Pāpāmoa shock Grasshoppers in Western Bay cricket

Papamoa Kings maintinaed their grip on the Don Warner Challenge Trophy on Saturday.

Pāpāmoa came from well down the standings in upsetting Grasshoppers in Classic Builders Division One action on Saturday.

Pāpāmoa set the ‘hoppers a good-sized target when they were bowled out for 183. Batting at eight, Tony Young anchored the Pāpāmoa innings with 41, with Ivan Foord doing the damage with the ball for Grasshoppers, with four wickets at a cost of 23 runs.

Young grabbed the first Grasshoppers’ wicket with just four runs on the board, which was just the entrée to a match-winning performance from David Babbage. The Pāpāmoa first-change bowler ripped through the experienced Grasshoppers’ batting attack to finish with five wickets for just 29 runs.

Stefan Heuberger and Rob Inglis also bowled with genuine enthusiasm to grab two wickets each as Pāpāmoa’s opponents were removed for 150, 34 runs short of their target.

Pāpāmoa Kings held on to the Don Warner Challenge Trophy for the fourth successive week after defeating Katikati by three wickets.

Katikati batted first and were bowled out for 204. Brody Gilroy top scored with an unbeaten 70 while Max Morton finished with a neat half-century. The Kings had to dig deep before getting home with just three wickets in hand.

The Pāpāmoa Classic Builders Reserve Grade representatives were subject to a batting lesson with Aquinas College’s Ben Parlane belting 126 runs in his team’s total of 281 all out.

Pāpāmoa weren’t fazed by the big target. Papamoa number three Brad Harding (47) and opener Nitin Bindal (45) got there team away to a solid start. Ryan Douglas kept the momentum going with an unbeaten 30 runs. However, Aquinas bowler Asa Banbury tightened the screws with four wickets as Pāpāmoa were restricted to 213 for the loss of nine wickets.

Te Puke Blue continued their winning form in the Classic Builders Division One competition when they removed Falcons for 130, and then squeezed home with two wickets to spare. Te Puke Charda Panjab’s total of 179/9 against Greerton wasn’t enough in their Classic Builders Division Two encounter, with Greerton chasing down the total with five wickets to spare.

In other cricket news, long serving Te Puke player Simon Eves was part of a remarkable chase at the inaugural New Zealand Over 40s national tournament played in Blenheim between November 24-28.

Playing in the Second XI competition, Eves was selected for the Northern/Central Districts combined side. On Day Two the CND/CD Combined team was set a huge challenge when Wellington/Tasman posted 350 for the loss of eight wickets.

Eves opened the reply and was far from intimidated when he strode to the crease. The Te Puke player belted 96 runs off 87 balls, with 11 fours and three sixes in his turn at bat. His side continued the momentum after his dismissal, going on to chase down the momentous total, with one wicket in hand and two balls to spare.

Results

Classic Builders Reserve Grade

Aquinas College 281 (Ben Parlane 126; Gaurav Buttar 4/56) defeated Pāpāmoa 213/9 (Brad Harding 47, Nitin Bindal 45, Ryan Douglas 30no; Asa Banbury 4/31)

Katikati 204 (Brody Gilroy 70n; Jaskirat Bhangu 3/59) lost to Pāpāmoa Kings 205/7 (Amritpal Singh 59, Aman Mahal 39) – Pāpāmoa Kings retained the Don Warner Challenge Trophy

Te Puke 71/9 lost to Tauranga Boys College 74/1 (Scott Curtis 48no)

Classic Builders Division One

PapaOMAs 183 (Tony Young 41; Ivan Foord 4/23) defeated Grasshoppers 150 (David Babbage 5/29)

Falcons 130 (Tejveer Dhaiwal 4/19, Bhupi Singh 3/42) lost to Te Puke Blue 131/8 (Mayank Tandon 25, Harpreet Singh 23no)

Classic Builders Division Two

Te Puke Charda Panjab 179/9 (Arshdeep Setta 83, Gurlal Singh 33; Jake Ryan 3/24, Kieran Wonnocott 3/38) lost to Greerton 180/5.