High School Old Boys have second triple crown in sights

Doleman Cup and Walker Shield T15 Premier Grade club cricket champions High School Old Boys, back (from left): Dave Castle (captain), Rhys Grogan, Scott Tallott, Nick Armour, Anthony Boyder, Keegan Jooste, Jak Rowe, Steve Lamb and Glen Udall. Front: Taye McGuinness, Carl Shaw, Teddy Shaw and Baxter Mackay. Picture by Lexi Cheyne

Only a great side could do what they've done.

Bollywood High School Old Boys have a second straight triple crown of Premier Grade club cricket in their sights — and momentum — heading into the DJ Barry Cup two-day final this weekend.

The Blue-and-Whites, who beat Coastal Concrete Old Boys Rugby by five wickets to retain the 40-over Doleman Cup final in December, on Saturday pipped the same outfit with five wickets in hand — but only one ball to spare — in the T15 Walker Shield final.

The representative wicket at the Harry Barker Reserve has seen tight, tense, tough club competition play out in a season during which grit rather than glamour has often got teams home when it mattered most.

Good spin, too, has been a feature: absent have been the shirt-fronts on which sides regularly made 200-plus and first-innings points were all. Accurate bowlers in low-scoring games have often been invaluable.

This Saturday the two-day final will start at 11am on the representative wicket, with the Senior B Grade 30-over final set to start at 2pm on Harry Barker Reserve No.2.

HSOB took first-innings points against and beat Gisborne Boys' High School by an innings and 20 runs in the 1 v 4 DJ Barry Cup two-day semifinal on the No.3 ground the weekend before last.

In 2 v 3, OBR took first-innings points by bowling Breakers Horouta Te Waka out for 74 in 35.1 overs and then scoring 99 all out in 35.3 overs. OBR then bowled Te Waka out for 57 in 22.3 overs and needed 33 to win when play ended on Day 1.

Horouta conceded defeat before Day 2. OBR claimed victory outright and a grand final berth.

The T15 Walker Shield final on the rep began at 2pm on Saturday. HSOB skipper Dave Castle won a crucial toss and chose to bowl.

As in the Doleman Cup final, OBR fought hard. They posted 102-9, courtesy mainly of first drop Dane Thompson (34 off 17 balls) and the equally hard-hitting Nick Greeks (21 from 14). Thompson hit four sixes, Greeks two sixes and a straight drive for four.

Nicholas Armour of HSOB took 3-5 from three overs at first change. His faster brethren, left-armer Keegan Jooste (2-11) and opening bowler Carl Shaw (2-23), featured in memorable passages: Greeks welcomed Jooste to the bowling crease with a straight drive for four and a mighty six over long-on to start the 14th over.

There followed a dot-ball, after which Greeks dragged the next delivery back on to his stumps. Daniel Stewart then took a single off the first ball he received, and eighth-man-in, Richie Needham (3), was caught by Armour at cover point to finish the over.

Shaw trapped OBR left-handed No.1 Te-Reimana Gray (7) leg before wicket with the 10th ball he sent down. He bowled two dot-balls to first-drop Kieran Venema (6) before Castle held on to a tough chance at point over his shoulder, running back — and then, with three more dots, completed a wicket-maiden to Thompson in the fourth over.

Defending 102, all-rounder Thompson took the new ball and fired up with 2-21 from three overs. He bowled HSOB No.3 Steve Lamb (7) and veteran Glen Udall (35 off 28 balls at No.5).

Udall led all scorers in the match. His sense of which bowlers to attack and when, and ability to rise to the occasion, saw HSOB at 74-2 after 11.2 overs and his removal by Thompson.

HSOB took 11 runs, including a six and a rare wide-ball from pace bowler Hayden Keast’s only over — the 14th.

Thompson’s new-ball partner Daniel Stewart took 2-14 in three overs of fine off-spin, and took the wickets of both HSOB opening batsmen, Baxter Mackay (17) and Castle (11).

Shaw drove the second-to-last ball of the match from Matt Cook (0-13, 1.5 overs) for two and the win: he was unbeaten on 19. Jak Rowe, seventh man in, was four not out.

Castle was jubilant: “We're proud to win the Walker Shield because it’s a format we’ve used to develop our connections to younger players such as Taye McGuiness, Rhys Grogan and Connor Starck, so we’re thrilled to be able to help grow our club and win another title.

“Nick Armour’s first over went dot, dot, wicket, wicket, run, wide-ball, run. That stopped OBR building momentum late, and helped us keep them to 102 when 110-plus was looming. For us, batting-wise, Glen’s innings of 35 and huge check-drive for six off Te-Reimana, off the first ball of the ninth over, changed the game. We rolled on from that.”

Hope Cup 30-over Senior B Grade Championship semifinals —

RAWHITI LEGAL OBR 222-6 in 27.2 overs (Thom Berry 113, Jannie Jacobs 21; Arun Kurup 2-31) beat BREAKERS HOROUTA TE WAKA 176-9 (Ethan Ngarangione-Pearson 45 not out, Stanley Blake 28; George Reynolds 3-24, Harvey Reynolds 2-19, Karan Solanki 2-48) by 46 runs.
CHICKING HIGH SCHOOL OLD BOYS PRESIDENTS 161-5 in 28.1 overs (Matt Jefferd 38, Marshall Norris 31no, Jeff Chambers 26, Ollie Needham 25; Charles Morrison 2-12) beat CIVIL PROJECT SOLUTIONS NGATAPA GREEN CAPS 157-7 (Hoffman Haasbroek 45no; Blake Crosby 2-14, Sean Moran 2-24, Marshall Norris 2-40) by five wickets.