Bay of Plenty defeated Poverty Bay in a Fergus Hickey Rosebowl match in which more than 500 runs were blasted in the one-day encounter in Gisborne.
Poverty Bay won the toss on Sunday morning and put Bay of Plenty in to bat, on a wicket that looked to give something for the bowlers early on in the innings. The Poverty Bay decision to make the Bay bat first paid early dividends, with Joe Carter and Bharat Popli dismissed relatively cheaply.
Bay No4 Tom MacRury strode to the wicket full of purpose and set about turning around the Bay of Plenty innings with skipper Peter Drysdale. MacRury picked his shots with patience, however the arrival of Drysdale's half century saw him up the pace several notches.
With Drysdale holding down the other end, before he was removed for a solid 61 runs, MacRury lashed out to bring up his maiden Bay of Plenty century, continuing his assault on the Poverty Bay bowlers to finish with an unbeaten 145, as Bay of Plenty reached an impressive 296/4 in their 50 overs.
While the home side faced a huge challenge, they started their run chase at a good clip.
