Campion impress Senior B reigning champs Ngatapa

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Campion College are getting better.

Last season’s Senior B Grade champions the Civil Project Solutions Ngatapa Green Caps beat Campion’s first 11 by 42 runs . . . after the Mark Naden-coached up-and-comers gave them a push.

The younger set impressed Green Caps skipper Charles Morrison.

“Campion got off to a great start and played really well,” he said.

“They were in the driver’s seat for a good chunk of the game.

“In fairness, we were much better with the bat this week, building partnerships, and Isaac Thomas was good with both bat and ball.”

Morrison won the toss in this 30-over Round 2 match and chose to bat first on the artificial surface of Nelson Park No.1.

Ngatapa posted 156-9, Thomas leading their run-scorers with 32 at first drop. Sixth-man-in Brent Gallagher made 26 and Morrison, 21 not out at No.8.

Campion captain Hamish Swann took 1-21 from his six overs, one of which was a maiden. Opening bowler Connor Starck (2-22) also bowled out and Gagandeep Singh (2-14 from three) was the third of the College's bowlers to grab a double.

Campion reached 114-7 at game’s end. Swann (12) and wicketkeeper Taye McGuinness (42) put up 35 together at the top of the order. Second drop Rhys Grogan (41) clouted a six and three fours.

Ngatapa spearhead George Whitehead took 1-24 from six overs (one maiden), sharing the new ball with left-armer Elenor Walsh (2-22 from five overs).

Swann spoke of what was a very competitive outing.

“We got early wickets and restricted Ngatapa to 156,” he said.

“The catch Aiden Armstrong held off my bowling to get Isaac (Thomas) at Cow Corner was amazing.

“In our innings, Taye batted time, played the short ball well and down the ground. He played confidently and we now look forward to his return to the bowling crease — he’s been managing a sore back — and also to the return from injury of ’keeper Daniel Baillie and Harry Sondh.”

Te Waka took a big scalp on Saturday.

Breakers Horouta Te Waka, who were placed third in last year’s race for the Hope Cup, beat 2022-23 finalists Rawhiti Legal Old Boys Rugby by four wickets on the back of a great knock by opener Stanley Blake.

His 72 from No.1 offset the devastation wrought by OBR captain and champion leg-spinner Mana Taumaunu, who took 5-25 from five overs.

Taumaunu, whose 3-31 from five overs against Ngatapa the previous week were all stumpings, made it four in a fortnight when he lured out seventh-man-in James Craig first ball.

The OBR leggie’s loop and curl produces some of the most enjoyable and entertaining cricket to be had locally in a long while — fewer maidens, more lofted shots, and runs to be had with men in the outfield as attacking fieldsmen.

First-year skipper Riley Horsfield won the toss for Horouta on Nelson Park No.3 and chose to bowl.

Taumaunu at No.3 made 27 but second drop George Reynolds was OBR’s next highest run-scorer with 14 in a modest team total of 133-7 after a genuine all-rounder in Ethan Ngarangione-Pearson gave them food for thought early on.

Dangerous left-arm paceman Ngarangione-Pearson took 1-13 from four testing overs.

The wily Aman Kamboj took 2-13 from two overs coming on at third change and Craig, at first change, took 2-20 from four.

Blake, as Te Waka's spearhead, conceded only 10 runs in six overs; Billy Morse, as second change, eight runs in five overs.

Horouta’s medium-pacers bowled well.

Chasing 134 for victory, Blake and Tonez Bucheler (19) put on a show to serve

as inspiration.

Their opening stand of 101 was the biggest partnership in all of Poverty Bay senior club cricket at the weekend.

Ngarangione-Pearson hit a six and a four in his unbeaten 12 from No.6 but it was an unsung hero — quiet achiever Billy Morse at No.8 — who scored the winning run with a cut shot off Taumaunu.

Taumaunu said: “That was a good game with strong individual performances from our new guys, but Horouta bowled really well and their opening batsmen just took the game away from us. Stan (Blake) hit six fours and five sixes. He was patient and powerful. He’d have pulled another six to deep square leg if Lloyd van Zyl wasn’t right on the boundary to hold a great catch.”

It was Horsfield’s second win in charge. He took over as skipper from Tairāwhiti Women’s Cricket Club founder and former Northern Spirit player Mel Knight.

“The culture of cricket and the passion for it has blown me away in the past two seasons, and what an outstanding first 15 overs from our boys on Saturday,” Horsfield said.

“With very tight fielding and tidy bowling, we had them at 49-2 before drinks in the first innings. I had faith in my boys to go on from there and get the job done.”

Chicking High School Old Boys Presidents versus the Gisborne Boys’ High School second 11 had its moments, even though the older team’s margin of victory was 72 runs.

Brent Walker was the star of the show with the bat. The left-handed opener made 55 off 59 balls from No.2 before becoming Boys’ High medium-pacer Malsha Mahabalage’s first victim.

Mahabalage took 4-30 from five overs, and took the last wicket to fall — that of Jeff Chambers — for four, he having come in at nine and been caught by gloveman Charlie Whitfield off Mahabalage.

All this followed HSOB Presidents captain and wicketkeeper Ollie Needham winning the toss on Nelson Park No.4 and opting to bat.

Glen Udall skied a pull-shot to square leg off left-armer Jack Holden first ball of the match, but went on to make 23. Walker's 55, along with 34 not out from Needham at No.8 and Udall's 23 were the principal innings as HSOB reached 177-8 in 30 overs.

Mahabalage bowled wicket to wicket and full.

He went straight through both Walker and a dangerous hitter in Hiren Bhatti (8), at No.8.

Leg-spinner Bryant Baxter took 2-14 from two overs and his captain Jett Whitaker took 1-20 from six. Robbie Newlands was to the fore in the field with two catches.

GBHS reached 105-9 in response, adult player Steve Whitaker backing up his knock of 39 against Horouta last weekend with 21 as sixth man to bat on Saturday.

Newlands made 18 at first drop, with the biggest partnership for GBHS being one of 30 for the third wicket between the hard-hitting Newlands and a talented timer of the ball in Gayesha Mahabalage (11).

Yegan Lanka (1-14) and Buddhika Kumarage (3-14) both bowled out, Lanka's first over to Jett Whitaker (10) at the outset being a maiden.

Newlands batted with positive intent, as did Alex Langford, but the task was made harder with their dismissals and the fall of Whitaker Snr.

That the youngest team in Poverty Bay senior club cricket made 100-plus and batted for almost their full complement of overs twice in the first two weeks of the season was for them a positive step.

HSOB batted with urgency when Needham got to the crease, and he was moved to say: “We tried to get everyone involved and did well to reach 178 after a collapse post-drinks. Our opening bowlers created some pressure early on and came back well in their second spells, but we also tried some new bowlers to provide us with more options.

“Boys’ High were disciplined with the ball, limiting extras and making us work hard to score on a slow outfield. With the bat, there was intent from the start, with their batsmen looking for runs rather than just being content to bat out the overs.”