef leading the way with a neat half-century. Pāpāmoa bowler Sam Wilson bowled with genuine enthusiasm to finish with five wickets for 39 runs.

Pāpāmoa made a good start to the run chase, and were well in contention for success, all the way.

Needing three runs for victory off the last ball of the encounter, Paul Inglis and Michael Burns ran two, with Burns being run out, and the two sides receiving three points apiece for a shared result, both teams posting 178 runs each. The result means Te Puke now top the table on 28 competition points.

One of the biggest upsets in Baywide cricket in many years took place when Tauranga Boys’ College put a nine-wicket win on Mount Maunganui at Nicholson Field.

Baywide cricket heavyweights Mount Maunganui were bowled out for a paltry 93 in just the 28th over. The Mount’s highest score of 23 was an indicator of the success of the home side’s bowling attack. Scott Curtis and Reuben Carter were both rewarded with three bowling scalps apiece.

Tauranga Boys’ comfortably worked their way to a nine-wicket win. Nihar Parmar was the best of the host’s reply with an unbeaten 44, with Luke Scrimgeour contributing 27 not out.

Cadets moved from the standing’s danger zone, with a win over Greerton, after the home side was removed for a modest 136.

Blayne Fraser (47no) and Chris Mascall (45) took charge of Cadets’ fortunes in posting victory with five wickets to spare.

Lake Taupō was another side to fail to post a defendable target, being removed for 108, by Central Indians. Thirty runs from Julian Danby anchored the Rotorua team’s five-wicket victory.

The ND Fergus Hickey Rosebowl match at Fergusson Park in Tauranga failed to produce a result after day two was rained out.

Bay of Plenty won the toss and elected to bowl in the two-day fixture. Waikato Valley got away to a good start and posted 50 runs before their first batter was removed.

With the Bay’s opponents starting to get away from them at 90/3, they introduced their third bowling change, of Peter Drysdale’s right-arm spin. Drysdale, who made his Bay of Plenty debut long ago in the 2009/10 season, grabbed six successive wickets for 71 runs, to play a commanding role in Waikato Valley being dismissed for 187.

Drysdale has a long and illustrious career in the Bay of Plenty strip. He holds the record for Bay of Plenty appearances, with 128 games, and is just 56 runs short of the 4000 run mark. Drysdale’s six-wicket haul took his all-time wicket tally to 70. His six-wicket bag is the 73rd by a Bay player since the first Bay of Plenty match in 1932.

Bay of Plenty made a short and sharp appearance on the Fergusson Park batting strip, on Saturday, posting 77 for the loss of four wickets.

BOPCA Versatile Williams Cup Results

Generation Homes Lake Taupō 108 (Jake Rowe 3/14) lost to Sandford Wall Lawyers Central Indians 109/5 (Julian Danby 30)

Bond & Co Mount Maunganui 93 (Scott Curtis 3/7, Reuben Carter 3/17) lost to Craigs Tauranga Boys College 94/1 (Nihar Parmar 44no)

Flying Mullet Te Puke 178 (Mikaere Leef 50, Tasman Carsons 32; Sam Wilson 5/39, Stu Farquhar 3/24) tied with Pāpāmoa 178 (Pieter Osbourne 36, Paul Inglis 35no, Xavier Lee 35; Mikaere Leef 5/32)

Eves Realty Greerton 138 lost to Element IMF Cadets 139/5 (Blayne Fraser 47no, Chris Mascall 45)

Points Table (Provisional) Te Puke 28, Greerton 26, Mount Maunganui 26, Pāpāmoa 23, Cadets 23, Lake Taupō 21, Central Indians 18, Geyser City 15, Tauranga Boys’ College 11.

ND Fergus Hickey Rosebowl @ Fergusson Park — 2/3 March 2024

Waikato Valley 187 (Peter Drysdale 6/71) v Bay of Plenty 77/4 — no result was produced due to rain on day two.