Bowlers impress in defence of low total

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

To defend 60 all out takes something special.

And three left-arm bowlers produced just that for the Life Guards in the Gisborne Boys' High School derby match with the Admiralty on Wednesday.

The Jett Whitaker-led Life Guards beat the Admiralty by one run, one ball into the 17th over of the T20 Challenge Cup clash at Nelson Park.

Opening bowler Caleb Taewa (2-1 off four overs), Jack Holden (1-13 off two) and Kavindu Withanage (1-8 off 2.1) all swung the ball back into the right-handed batsmen and attacked the stumps in a tide-turning effort.

Opening batsman Harvey Reynolds (12 runs) was the only Admiralty batsman to bat time on the artificial wicket. Captain and second drop Malsha Mahabalage (10) was only the third player in the match to reach double figures.

Whitaker had won the toss and elected to bat. His crew made 60 in 12 overs, opener Zyden Worsnop (13) hitting three boundaries.

Admiralty medium-pacer Ben Langford took 3-12 off three overs and spearhead Akira Makiri took 1-18 in two overs and held two catches. All six wickets taken by the Admiralty fell to catches; the Life Guards bowled five batsmen and held two catches.

Whitaker said: “We knew we had to get bowling and fielding right after our poor batting performance. The lack of extras definitely helped us to slow down their run-rate and Caleb was our MVP (most valuable player) for his bowling, which was deadly accurate.”

Mahabalage felt that his side's bowling was tight and that some great catches were held. But he also felt their batting needed work.

Nathaniel Fearnley is in good Challenge Cup batting form.

The Blues and Royals skipper followed up his unbeaten 76 in a losing cause against Campion by carrying his bat again for 68 in an 80-run win against the Tairawhiti Women's Cricket Club at Nelson Park. The Blues posted 109-3 in 20 overs, Fearnley having won the toss and chosen to bat. Archer Allen (10) looked classy at No.5.

TWCC captain Grace Levy (1-11 off four overs), left-armer Elenor Walsh (1-12 off three) and Jasmine Reynolds (1-14 off three) all bowled with great consistency.

In response, the TWCC were bowled out for 29 off 7.1 overs, having lost openers Levy and Savannah McGhee without a run on the board.

Second drop Helen Evans led the TWCC batting card with six runs.

Blues and Royals swing bowler Finn Robertson took 2-4 off two overs and completed a run-out.

Fearnley said of Robertson, his MVP, that his line and length were “pretty much perfect”.

The experience and ability of players like Levy, 17, Northern Braves player Kayley Knight, 19, and Grace Kuil, 17, have made TWCC hard to beat since the club's founding in 2019 — at which time the club boasted four Northern Districts age-group representatives.

“Nathaniel batted well and they dominated us with the ball,” Levy said.

“I was also impressed by the respect that the Blues and Royals showed for the game, and for us.”