Nick Earl's innings of 71 not out was the highest of the Williams Cup round. Photo/File
The Battle of the Bridge at the Tauranga Domain on Saturday eventually resulted in a comfortable win to Element IMF Cadets over defending champions Mount Maunganui.
Cadets batted first on their home turf and were allowed to set a substantial target by the Mount bowling attack. Nick Earl was there
at the end of the innings when Cadets reached 245/5, with Earl unbeaten on 71.
Ben Jensen was in good touch with the willow posting 63, with Alex Oakley (43) and skipper Ben Christensen (32) both making useful contributions. Dan Hill took three wickets for Mount Maunganui.
Mount Maunganui made a determined start to the chase and were on track with the required run rate early in their innings, before the Cadets bowlers took charge. Two new recruits in the Cadets premier line-up took the bowling honours, with Christian MacDonald (3/6) and Chris Norton (3/37) doing the damage with the ball, as Mount Maunganui were removed for 162. Hayden Byrnes top-scored with 46 runs for Mount Maunganui.
City Sports Bar Te Puke joined Cadets at the top of the standings, winning their second successive match, against BOP Indians in the Sulphur City. Tai Bridgman-Raison top-scored with a crisp 36 in an innings where most of the Te Puke batsmen got starts. However, the match belonged to the Te Puke bowlers, who bundled the Rotorua side out for 70. Raminder Singh bowled line and length to take four wickets for just 17 runs, while Bay of Plenty rep bowler Jeremy Bates troubled the opposition batting wherever he had the ball, to finish with two wickets.
