Both skippers seeking complete performance

all set: Horouta skipper David Situ and his side have done well to recover from Covid-19 setbacks to field a team for the DJ Barry Cup preliminary final against OBR tomorrow.Picture by Paul Rickard

OBR versus Horouta will be either a humdinger or a fizzer.

It would be improbable for Horouta to do anything close to what they did a fortnight ago, when they put up 381-7 in 50 overs and beat Nick Greeks's Coastal Concrete OBR by 275 runs.

For the vast majority of cricketers, opening batsman Teghbir Singh's innings of 204 off 122 balls, with 12 sixes and 22 fours, would have been the innings of a lifetime.

But the same man will use the same bat and, according to Horouta captain David Situ, will most likely bat in the same position come 12.30pm tomorrow on Harry Barker Reserve No.1.

Situ wants another complete performance . . . his Siteworx Civil Horouta crew bowled out OBR for 106 in 18.3 overs in their last meeting.

With Round 7 of the 50-over premier-grade DJ Barry Cup competition having been abandoned last weekend due to Covid, unbeaten Bollywood Stars High School Old Boys under Carl Shaw will feature in the final on March 26 by right.

Although many things would have had to go their way for them to have made it through, DJ Barry Cup holders Galaxy World Gisborne Boys' High School's slim chances of qualifying for tomorrow's preliminary final disappeared with the abandonment.

Such is sport — and competitions impacted by Covid.

Greeks made 85 off 93 balls from No.6 against GBHS in the opening round of the DJ Barry Cup, a 14-run win to OBR. He is a match-winner, and with Loffler brothers Ian and Joe plus the long-serving new-ball pair of Jimmy Holden and Matt Cook in tow, OBR have some of the feel of a few years ago.

While the search for players has given Ben Langford and Zyden Worsnop from Gisborne Boys' High School (2) an opportunity to experience premier-grade cricket, Greeks knows that he and those of the been-there/done-that vintage need to step up.

“The big thing for us tomorrow is to bat for 50 overs while staying positive and rotating the strike,” Greeks said.

“We have to work hard through the tough patches with the bat and the ball. Taking catches and staying tight in the field to limit their scoring options is crucial, too.”

On February 22, Horouta beat OBR by one run, the latter having 10.4 overs to bat when they were bowled out chasing 154. But no way can The Waka concede 47 extras and hope to win this make-or-break preliminary final.

It is remarkable that the margin between teams can leap from one run to 275 runs in the same competition. Yet while OBR lost both their second grade and premier-grade fixtures by one run on that day five weeks ago, both had gone into those contests as, if not favourites, at least a good bet.

They will be focused and determined, as Horouta have done extremely well to isolate, recover and comply with health and safety requirements to do what they had to do, to field a side at this critical moment. Situ and company have husbanded their resources and are to be commended for their efforts on cricket's behalf.

SITEWORX CIVIL HOROUTA: David Situ (c), Heyan Ranasinghe (wkp), Ben Brick, Karn Dhillon, Harmanpreet Gill, Bruno Judd, Gaurav Chetan Kashyap, Shubham Ralhan, Aekamjot Singh, Jagroop Singh, Teghbir Singh, Hasantha Withanage.

COASTAL CONCRETE OBR: Nick Greeks (c), Tim Scrimshaw (wkp), James Bristow, Matthew Cook, Te-Reimana Gray, Jimmy Holden, Ben Langford, Ian Loffler, Joe Loffler, Daniel Stewart, Zyden Worsnop.