Cricket: Te Puke and Greerton to replay final

Te Puke skipper Mitch McCann has blasted more than 700 runs for the Bay of Plenty representative team. Photo / George Novak

The big match-up in the second round of the Williams Cup tomorrow is the expected battle between defending champions City Sports Bar Te Puke and Baywide Cup titleholders Eves Realty Greerton at the Te Puke Domain.

It is a replay of last season's Williams Cup final with Greerton likely to be fired up with the memory of that emphatic loss still fresh in their minds. Both sides go into the encounter with plenty of firepower in their batting and bowling ranks.

Te Puke skipper Mitch McCann, who has blasted more than 700 runs for the Bay of Plenty representative team, is a quality batsman who never sells his wicket cheaply. Tai Bridgman-Raison added another century to his personal total this season while Stephen Crossan likes nothing better than to blast the ball to the boundary.

Greerton have batting firepower in spades. Opener Tom MacRury is another to have hit loads of runs for BOP in the past couple of seasons. Two other danger men at the batting crease are Cam Neal and Brett Hampton. Dan Spencer and Hammond will spearhead the Greerton bowling attack with Murray Jarvis always difficult to counter.

Plenty of cricket awaits Tauranga Boys' College, who will play in the Super Eight competition in Tauranga next week. On Saturday, they will warm up for that challenge against Rotorua Central at Nicholson Field. Two key players are top order batsman Jonty Grigson and keeper Tom Renouf.

While Central were bundled out for fewer than 50 by Carrus Mount Maunganui last weekend, the Rotorua side will want to put the poor performance behind them. Central have a genuine strike weapon in Andrew Gibbs who grabbed a seven-wicket bag in an Attrill Cup match earlier in the season.

The form book would suggest that Element IMF Cadets should have little trouble with Whakatane United in the Eastern Bay, while Mount Maunganui will be expected to comfortably account for BOP Indians at Blake Park.

BOPCA Williams Cup: Whakatane United v Element IMF Cadets, Rex Morepeth Park; Tauranga Boys' College v Central, Nicholson Field; Carrus Mount Maunganui v BOP Indians, Blake 1; City Sports Bay Te Puke v Eves Realty Greerton, Te Puke Domain.

Points: Mount Maunganui 6, Greerton 6, Cadets 6, Te Puke 6, Tauranga Boys College 0, Whakatane United 0, BOP Indians 0, Central 0.