Two Bay of Plenty representative batsmen have blasted their teams into the Williams Cup final after smashing a century apiece in their Baywide semifinals matches.
Greerton master blaster Brett Hampton took the encounter against Cadets played at the Tauranga Domain by the scruff of the neck, blasting his team to victory with 103 not out.
Cadets batted first against the defending Williams Cup champions and were made to work hard for runs against a determined Greerton bowling attack. The key Greerton breakthrough came when former New Zealand under-19 batsmen Joe Carter was dismissed for four after being dropped without scoring.
While Sean Davey (41) and Scott Steward (27) provided some defiance at the wicket, the Cadets innings came to a close when they were bowled out for 154. The Greerton wickets were shared around with Matthew Earl, Brett Hampton, Campbell Thomas and Tommy Clout taking two apiece.
The defending titleholders made an inauspicious start at 20/3, before Brett Hampton launched his assault on a Cadets bowling attack that could only stand and watch the ball sail to the boundary. Such was Hampton's early domination, the first fifty runs of the partnership with Cameron Neal saw the Greerton batting star hold the strike to blast all 50 runs.