Western Bay Cricket: Baaj Sports to keep Don Warner Trophy for winter

Western Bay's preliminary competition came to an end at the weekend

Baaj Sports finished the Western Bay of Plenty Cricket Classic Builders Division One preliminary competition in style on Saturday, finishing top qualifier in the Division 1 title race, and locking the Don Warner Challenge Trophy away until next season.

Taking on Te Puke, the top-two contest was a one-sided affair, with Baaj Sports winning by 125 runs. Baaj Sports reached 220/9 with Varinder Sandhu top scoring with 96 not out. Te Puke were removed for 95.

Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford showed he had more than oratory skills with a century for Greerton against Falcons in Division 2. The Falcons batting line-up posted a substantial 303 for the loss of nine wickets.

Batting down the order at nine, Rutherford belted 101 not out, and combined with Dave Kawan (84no) to post a 165-run partnership. The MP belted a four in the last over of the game to take his side home to victory.

Division 2 produced two further centuries, with Aman Mahal belting 105 for Baaj Sports against Sher E Punjab Te Puke, and Tauranga Boys’ College Reuben Swanepoel finishing with 102 runs against his name in his sides matchup with Bay Blasters.

Albion grabbed a Division 3 semifinal spot when they defended a relatively modest 109 against Mount Maunganui.

Danphe CC number three batter, Radhe Yadav, hit the season’s second-highest score, with 142 in his side’s Division 4 game against Katikati.

WBOPCA Results

Classic Builders Division 1

Baaj Sports 220/9 (Varinder Sandhu 96*, Vikas Tiwari 35, M. Sachith 3/41) defeated Te Puke 95 (Johnny Coulter 38*, Manvir Singh 3/17, Gurinder Singh 3/19, Yogesh Yogi 3/20) by 125 runs and retained the Don Warner Challenge Trophy.

Cadets 134 (Chris Mascall 47, Henry Conway 4/35) lost to Mount Maunganui 138/7 (Nick Smith 42*) by 3 wickets.

Hawks 163 (Kuljit Singh 62, Gurbaj Singh 34, Jacob Morton 4/22, Braden Brewer 3/25) lost to Katikati 166/3 (Ben Warren 53*, Max Morton 45) by 7 wickets.

United Indians 203/8 (Manjot Singh 75, Mandeep Singh 44; Asa Banbury 3/44) lost to Papamoa 204/8 (Ryan Balsom 51, Razib Dutta 49; Prem Kumar 3/24).

Classic Builders Division 2

Falcons 303/9 (Harsh Badhan 79, Abhi Sood 36, David Street 3/51) lost to Greerton 305/7 (Tom Rutherford 101*, David Kawan 84*, Aidan Green 33, Louis Morris 30, Toby Hawes 30, Pardeep Kumar 3/40) by 3 wickets.

Tauranga Boys’ College 273/8 (Reuben Swanepoel 102, Jake Stott 36*, Flynn Waller 31) defeated Bay Blasters 137 (Sandeep Ambattu 41, Heston Roberton 3/13) by 136 runs.

Baaj Sports 248/6 (Aman Mahal 105, Mani Panjeta 35, Gurjant Singh 3/24, Swayam Kaul 3/48) defeated Sher E Punjab Te Puke 248/6 (Harpreet Singh Kang 70, Gurpreet Padda 56, Barnjit Singh 39) by 3 runs.

United Indians 155 (Vinod Sharma 49, Will Morris 3/15) lost to Cadets 156/8 (Greg Veale 44*, Narinder Singh 3/26, Bhagwant Singh 3/36) by 2 wickets.

Classic Builders Division 3

Papamoa 249/5 (Tony Biesiek 69, David Babbage 60) defeated Aquinas College 149 (Shem Banbury 35, Renato Di Emidio 5/45) by 100 runs.

TBC XI Blue 203 (Ben McKinlay 72, Senuka Hewa Alankarage 37, Joseph Carter 3/14) lost to TBC White 204/9 (Joseph Carter 31, Matthew Guttormson 39, Kody Irwin 31*) by 1 wicket.

Grasshoppers 132 (Ben Goodall 42, Oscar Tutt 4/13) lost to Mount Maunganui2 136/4 (Matt Tustin 52* Louis Robinson 34) by 6 wickets.

Albion 109 (Karl Friend 4/16) defeated Mount Maunganui 90 (Saad Shah 30, Darryl Blunsdon 4/8, Rob Ermens 3/10) by 19 runs.

Classic Builders Division 4

Baaj Sports2 — 201 (Gurwinder Sandhu 56, Reham Sekhon 33, Naseeb Kumar 3/35) lost to United Indians 202/8 (Gurpreet Singh 77, Kamal Singh 38* Dilbag Singh 4/27) by 2 wickets.

Bay Blasters 170/9 (Prasad Joseph 40, Sahil Chahal 3/26) lost to Cadets 173/8 (Sahil Chahal 50, Ani Shaji 3/29) by 2 wickets.

Greerton 158 (Carter Fitzpatrick 39, Ben Rowland 37, Yash Gill 4/30, Sukhmanpreet Singh 4/34) lost to Baaj Sports 162/5 (Vishal Garg 43*, Jagroop Boparai 32) by 5 wickets.

Danphe CC 272/9 (Radhe Yadav 142, Angrej Singh 5/55) defeated Katikati 76 (Ravinder Singh 40, Prajwol Karki 3/10) by 196 runs.