All set for a big afternoon of T15

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

They’ll be there with bells on.

The Bollywood High School Old Boys Pups have made a great start to the Colts nine-a-side season at Nelson Park: they won their first game, a T15 clash v the DNature Dragons (by 46 runs) and their second fixture, T30 v the Dragons (by 166 runs). They are playing excellent cricket.

“We can’t wait for today’s T15 game — it’s a chance to see different pairs bat together in our pod system, and see how different combinations of bowlers work,” said Bollywood High School Old Boys Pups captain Hamish Swann, who knows that his crew won’t have everything their own way on artificial pitch No.3 v the Old Boys Rugby Sharks.

Swann rates Braden Sycamore and nippy left-armer Jack Holden among the most dangerous of the OBR pace attack; Holden took 1-13-2 v the Bollywood Stars in T15 Game 1. OBR batted for 20.1 overs against the Tairawhiti Women’s Cricket Club in T30 on Saturday; theirs is a young team looking to fire with the willow.

Stars captain Kelan Bryant wants his side to talk it up in the field and take ownership of their team this afternoon v the Ngatapa Knights on ground No.5.

“The boys are keen to give anything a go, bowl when we need them to, bat where there’s a need,” he said.

“Riker Rolls was awesome last week and we’d love to see another good showing with the ball from Joe (Manjot) Singh.”

Rolls took 3-5-2 v OBR Sharks in the opening T15 game and 3-12-5 against the Knights in T30 on Saturday: he is bowling superbly.

Ngatapa opening bowler Jonah Reynolds (3-4-2) bowled at good pace in T15 R1 v Tairawhiti Women’s Cricket Club and is a genuine spearhead.

Bekko Page is another of the competition’s best pacemen and a member of the DNature Dragons crew to go at it with the TWCC on No.4 today. Page bowls a testing line and length and his captain, Alex Shanks, made an excellent 29 not-out off 26 balls in the T15 season opener v a very capable Pups team.

The ladies have made a strong start in both the T15 and T30 leagues, with a 39-run win v the Knights in the former and victory by 153 runs against the Sharks in the latter.

Grace Levy (1-8-2 v Ngatapa in T15 R1) is an excellent opening bowler for the TWCC — accurate and sharp. Added to an opposing batsman’s list of pressures is the fact that they are only permitted to face 18 balls.

TWCC themselves have a powerful batting line-up — captain Maddie Ashworth hit 14 boundaries in her 59-ball stay at the crease in T30 on Saturday. Her 88 from No.3 then was the highest individual score in the grade.

Ashworth and company have one definite goal for today’s game: “We’re looking to reduce the number of extras we concede when bowling — wides, no balls etc.”

TWCC coach Mel Knight said: “The girls want to score a few more runs this week in T15 — to not lose wickets in quick succession is our work-on.”

All T15 games are due to start at 4.30pm today.