Cricket: Weekend of mixed fortunes for Bay

Shannon McSkimming, 16, made a strong impression on debut for Bay of Plenty Development on Sunday. Photo / George Novak

Two Bay cricket teams had conflicting fortunes in friendly matches on the weekend.

The top men's team tuned up for the annual Brian Dunning three-day tournament in a fortnight with a tough one-day match with Hawke's Bay at Owen Delaney Park in Taupo.

The visitors posted what looked to be a competitive 221/9 batting first, despite a number of Bay batsmen failing to kick on after good starts.

Tom MacRury continued his run of good form to top score with a neat half-century, while Mitch McCann, Cam Neal and Bharat Popli all reached the thirties.

A good bowling and fielding performance had the Bay team in the hunt for most of the match, but there was always the sense they had fallen 20-30 runs short of a competitive total.

Tony Goodin and Andrew Gibbs bowled with genuine pace and enthusiasm to take two wickets apiece, but the hosts held their nerve to reach the target in the 47th over with three wickets to spare.

BOP Development had more success against Northern Districts Under-19s at Bay Oval.

Two youngsters ripped the Under-19 side out for just 142, with Brody Gilroy taking 4/13 and Shannon McSkimming taking 3/30 on debut.

The Bay struggled for the majority of the chase, eventually getting home with two wickets to spare.

Stephen Crossan, batting at six, took his side to victory with an unbeaten 36, while Alex Gooding posted 22.

The Bay team management praised the performance of 16-year-old Alastair Blackett, who grabbed a wicket with the ball before grinding out a valuable 13 runs with the bat.