Cricket: Kumar century secures win for Bay of Plenty Indians

Bay of Plenty Indians player Neeraj Kumar bowls at the weekend but it was with the bat where he dominated scoring 119. Photo / Rotorua Daily Post

A blistering century from Neeraj Kumar has propelled the Bay of Plenty Indian side back to the top of the Lakeland competition table.

Kumar's 119 saw the Indians chase down Geyser Western Height High School Old Boys' total of 237 with just two balls to spare in a top-of-the-table classic at Boord Park.

Kumar hit seven sixes and 14 boundaries in the 83-ball knock.

Earlier Scott McKnight had anchored the Geyser innings with a well-made 70.

In other matches over the weekend, Central had a much-needed win over the Strikers with youngsters Ryan Neves, Viren Patel, and Sam Lund leading the way with bat and ball.

Neves hit 75 while 15-year-old Patel scored his maiden 50 for the club in a team total of 258 in 40 overs.

Sam Gordon grabbed four wickets with 14-year-old Sam Lund picking up three in the 68-run win. Ravi Bhatia was the Strikers' best with 43.

An innings of brute force from Geyser John Paul College Old Boys player Param Singh guided his team to a comfortable win over Rotorua Lions. Singh ended agonisingly on 99 after a 41-ball innings that included nine sixes.

Earlier the Lions had scored a competitive 198, thanks to 51 from AJ Hettiarachchi.

Lake Taupō came out on top in the derby against Taupō Old Boys 2 with Alex Davey top-scoring with 35.

Taupō Old Boys 1 defeated Tokoroa by 110 runs.

Lakeland Reserve 40-Over Competition results from Saturday, February 2.

Round 6:

- Rotorua Lions 198/10, (AJ Hettiarachchi 51, J Collier 3/41) lost to Geyser JPC 200/5 (P Singh 99, M Mohomad 2/25)
- Tokoroa Senior Mens 107/9 (T Ferguson 33*, S Dufty) lost to COB 1 217/9 (C Jackson 67, D Overton 52, J Jowett 3/24)
- Geyser WHHS 237/7 (S McKnight 70*, J O'Donoghue 41, S Kaul 3/24) lost to BOP Indians 241/9 (N Kumar 119, D Singh 3/29, J O'Donoghue 3/31)
- COB 2 172/10 (C Corbett 50*, R Urbahn 2/29, J McNeish 2/37) lost to LTCC 175/10 (A Davey 35, S Chourasia, S Singh 4/41)
- Striker's 11 190/10 (R Bhatia 43, N Kukkar 38, S Gordon 4/43, S Lund 3/40, D Hunt 2/26) lost to Central CC 258/8 (R Neves 75, V Patel 52, D Singh 2/28)

Competition table:
BOP Indians 103
Gyeser WHHS 100
Geyser JPC 100
COB 1 83
LTCC 78
Central CC 77
Rotorua Lions 72
Strikers 11 59
Tokoroa Senior Mens 56
COB2 38