Cricket: Mount, Cadets aim to dig in at the top

Alex Oakley, of Otumoetai Cadets, bats in last weekend's game against Tauranga Boys' College. Photo/Joel Ford.

Defending Baywide Cup titleholders Mount Maunganui and Element IMF Cadets will be seeking to cement their top two places in the Baywide premier cricket competition tomorrow, and also book a berth each in the title decider to be played in two weeks' time.

Mount Maunganui square off against Eves Realty Greerton at Blake Park and, while the visitors will not finish in the top two if they win tomorrow, they will take home bragging rights from their arch-rivals.

Greerton will have all the motivation needed when they remember last season's final Baywide Cup encounter. With one hand on the trophy of the (then) first-past-the-post competition, they ran up the white flag of defeat against East Bay United when chasing a modest target, which allowed the Mount to sneak through and grab the Baywide trophy.

Cadets' motivation to beat Tauranga Boys' College at the Tauranga Domain will include being the only side to post an unbeaten record in the Baywide Cup round robin play. A high scoring winning draw against Greerton in round six cost Cadets the top spot. However, a solid result tomorrow would eliminate Te Puke from contesting the final stanza.

City Sports Bar Te Puke and Central, in fourth equal place in the standings, meet at Smallbone Park, with cellar dwellers BOP Indians and East Bay United fighting out the wooden spoon at Boord Park.

Individual honours will also be decided at the weekend. Leading the batting stakes is Tauranga Boys' College mentor Mark Orchard (274), who kick-started his season with an unbeaten 146 on the opening day of the season. Te Puke stalwart Tai Bridgman-Raison sits in second equal place on 257 with Greerton master blaster Brett Hampton, with Bay of Plenty skipper Peter Drysdale also breaking through the 200-run mark.

Former Counties Manukau representative Vaughan Blanchard has made an outstanding contribution to Central and leads the bowling statistics with 19 wickets. The Mount Maunganui pair of Dale Swan and Tony Goodin sit in second and third place respectively, while Central's Andrew Gibbs and James Birchall from Cadets round out the top five.

Baywide Cup Draw, November 30:

Central v City Sports Bar Te Puke, Smallbone Park; BOP Indians v East Bay United, Boord Park; Mount Maunganui v Eves Realty Greerton, Blake1; Element IMF Cadets v Tauranga Boys' College, Tauranga Domain.

Baywide Cup Points Table:

Mount Maunganui 99.00, Cadets 95.5, Te Puke 81.5, Greerton 76.00, Central 76.00, Tauranga Boys' College 67.5, BOP Indians 46.5, East Bay United 42.5

Baywide Cup individual honours:

Batting

Mark Orchard 274 (Tauranga Boys' College), Tai Bridgman-Raison 257 (Te Puke), Brett Hampton 257 (Greerton), Peter Drysdale 246 (Mount Maunganui), Tom MacRury 196 (Greerton)

Bowling

Vaughan Blanchard 19 (Central), Dale Swan 14 (Mount Maunganui), Tony Goodin 11 (Mount Maunganui), Andrew Gibbs 11 (Central), James Birchall 9 (Cadets).