Cricket Central Indians toppled by Tauranga Boys' College

Central Indians' Lovely Sandhu plays a shot on his way to a total of 49 runs. Photo / Stephen Parker

Tauranga Boys' College have beaten the high-flying Central Indians by four wickets to give themselves a chance of making the Williams Cup playoffs.

Tauranga Boys' won the toss, at Smallbone Park yesterday,and backed their bowlers by electing to field in a game restricted to 44 overs per innings due to the wet weather.

Central Indians captain Stephen Nicholls opened his side innings and set a good platform, before he was caught off the bowling of Taylor Bettleheim for 52. Lovely Sandhu fell narrowly short of a half-century, out for 49, while Andrew Gibbs chimed in with a quick-fire 30 batting at nine as Central Indians reached 221/9.

Tauranga Boys' Tim Pringle, who was recently selected for the New Zealand Under-19 team, was the best of the visitors' bowling attack taking three wickets for 20 runs. James Gatenby and player/coach Tim Clarke took two wickets each.

During the chase, Bettleheim was in magnificent touch as he carried his bat to 132 not out as his side chased down the target with four wickets to spare. The youthful Tauranga Boys' skipper posted his big total off 153 balls, hitting 17 fours, and victory came with just four balls remaining. Batting at three, Tim Pringle blunted the Central Indians' bowling attack to post a solid 38 runs.

Meanwhile, Williams Cup titleholders Eves Realty Greerton won a battle of attrition with New World Te Puke, in a match reduced to 33-overs per team at Pemberton Park. Te Puke batted first, with Dan Price arriving at the crease when his side lost their first wicket with just eight runs on the board. The Te Puke man then dominated his side's innings to top score with 92 - the next best was 15 runs as the visitors posted 143/9.

Greerton had to work hard for the win points on offer, after being 48/3 and then 67/4, before they got home. Solid Greerton contributions with the bat came from Lee Watkins (45), Shane Wineti (31) and Umesh Ranaraja (25). Christian MacDonald was the best of the Te Puke bowlers with four wickets at a cost of 24 runs.

Tauranga Boys' College celebrate the dismissal of Central Indians player Ryan Neves. Photo / Stephen Parker

The match-up between Williams Cup front-runners Element IMF Cadets and long-time rivals Carrus Mount Maunganui, was abandoned without a ball being bowled, after a substantial amount of water got on to the pitch. However, the washed out result had a silver lining for Cadets, who have taken Baker Cup (WBOPCA Challenge Trophy) honours for the season after relieving Greerton of the prize last weekend.

The Tauranga Boys' College victory over Central Indians has introduced several scenarios to the Williams Cup playoffs in two weeks' time.

The Rotorua combined team must beat Te Puke next week to join Cadets in the coveted top two, to have two bites of the cherry in the playoffs. The form book would suggest that third placed Greerton will beat Lake Taupō CC to book a semifinal berth. With six points up for grabs, the final semifinal spot will likely be decided by a winner-take-all battle between Mount Maunganui and Tauranga Boys' College at Blake Park.

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Williams Cup Results - Round Six

Bayleys Central Indians 221/9 (S Nicholls 52, L Sandhu 49, S Gibbs 30no, T Pringle 3/20, J Gatenby 2/26, T Clarke 2/33) lost to Bond & Co Tauranga Boys' College 222/6 (T Bettleheim 132no, T Pringle 38; L Sandhu 2/45, A Gibbs 2/53)

New World Te Puke 143/9 (D Price 92; J Boyd 2/30) lost to Eves Realty Greerton 144/7 (L Watkins 45, S Wineti 31, U Ranaraja 25; C MacDonald 4/24, D Price 2/14)

Carrus Mount Maunganui v Element MF Cadets abandoned without a ball being bowled.

GM Painters Lake Taupō CC the bye.

Points Table
Cadets 43, Central Indians 22, Greerton 22, Mount Maunganui 19, Tauranga Boys' College 16, Te Puke 10, Lake Taupō CC 10.