Skipper Carl Shaw's Doleman Cup champions won a low-scoring battle on a turning representative wicket.
That play on a grass wicket was possible with a rain-affected lead-in is testament to the cricket community's keenness to do their bit during the week and on Saturday morning alongside Recreational Services.
Cricket often features up-and-down medium-pacers bowling to defensive field settings and batsmen untested in genuine footwork. That 44.1 out of 75.1 overs in Saturday's premier-grade showpiece were bowled by spinners made for a grind requiring intense concentration and skill. The spinners took 13 of the 18 wickets to fall.
Shaw praised his batsmen's patience, guts, shot selection and hard running between wickets.
“It was a really exciting final with momentum shifts from one team to the other,” he said.
“Determined batting ensured we got a total that we felt was a par score.
“OBR's opening batsmen, Paul Stewart and Sean Henry, got them off to a great start and we needed something special from our spinners to shift momentum. Nick Greeks batted exceptionally well, too, and deserves a lot of praise.”
OBR captain Greeks won his third straight toss against HSOB this season and, for the first time, put HSOB in to bat. The skipper (1-30), left-arm orthodox, and off-spinner Daniel Stewart (2-27) both bowled out as Dane Thompson, bowling second change, took 2-15 from four overs and Paul Stewart, 2-32 from seven.
Against these four capable operators and medium-pace club legends Matt Cook (1-38) and Jimmy Holden, HSOB dug in to post a competitive total — 155-8.
Opener Baxter Mackay and second drop Mitch Hammond both made 41. Mackay and opening partner David Salmon (10) shared a stand of 35. Few present then would have known that, in the context of the match, it was worth twice as many runs.
Both Salmon (2-27) and Hammond (3-18), along with Dave Castle (1-16), turned the ball sharply with their off-spin while left-arm orthodox spinner Daniel Torrie (4-24) was the star of the show.
Torrie is, like Greeks, a tall left-armer whose angle to right-handed batsmen from around the wicket can be a test.
The HSOB spin attack took all 10 OBR wickets — but not before the right-hand/left-hand combination of Stewart (12) and Henry (19) put up 41 as a pair.
Greeks, batting at No.7, made 43 — the highest individual score in the match — in 58 balls, with two sixes and three fours.
Fittingly, he was the last man out — with the score at 120 — leg before wicket to Castle off the first ball of the 36th over, Castle's seventh. Greeks's partnerships of 25 with Richie Needham (7) and 24 with Karan Solanski (9) for the eighth and ninth wickets respectively were a great-hearted effort. That OBR came up 35 runs short with 29 balls remaining speaks to their fighting spirit as much as High School Old Boys' ability to apply pressure and hold it together.
Only 13 boundaries were hit in the match and were more appreciated by those present for their rarity.
Greeks, whose side lost to HSOB by nine wickets on November 5 and by seven wickets three weeks later, will go one of two ways after Christmas . . . with inertia not being an option.
The OBR captain said: “Just to get the game played on grass was a huge achievement — the scores don't reflect how close it was at times. I was extremely happy with the way we fielded and bowled.
“Jack Faulkner took two terrific catches at cover and short mid-wicket. Sean (Henry) and Paul (Stewart) did a great job for us but shot selection was a major factor on a turning wicket.”
Premier grade, Doleman Cup final, 40 overs —
Bollywood High School Old Boys 155-8 (Baxter Mackay 41, Mitch Hammond 41; Dane Thompson 2-15, Daniel Stewart 2-27, Paul Stewart 2-32) beat Coastal Concrete Old Boys Rugby 120 (Nick Greeks 43, Sean Henry 19; Daniel Torrie 4-24, Mitch Hammond 3-18, David Salmon 2-27).
Senior B grade, Hope Cup, 30 overs, Round 8 —
Bollywood HSOB Presidents 101-2 (Jeff Chambers 35, Paul Jefferson 29; Ted Gillies 2-21) beat Gisborne Boys' High SCHOOL (2) 100-8 (Bekko Page 32, Nathaniel Fearnley 21; Thomas Crosby 3-13, Nicholas Armour 2-17).
Rawhiti Legal Old Boys Rugby 78-2 (Mana Taumanu 31 not out; Jonty Fenn 2-42) beat Campion College 77 (Taye McGuinness 22; Johnathon Gray 3-13, Francois La Grange 3-13, Ruan Ludwig 2-12).
Horouta Te Waka 138-3 (Alan Knight 49no, Amandeep Kamboj 28; Mike Gibson 2-15) beat Civil Project Solutions Ngatapa Green Caps 135-5 (Charles Morrison 37, Mike Gibson 31, Logan Orsler 20).
