Cricket: Indians, Cadets put unbeaten records on line in Williams Cup

Central Indians all rounder Jake Rowe takes a quick single. Photo / File

The two unbeaten teams in this year's Williams Cup title race will put their winning start to the Baywide title on the line this weekend.

Rotorua's Bayleys Central Indians and Tauranga's Element IMF Cadets will meet at Smallbone Park tomorrow,both boasting unbeaten records so far.

Success in the Williams Cup, which dates back to the 1930s, is seen as the icing on the cake of the Baywide competitions which also include the Baywide Cup and the Baywide Twenty20 Championship.

Cadets sit second on the Williams Cup all-time victories list, behind Te Puke, with 10 titles, while Rotorua's Central Cricket Club took top honours in 2007.

Central Indians come into this match on the back of a first-up 54-run win against GM Painters Lake Taupō CC, victory over the defending Williams Cup titleholders Greerton, plus the round three bye.

Central Indians made the other Williams Cup contenders sit up and take notice when they provided Greerton with a cricket lesson in round two. The Rotorua combined side posted 234/9 and then rolled Greerton for 103. Stephen Nicholls top scored with 71 runs with Swayam Kaul and Nicholls taking three wickets each.

Cadets' winning start to the title-race has seen them beat Bond & Co Tauranga Boys' College by six wickets, sneak past New World Te Puke by a solitary wicket and then defeat the Taupō side by seven wickets.

One of the success stories of Baywide Cricket this season has been the emergence of Cadets secondary school student Jacob Logan as a real force in premier cricket. Twenty-one wickets, spread over the three Baywide competitions, testify to the youngster's progression as a strike bowler.

Te Puke batsmen Blair McKenzie (234) and Tai Bridgman-Raison (194) lead the Williams Cup batting stakes. Last weekend Bridgman-Raison brought up his 15th premier century, while McKenzie scored his second successive ton. This weekend Te Puke host Lake Taupō CC at neutral venue Blake Park three.

Greerton play Tauranga Boys' College, at Pemberton Park, on a wicket which has favoured the team batting first in recent premier games.

Williams Cup - Round Four

Bayleys Central Indians v Element IMF Cadets, Smallbone Park; Eves Realty Greerton v Bond & Co Tauranga Boys' College, Pemberton Park; New World Te Puke v GM Painters Lake Taupō CC , Blake2; Carrus Mount Maunganui the bye.

Points Table
Cadets 18, Central Indians 12, Mount Maunganui 12, Te Puke 6, Greerton 6, Tauranga Boys' College 0, Lake Taupō CC 0.

- Supplied content