Element IMF Cadets and New World Te Puke will meet in the Baywide Cup final this weekend after finishing in the top two positions on the table.
Te Puke won a winner-take-all shootout against Eves Realty Greerton at the Te Puke Domain on Saturday to cement second place in the qualifying rounds and book a berth in the title decider.
Greerton batted first and set Te Puke a substantial target when they were bowled out for 241. Umesh Ranaraja took control of his side's innings, blasting 114 including nine fours and three sixes. Batting at nine, Dion McCall was also in good touch, scoring 53 runs. Parry Kular and Christian MacDonald took three wickets apiece for Te Puke.
The Te Puke run chase was anchored by captain Stephen Crossan, who top scored with 65, and long-time club member Tai Bridgman-Raison with 62 runs to his name. The encounter went down to the wire and Te Puke got home with seven balls to spare. Daniel Price also made a handy contribution of 39 runs and Lee Watkins took three wickets for the visitors.
Cadets won a high-scoring encounter against Bayleys Central Indians at the Tauranga Domain to finish at the top of the Baywide Cup standings. Batting first, the home team were removed for 279. Opener Fergus Lellman set up the big total with 54 runs. Bay of Plenty representative batsman Joe Carter, batting down the order, posted a half century, while Ben Jensen made a solid contribution of 33 runs. The Rotorua visitors' wickets were shared around.
