Sweet revenge for OBR

Revenge came early for OBR.

Rawhiti League Old Boys Rugby avenged their Hope Cup final loss to Civil Project Solutions Ngatapa Green Caps with a six-wicket win in the opening Saturday of the Senior B Grade club competition on Nelson Park’s artificial pitches.

Chicking HSOB Presidents beat Campion College first 11 by 83 runs and Breakers Horouta Te Waka, under new captain Riley Horsfield, had a seven-wicket win against a spirited GBHS second 11.

OBR v Ngatapa

Rawhiti Legal OBR have a hard-hitting skipper and a clever leg-spinner to thank for their season-opening win.

Wicketkeeper Thom Berry thumped two sixes and nine fours in his unbeaten knock of 72 off 66 balls at the top of the order.

Leg spinner Mana Taumaunu then took three wickets from five overs as OBR beat the Ngatapa Green Caps in a replay of last season’s B Grade final.

The glovemen from both teams — Berry and Simon Wilson -—won the Most Valuable Player awards on the day.

That a bowler of Taumaunu’s type could lure three batsmen down the track to be stumped in a one-day game is proof of his skill, but also the lusty spirit of cricket embraced by the Green Caps batsmen.

Ngatapa skipper Charles Morrison won the toss on NP 1 and shared a 30-run opening stand with Wilson before Morrison was bowled for 16 by artful paceman Karan Solanki (1-14 from 4 overs).

Ngatapa made 131-9 in their 30 overs.

OBR spearhead Lloyd van Zyl set the standard for his team’s bowlers in his 1-16 from six overs, including a maiden in the first over of his second spell.

He has a high action, hits the deck hard and with left-armer George Reynolds has long been one of the black and whites’ trump cards.

Teenager Jonah Reynolds, with 1-13 off five overs, did the family name honour with a strong showing in father George’s absence.

Wilson made a classy 52 at a run a ball before becoming the second victim — in between Sam Briant and Chris Richardson — of Taumaunu and Berry.

Briant made 17 from 21 at No.4 and while “Danger” Richardson only got eight at No.6, he is an experienced cricketer.

Taumanu got rid of genuinely dangerous batsmen, not bunnies.

Berry lost opening partner Rongomai Smith (4) with the score at 25.

However, his unbeaten and dominant 72, settled the issue of the second innings as a contest.

Solanki (12 not out) was OBR’s next highest scorer at No.7.

Ngatapa opening bowler Anish Shivdikar claimed 2-13 in six overs.

“Our boys mixed good bowling in with some rough catching . . . seven drops,” said Berry, who was in a good place to comment.

‘‘With the ball, Lloyd and Jonah opened and closed expertly, Mana was very accurate and we’re very pleased that Karan and Tom Garrett (1-21 in 5 overs) both took wickets on debut.”

“Simon’s knock was the main highlight of the day for us,” Morrison said. “He stuck around and made it difficult for the OBR bowlers. Everyone played a hand and got involved, which is what you want of the opening game of the season.”

Horouta v GBHS 2nd 11

Breakers Horouta Te Waka have reason to be pleased after beating a plucky Gisborne Boys’ High School second 11 by seven wickets on NP4.

Sent in to bat by Horouta skipper and wicketkeeper Riley Horsfield, GBHS recovered from 15-5 to post 114 in 27.3 overs.

Fifth man in Charlie Whitfield (15) was their MVP. He shared a sixth-wicket partnership of 75 with adult guest player Steve Whitaker (39) and looked more confident over time in a support role.

Whitaker hit two straight sixes up the hill only to fall attempting to strike a third into the wind.

Left-arm orthodox spinner Clarence Campbell took 3-14 in four overs and gave the ball plenty of air.

Horouta’s most accurate and unluckiest bowler on the day was the man who took the new cherry — Stanley Blake.

Blake got 2-11 in six overs of disciplined, quality outswing. He beat the bat nine times over two spells to set an example not followed by others . . . Horouta bowled 33 wides including nine in one over.

