Cricket: Rotorua club downs Mount to take T20 title

Rotorua Central won their first piece of Baywide cricket silverware since winning the Williams Cup in 2007, when they defeated Mount Maunganui in the Lonestar Baywide Twenty20 championship at Ferguson Park in Tauranga on Saturday.

In spite of Element IMF Cadets defeating Mount Maunganui in the early afternoon final round-robin encounter, the Mount side held enough points in hand to still make the final - with Central out-playing BOP Indians in a Rotorua derby to take their place in the Twenty20 title decider.

The Rotorua team batted first and were in a strong position at the halfway stage of their turn at bat, with eight wickets in hand. Opener Jason Trembath took control of his team's innings and was rewarded with a match winning 62, while former Counties Manukau rep all rounder Vaughan Blanchard posted 38 runs.

The match was evenly poised when Central finished their allotted overs at 138/5.

There was plenty of joy in the Central camp when they grabbed a Mount wicket in the first over, before Mount Maunganui settled down to keep in touch with the required run rate. The Central bowlers kept the pressure on and were rewarded with regular wickets as Mount Maunganui were restricted to 120/8, to hand the Rotorua side the BOPCA Baywide Twenty20 title.

A gritty 47 from Dan Hill kept Mount Maunganui in contention. However when the all rounder was dismissed, Central took final control of the match.

In the early afternoon final qualifying round, City Sports Bar Te Puke eliminated Greerton from contesting the final stanza, when they bowled the Pemberton Park-based side out for 102 and then cruised to a five wicket victory. While Cadets won bragging rights over Mount Maunganui, it was not enough to stop the current Baywide Cup titleholders making the championship final.

Two knocks in the 60s from Jason Trembath and Kyle Blanchard took Central to an impressive 197/5 against BOP Indians - with the Yates brothers of Alex and Tom, who both reached the 40s, taking Whakatane United to victory over Tauranga Boys' College.

Bay of Plenty Cricket March 1

Lonestar Baywide T20 Championship Final

Central 138/5 (Jason Trembath 62, Vaughan Blanchard 38; Daniel Hill 3/13) defeated Mount Maunganui 120/8 (D Hill 47)

Round 7

Eves Realty Greerton 102 lost to City Sports Bar Te Puke 103/5 (Tai Bridgman-Raison 44no)

Central 197/5 (Kyle Blanchard 67, Jason Trembath 64) defeated BOP Indians 120/5

Element IMF Cadets 151/6 defeated Mount Maunganui 123/6 (Nick Smith 46)

Whakatane United 153/7 (Alex Yates 48, Tom Yates 43) defeated Tauranga Boys' College 126/8 (Mark Orchard 29; B Jones 4/15)

Final Qualifying Positions: 1st Mount Maunganui, 2nd Central, 3rd Greerton, 4th Tauranga Boys' College, 5th= Te Puke & Cadets, 7th BOP Indians 8th Whakatane United.