Bay end tourney with gutsy effort

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

They were good value from beginning to end.

The Poverty Bay cricket team who beat Napier Old Boys-Marist in their fifth Year 7B game finished their four-day tournament with a gutsy effort against Western Bay of Plenty White.

Poverty Bay coach Jimmy Holden's crew lost their sixth and last 30-over game by 35 runs on grass — Frimley Park No.4.

Match-captain Jack Holden won the toss and put WBOP in to bat. The Gisborne team then restricted their opposition to 123-9 on the back of the second-best bowling performance by a Poverty Bay player at a Riverbend camp to date this season. Seamer Gayesha Mahabalage took five wickets for seven runs off four overs, two of which were maidens. Only teammate Arlo Willis, with 5-5 off 14 balls against Hutt District Blue, returned better figures.

Holden senior said: “We were solid. The standard of the bowling and fielding was high but the boys were unhappy with the number of extras we conceded (44 — 22 byes, 13 wides, five no-balls, four leg byes).

“We started the chase well but a four-over spell from their change bowlers cost us six wickets on a low-bouncing pitch. No.8 Manjot Singh (12) and No.9 Caleb Taewa (21 not out) fought to rebuild our chase with an eighth-wicket stand of 38, with Caleb and Gayesha (six runs, batting at No.11) later trying to bring us home in a 10th-wicket partnership of 26, but we fell short.”

The feisty Bay lost six wickets with the score at 24, overs 6 and 7 being double-wicket maidens, and overs 8 and 9, wicket maidens. First-change bowler Charlie Pritchard took five wickets for no runs off three overs. Fellow seamer Blake Gerrish took 3-5 off three, two of them maidens.

Bearing that in mind, Poverty Bay fought courageously to rebound in the contest, their lower order showing grit-plus to get the score to 88.