Te Puke sit at the top of cricket’s Bay of Plenty Cup standings

Peter Drysdale’s four for 31 and 57 runs couldn’t stop Te Puke taking a winning draw in their game against Mount Maunganui.

Baywide cricket

A change of format has seen a shake-up of the recent dominance of the Tauranga clubs in this year’s Bay of Plenty Cup.

The change has seen an outright result rewarded with 20 points with a winning draw attracting just six points.

Te Puke went into their encounter with Mount Maunganui on Saturday at the top of the standings with 60 points courtesy of three outright victories.

Te Puke were bowled out for 179, with Ben Vyver top scoring with 48 runs and Mount bowler Peter Drysdale taking four wickets for 31 runs. The Mount reply finished at 160 for the loss of six wickets. Te Puke finished the game with a winning draw, which saw them retain the top spot on the current points table.

The chase for outright victories sees teams take advantage of first-innings declarations. Central Indians declared at 228/6 in their matchup with Tauranga Boys’ College. Stephen Nicholls top scored with 87 while Jake Rowe hit a more than handy half-century.

Led by five wickets from long-time combined side bowler, Andrew Gibbs, Central Indians bowled Tauranga Boys’ College out for 127, to claim the 20 points on offer.

Arguably, the most improved team in Baywide cricket this season are Geyser City. The Rotorua representatives moved into third on the standings, after an outright win over three-time Bay of Plenty Cup title holders Cadets.

Geyser City batted first and were dismissed for a neat 200 runs. Batting at six, Gordon O’Donoghue belted 63 off 79 balls, with seven fours and one six. Cadets opening bowler Isaac White took five wickets to go with his seven-wicket haul the previous weekend.

Geyser bowler Ben Atwood wreaked havoc with the ball to rip through the Cadets lower order, with five wickets at a cost of 34 runs. Cadets were bowled out for 174 to give Geyser City a 26-run victory and a valuable 20 points.

BOPCA Bayleys Bay of Plenty Cup

November 11

Flying Mullet Te Puke 179 (Ben Vyver 48; Peter Drysdale 4/31, Craig Baldry 3/33) winning draw v Mount Maunganui 160/6 (Peter Drysdale 57).

Sanford Wall Lawyers Central Indians 228/6 dec (Stephen Nicholls 87, Jake Rowe 56) beat Craigs Investment Partners Tauranga Boys’ College 127 (Aryan Aryal 37; Andrew Gibbs 5/33).

Craigs Investment Partners Geyser City 200 (Gordon O’Donoghue 63, Alexander Roy 37; Isaac White 5/44, Cameron Murray 3/26) beat Element IMF Cadets 174 (Sam Clode 54, Andrew Mascall 30; Ben Atwood 5/34, Ben Dyson 3/40).

Eves Realty Greerton 290/4 dec (Tom MacRury 113, Billy Syme 57 no, Charles Williams 31, Anish Desai 30) beat Papamoa outright (score not supplied).

Lake Taupo CC the bye.

Bayleys Bay of Plenty Cup Standings (Provisional)

Te Puke 66, Mount Maunganui 43, Geyser City 42, Central Indians 32, Lake Taupo 29, Cadets 20, Pāpāmoa 6*, Greerton 3*, Tauranga Boys’ College 3. * One result missing.