Horouta were superb in the run chase and brought up a well-deserved win in 17.3 overs in style with the sixth six of the day.

Te Waka opening pair Sarath Prakash (27) and MVP Vishal Thakur (70no ) put on 87 in pursuit of 115. Thakur hit four sixes and eight fours, beginning and closing his memorable knock with six of the best.

GBHS all-rounder Robbie Newlands proved his resilience. He was unlucky in the first innings, when the ball rolled back on to his stumps in the second over of the match from Campbell. Young pace bowler Newlands bounced back with the ball to take 2-2 in two overs.

The second over he bowled was a wicket maiden, including a crackerjack in-swinging Yorker to get second-drop Tonez Bucheler (1) leg before wicket.

GBHS captain opener Jett Whitaker saw his outfit come within nine balls of batting for the full complement of 30 overs.

“I look forward to seeing our boys get more out of their batting roles,” he said. “I was pleased with our bowling, fielding and match effort overall.”

His opposite admired the showing from Gisborne Boys’ High.

“The young guys went out there knowing that it wasn’t going to be easy but held their composure and fought to the end,” said ex-GBHS second 11 gloveman Horsfield.

“That by Charlie was unreal. GBHS came out to field and put us to the test, Our openers had a good partnership and then wickets started falling. Next thing we knew, we were five down. I was proud to be an old boy and proud of them. They’re only going to get better.”

HSOB Presidents v Campion

Chicking HSOB Presidents are as formidable now as they were a year ago.

They began that campaign in sensational style with a tie against Ngatapa then, with four matches having to be abandoned, won 11 games in a row under Ollie Needham.

They overwhelmed the Mark Naden-coached Campion College first 11 by 141 runs in their only meeting last year but on Saturday were made to work harder to see off a mighty effort by the students.

HSOB game-day skipper Jeff Chambers won the toss and opted to bat on NP2.

Campion opening bowler Connor Starck responded heroically. He took 2-17 in six overs (two of those maidens) and claimed the prize wicket of HSOB No.1 and former Poverty Bay representative Glen Udall (9) with the score at 13.

Starck, skipper Hamish Swann (2-45 off 6) and fellow medium-pacer Aiden Armstrong (2-21 off 3) played their parts in restricting HSOB to 221-8, which in light of the excellent batting form of the Presidents’ middle order was a fine effort.

Marshall Norris, a keen competitor whether turning out at Premier or Senior B level, was the Presidents’ MVP for his 40-ball 63 that included three sixes and seven fours batting at No.5.

Next man in, Hiren Bhatti, rattled up 36, second-drop Chambers 23 and No.3 Sean Moran 20.

Those four scores put the Presidents in a strong position at the break.

Starck and Swann shared the Campion MVP award.

Swann backed up his two-wicket tally with 44 runs from No.2. He and Taye McGuinness (32) put on 66 — a quality opening stand against strong opposition.

Fourth man in, Rhys Grogan, played a good hand for 29 not out although the run rate required became difficult to maintain.

Campion lost only four wickets in the second innings to reach 138 in dedicated fashion.

Lively swing bowler Bhatti took 2-19 off six overs for HSOB and Chambers nabbed 1-13 from three overs.

“Hats off to the Campion boys; they have come a jolly long way in the last three years,” Chambers said.

“They’ve got three great young pace bowlers but they just need to remember to pitch the ball up. We outmuscled them with the bat.

“Hopefully that was the start of a successful season for us.”

Coach Naden was rapt with Starck’s stint with the ball and also that Campion’s top order batsmen all got starts.

Swann also found plenty of positives.

“It was good to be back and to play cricket against a strong HSOB team,” he said. “We produced some great bowling to start the season.

“Next week we’ll have key players back from injury and holidays (regular wicketkeeper Daniel Baillie and medium-pace bowlers Ramandeep Singh and Jahnu Gouws).”