A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
Ngatapa have everything they need to take it all.
Senior B club cricket competition leaders the Ngatapa Green Caps (31 points) beat Gisborne Boys' High School second 11 (4pts) by nine wickets on Saturday in a display that showed their all-round skill and depth.
Mike Gibson's Ngatapa side will contest the 1 v 4 semifinal this Saturday against defending champions High School Old Boys Presidents (13pts) under Ollie Needham.
Presidents lost to the Mel Knight-led Horouta Te Waka (25pts) by 31 runs on Saturday, while Craig Christophers and OBR (22 pts) hammered Campion College by 152 runs.
OBR won their first meeting with Horouta by five wickets in Round 7. In Round 11, Te Waka turned the tables on OBR by 151 runs and so go into the 2 v 3 semi with confidence.
The high points of the now-complete Hope Cup campaigns for both Campion (10pts) and Gisborne Boys' High came when they tasted victory against HSOB in rounds 4 and 12 respectively.
Ngatapa took the Challenge Cup from Jarrod Ormiston, who deputised for GBHS (2) skipper George Gillies, who had to leave early.
Hamish Swann, who took over as Campion captain from Liam Spring after Christmas, can be pleased with his side's development under long-serving coach Mark Naden.
Disappointment is a good thing for sportspeople where it is accompanied by honesty, keenness and a desire to improve, work hard and work smart. In that spirit, Boys' High's heavy loss to Ngatapa may provide another spur to urge the younger team on.
Gillies won the toss on Harry Barker Reserve 1 and chose to bat. While GBHS lost opener Ben Langford to be 7-1, big left-handed first-drop Jarrod Ormiston (18) and Dylan Torrie (26) put on 44 before the former's stumps were rattled by CricHQ MVP (most valuable player) Will Faulks.
Faulks bowled out, the hulking left-arm seamer taking 3-18 as first-change.
Third-change Grant Walsh took 4-6 in 2.2 overs of tigerish off-spin as Boys' High were dismissed for 83 in 23.5 overs. No batsman spent sufficient time at the crease to establish a base.
The Green Caps' right-hand, left-hand opening pair of Chris Hurlstone (27 not out) and Ben Holden (7) matched Torrie and Ormiston's second-wicket stand of 44 before Arlo Willis's magic moment. Year 9 Willis (1-20 in three overs) swung the ball between Holden's bat and right leg to take middle stump.
Richard Briant (25no), a rather more experienced leftie, with Hurlstone then saw the Caps home.
Gillies acknowledged the commitment shown by Boys' High MVP Torrie and Ormiston at the top of the batting order, and his fielders.
Gibson saw potential in left-armer Lukas Fry and his fellow seamers, although he felt their run-ups were too long by half.
Horouta play smart to get the most out of their talent.
Mel Knight and Te Waka did just that in their 31-run victory against Presidents.
Having won the toss and chosen to bat first on the practice wicket, CricHQ MVP Knight hit nine boundaries in her 84-ball knock of 64 from No.3.
With the support of fifth-man-in Aman Kamboj (26) and second-drop Chaitanya Sambare (25), Knight saw Te Waka through to 160-8 before being caught by Matt Jefferd off the bowling of Mike Francis (2-44 in five overs) to end the innings.
Veteran Francis was the best of the HSOB bowlers and, with Glen Udall in the side, captain and Presidents MVP Ollie Needham turned his hand from keeping wicket to bowling off-breaks with the new ball, then seam-up, to take 1-22 in four overs.
HSOB were then bowled out for 129 in 23.4 overs, first-drop Matt Jefferd (28) being the only batsman to get a start. The blue-and-whites lost their last five wickets for 26 runs.
Grace Levy (2-12 in three overs) and George Judd (2-28 in 3.4 overs) took the new ball for Horouta to great effect. Medium-pacer Kamboj (2-18) and off-spinner Knight (2-13) bowled out.
Te Waka gloveman Riley Horsfield held two catches and is in fourth place on the fielding leaderboard. He has taken eight catches and effected three stumpings.
Green Caps wicketkeeper Cam McNaught took three scalps at the weekend for 14 catches in total at No.1.
Needham said: “I was happy with our fielding effort — Marcus Gray has really great heart. He took a knock in the field but, bowling at the death, went for only 12 runs in three overs.
“It was a deserved win for Horouta, with much improvement needed from our team if we're to be competitive next week.”
Although Horouta ended up 20 runs short of what they had hoped for, Knight was satisfied.
“We knew it would be key to take all our chances in the field and we did that in the first five overs,” she said.
“Chaitanya (Sambare) ran Jarrod Renouf (10) out and two balls later we had his opening partner Glen Udall (5) caught at cover, which gave us the belief we needed.”
It is important for batsmen to spend time in the middle at the business end of the season.
Two vital cogs in the OBR machine, Craig Christophers (28) and fellow opener Thom Berry (47) did that in the first of their side's two partnerships of consequence, on the way to 186-7.
OBR won the toss on HBR 4 and took first knock. They put up 69 for the first wicket.
Later, No.5 Mana Taumaunu (43) and No.7 Phil Viljoen Snr (28) added 57 for the sixth wicket to advance the score from 108 to 165.
Campion's best with the ball was Taye McGuinness (2-28), who bowled out in an impressive display of controlled swing and seam.
The College then fell victim to OBR's quality pace attack.
Left-armer Johnathan Gray (2-6 in four overs) and Lloyd van Zyl (2-8 in six), then spinner Taumaunu ((2-12 in four) and the grade's top wicket-taker, left-armer George Reynolds (2-3 in 5.3), reduced Campion to 19-6 two balls into the 11th over.
Campion didn't lose another wicket for nine overs — McGuinness led their run-scorers with nine off 43 balls, batting at No.7 — but the younger team were all out for 34. They batted for 23.3 overs.
Taumaunu and McGuinness won their teams' MVP awards.
Christophers said: “Our game was played in an awesome spirit, with Campion bowling well first up, and Thom (Berry) and Mana (Taumaunu) batting well for us.
“I'd like to make special mention of their captain Hamish Swann, for his outstanding sportsmanship.”