Cricket: Double century for Greerton batsman in Williams Cup

Cameron Neal walks off Blake Park after his 202no. Photo / Supplied

A batting masterclass saw Eves Realty Greerton hammer long-time rivals Bond & Co Mount Maunganui in the Williams Cup at the weekend.

A battering ram attack took Greerton to 339 for the loss of five wickets at Blake Park on Saturday.

Batting at four, Cameron Neal turned the encounter on its head when he hammered 202 not out. Neal, who has recently returned to Greerton after four years playing cricket in Auckland, took no prisoners, with his huge total coming from just 126 balls.

A massive 16 sixes were accompanied by 12 fours as Neal fired some of the biggest blows ever seen at Blake Park. He and Umesh Ranaraja put together a 183-run third-wicket partnership before Ranaraja fell with 55 runs in the scorebook.

The 202 runs eclipsed the previous double century marks posted by Cadets' Jono Boult (200 not out) and Mark Divehall (200) of Mount Maunganui.

While Mount Maunganui made a valiant attempt to chase down the mammoth target, they were bowled out for 204. Niven Dovey belted a half-century with David Hancock adding a useful 33 runs.

Pāpāmoa continued on their giant-killing path in their first Baywide season, dispatching Element IMF Cadets at Alice Johnson Oval.

Cadets batted first and were removed for 162, Marcel Collett top-scoring with a hard-fought 82. Ashish Dhameliya took three wickets for 22 runs.

A gritty 51 from Finn Watson, combined with 40 runs from Dhameliya, took Pāpāmoa to a four-wicket victory.

Generation Homes Lake Taupō had a fruitless trip to the Western Bay of Plenty when they lost to Flying Mullet Te Puke at the Te Puke Domain.

The Taupō side's batsmen failed to put together any significant partnerships and they were bowled out for 157.

However, the Lake Taupō bowlers gave their side some hope with early wickets, before the home side grabbed the win points on offer with five wickets to spare.

Blair McKenzie was in good touch, top-scoring with 68 while Christian MacDonald compiled a handy 40.

Holland Beckett Law Tauranga Boys' College batted first in their match with Craigs Investment Partners Geyser, setting their opponents a gettable target.

Charles Williams reached the 60s before dismissal and Sathish Krishnamoorthy took four wickets for the Rotorua side.

Tauranga Boys' third-change bowler Jack Jones had a match that he will remember for a long time, taking a five-wicket haul as Geyser were dismissed 38 runs short of their target.

Versatile Tauranga Williams Cup results
Cadets 162 (Marcel Collett 82; Ashish Dhameliya 3/22) lost to Pāpāmoa 163/6 (Finn Watson 51, A Dhameliya 40).

Lake Taupō 157 (Iman Singh 3/30) lost to Te Puke 160/5 (Blair McKenzie 68, Christian MacDonald 40; Habib Malik 3/39).

Tauranga Boys' College 168 (Charles Williams 61, Liam Collett 39; Sathish Krishnamoorthy 4/13) beat Geyser 131(Dane Sorrenson 53, Ben Astwood 34; Jack Jones 5/27).

Greerton 339/5 (Cameron Neal 202no, Umesh Ranaraja 55, Tom MacRury 48) beat Mount Maunganui 204 (Niven Dovey 54, David Hancock 33).

Central Indians - bye.

Points table
Greerton 20, Cadets 14, Central Indians 14, Te Puke 8, Lake Taupō 8, Mount Maunganui 7, Tauranga Boys College 6, Pāpāmoa 6, Geyser 0.

2021 Williams Cup milestones
Centuries
202 not out - Cameron Neal (Greerton v Mount Maunganui, January 23)

174 - Tim Pringle (Cadets v Geyser, January 9)

144 - Bharat Popli (Central Indians v Pāpāmoa, January 16)

137 - Tom MacRury (Greerton v Tauranga Boys' College, January 16)

111 - Taylor Bettelheim (Greerton v Lake Taupō, January 9)

103 not out - Fergus Lellman (Cadets v Te Puke, January 16)

Six-wicket hauls
7/10 - Daniel Spencer (Greerton v Lake Taupō, January 9)