One-wicket thrillers to Horouta, OBR

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

Grit was the defining characteristic of Senior B club cricket on Saturday.

Rawhiti Legal Old Boys Rugby beat Campion College by one wicket, Breakers Horouta Te Waka beat Chicking High School Old Boys by one wicket and Civil Project Solutions Ngatapa Green Caps — holders of the Hope Cup — beat Gisborne Boys’ High School (2) by six wickets at Harry Barker Reserve.

Ngatapa captain Mike Gibson won the toss on the No.3 wicket and opted to bowl. Boys’ High reached 110-9 in 30 overs. Gibson at second change and spearhead Hoffman Haasbroek both took 1-6 in four overs with one maiden, and all five of the other medium-pacers employed by the Caps took one scalp apiece.

Left-hander Jordyn Haley, batting at No.5, made his high score — 25 off 58 balls with three boundaries — for GBHS.

He has a good eye and can play shots on both sides of the wicket. His stand of 27 for the sixth wicket with Alex Langford (6) was the biggest partnership for Boys’ High. Adult player Steve Whitaker (18) was their second-highest contributor.

Jacque Davis hit a six and three fours in his run-a-ball 45 at the top of the Ngatapa batting order in the chase. He led their scoring effort and shared an opening stand of 53 with skilful technician Charlie Castles (10). Davis then put on 20 with Gibson (13). Second drop Haasbroek (24no) was also to the fore.

Boys’ High left-armer Caleb Taewa (1-22 from six overs) took the king wicket of Davis, a dangerous player, four balls into the 15th over. Towering offspinner Bjorn Botma (1-5 from 1.3 overs) took his first wicket for the school with his fifth ball, dismissing Tim Fox (4), fifth man to bat. Like Davis, Fox was bowled.

Ngatapa won the game on a wide ball, in 22.4 overs.

Caps veteran medium-pacer EJ Nepe, an old boy of GBHS, rates both Caleb Taewa and his new-ball partner Brandon Fearnley highly.

“They played well,” he said.

“Jett, their captain, and his dad Steve motivate them.

“As for our team, the guys are loving their cricket this season. The camaraderie is awesome. They’re a great bunch.”

Any win against one of Poverty Bay’s historic sports clubs is a big one.

And few are more steeped in local history than Gisborne High School Old Boys — the principal of Gisborne Boys’ High School is to this day the club’s patron.

Horouta Te Waka, under wicketkeeper Riley Horsfield, achieved that distinction at the weekend with a one-wicket win on the No.1 ground.

High School Old Boys Presidents skipper Matt Jefferd won the toss and chose to bat.

The Blue and Whites’ stroke-makers never settled. Sixth-man-in Marshall Norris, who on his day is capable of bowling a quality outswinger, in Round 10 made 45 invaluable runs from No.6.

David Govender (11) and Nathan Quimpo (10) shared in an opening stand of 31, and were the only other HSOB men to score in double-figures.

The Waka’s evergreen left-arm orthodox spinner Clarence Campbell took 2-11 from four overs bowling first change, but it was former Old Boys Rugby premier all-rounder Arun Kurup who stole the limelight with 4-22 from 4.2 overs.

Having been dismissed for 124-8 in 23.2 overs, HSOB went hard in search of wickets. Opening bowler Mike Francis’s first over to Tony Bucheler had everything — a no-ball catch to Sean Moran at point, great shape, a play-and-miss and finally a fine low catch to captain Jefferd at slip.

Bucheler’s opening partner Tama Tuwairua made the highest Horouta individual score of 36, with three boundaries, and second drop James Craig got to 14.

In a delicious twist, No.10 George Judd (18) and No.11 Billy Morse (20) saw The Waka home in a last-wicket partnership of 41 against the odds.

When left-arm orthodox spinner Moran had Vishal Singh (4), ninth man in, out hit wicket — off the last ball of the 24th over — he had taken two wickets in the over and bowled out, having taken 3-23. Horsfield's crew were 85-9. Judd and Morse, under pressure, became heroes.

Norris, the fifth bowler used by HSOB, took 2-21 in 5.5 overs. With the scores level, ’keeper Ollie Needham moved up to the stumps. Judd edged the second-to-last ball of Norris’s spell — the second-to-last ball of the match — wide of the gloveman and got back for two.

Situational awareness and breakneck running between wickets decided the outcome in as exciting and close a finish as cricket can produce.

If last year’s beaten finalists have a new-found respect for Campion College, there’s good reason for it.

Old Boys Rugby got home on the No.4 ground, but by only one wicket, and they won’t forget the name Connor Starck in a hurry.

Opening bowler Starck took 5-27 from six overs, with one maiden, and Gagandeep Singh, on at second change, took 3-19 from six overs, including one maiden.

Before all this, Campion captain Taye McGuinness had won the toss and (luckily, as the college had only eight players on hand at the time) could then bat.

They were all out for 116 in 30 overs, Gisborne Intermediate School teacher David Milne leading their batsmen by hard-nosed example with 23 off 35 balls from No.8.

OBR legspinner Ruan Ludwig took 4-12 from five overs, with two maidens.

His loop and line asked hard questions of batsmen unfamiliar with over-the-wrist

spin bowling.

His elder brother Franco had earlier taken 2-34 from six overs. Franco Ludwig’s new ball partner, Lloyd van Zyl, winkled out 1-8 from four overs, with two maidens.

OBR ran down Campion’s score, but not easily. No.2 Tom Garrett again got things moving with 28 off 21 balls, and Starck took arguably the biggest wicket in Senior B cricket, that of OBR first drop Thom Berry, bowled for a five-ball duck. Rongomai Smith (23) discovered some mid-season batting form at No.5.

Smith’s outfit brought up their win two balls into the 24th over.

Eric Ludwig (19no from 39 balls), father of Franco and Ruan, pulled the second ball of the fourth over from paceman-cum-offspinner McGuinness over Milne’s head at square leg for four and the win. McGuinness took 1-38.

McGuinness said: “Connor (Starck) bowled well — he attacked the stumps, he was full, and Gagan (Singh) is just a natural bowler.”

Hope Cup, Senior B Grade 30-over championship —

BREAKERS HOROUTA TE WAKA 126-9 in 29.5 overs (Tama Tuwairua 36, Billy Morse 20 not out; Sean Moran 3-23, Marshall Norris 2-21) beat CHICKING HIGH SCHOOL OLD BOYS PRESIDENTS 124-8 in 23.2 overs (Marshall Norris 45; Arun Kurup 4-22, Clarence Campbell 2-11) by one wicket.

CIVIL PROJECT SOLUTIONS NGATAPA GREEN CAPS 111-4 in 22.4 overs (Jacque Davis 45, Hoffman Haasbroek 24no) beat GISBORNE BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL (2) 110-9 in 30 overs (Jordyn Haley 25, Steve Whitaker 18) by six wickets.

RAWHITI LEGAL OLD BOYS RUGBY 118-9 in 23.2 overs (Tom Garrett 28, Rongomai Smith 23; Connor Starck 5-27, Gagandeep Singh 3-19) beat CAMPION COLLEGE 116 all out in 30 overs (David Milne 23; Ruan Ludwig 4-12, Franco Ludwig 2-34) by one wicket.