“Luke Scrimgeour, at the age of 15, batted with awesome maturity to make 60 from 95 balls. His innings included a six and seven fours, and he batted 108 minutes at No.5 in the order.
“Luke and Harsh put on 87 for the fifth wicket — a match-winning partnership. But before the final we'd had terrific energy in the field all week, and that helped us dominate the last session of Hamilton's innings. That was what gained us the momentum to be confident in the run-chase.”
Hamilton captain Payton Spencer, a magnificent all-round cricketer hobbled this week by injury, was unable to bowl. New-ball operators Logan McKay (2-39 off five overs), Christopher Seel (2-43 off 8.2) and left-arm paceman Ewald Schreuder (1-28 off 10) are formidable as well, but conditions this week favoured the turning ball to such an extent that Schreuder and seamer Lucky Devireddy (1-33 off nine) both bowled fingerspin in the final.
Spencer won the toss on HBR 2, chose to bat and Tauranga bowled Hamilton out for 191 in 48.4 overs.
Opener Eli Parker made 31 runs off 46 balls, first-drop Daniel Kibby made 35 off 76 and, in 78 minutes at the crease, No.4 Devireddy made 29 off 78 balls.
If Patel and Scrimgeour were Tauranga's men of the hour in the run-chase, leg-spinner Jack Jones was the hero of their bowling effort, with 4-31. He bowled out; new-ball men Patel (3-39 off 7.4 overs) and Troy Barnett (2-37 off five) did not.
Hamilton BHS did well to post 191, a competitive total considering the role spin played, but Tauranga held their nerve to make 192 (in fact, 195-6 in 45.2 overs) against the 12-time champions.
