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The correlation between more cricket for junior high school players and the keenest of them reaping good reward is undeniable.
Poverty Bay club cricket’s Hope Cup competition on Saturday saw Campion College follow their season-opening win against High School Old Boys Presidents with a 158-run demolition of Coastal Ultrasound Horouta.
Old Boys’ Rugby’s second 11 came off the bye to beat HSOB by 91 runs in the other game.
Horouta captain Clarence Campbell won the toss, put Campion in to bat and the students amassed 202 for seven wickets off 30 overs.
Batting at No.5, former Poverty Bay senior representative Darryl Dunn made 52 not out off 28 balls — smashing two sixes and six boundaries.
Opener Liam Spring compiled 32 off 56, first-drop Richard Briant 29 from 33 and Blake Marshall 21 from 28.
Horouta contributed 50 extras, including 13 no balls and 28 wides.
Keegan Martin took 2-30 off six overs with the new ball, Tushar Balat 1-13 off four and Vaughan Thompson 1-13 off three.
Chasing 203 for victory, Horouta were never in the hunt and were bowled out for 44 in 12.1 overs.
Thompson’s 18 runs off 11 balls featured three boundaries and he was the only Horouta batsman to make double-figures.
Nathan Andrews and Max Briant led Campion’s attack with zip.
Andrews claimed 3-12-and Briant 2-15 while leg-spinner Liam Barbier complemented their three-prong pace attack with 2-9.
Marshall, bowling first change, conceded only seven runs from three overs.
Luke Hurlstone took the last Horouta scalp with his first ball — Abhijit Gaikwad (1) caught by Andrews’ co-captain and wicketkeeper Cameron Rowell.
Dunn said he had come back to cricket to support the young players but instead was “inspired by them”.
“The boys played well.”
Campbell was also impressed and made special mention of the excellent line and length from Andrews.
n OBR elected to bat after winning the toss and made 145-8 in their 30 overs.
Left-handed opener Deevon Gray topscored with 64 off 68 balls and No.6 Tim Hofman scored 33 from 46.
Gisborne Boys’ HighYear 9 student Nathan Trowell was 16 not out off 27 balls when the first innings closed.
Seamer Mike Francis (3-15 off six overs) was the pick of HSOB’s bowlers.
The OBR attack made short work of HSOB’s batting lineup, bundling them out for 54 in 20.3 overs.
Elder statesmen Jason Drain (13 off 32) was the only HSOB batsman to make it past 10.
The wicket-taking bowlers were Te Reimana Gray (2-6 off three, one of those a maiden over), Hofman (2-8) and Mana Taumaunu (2-10).
Boys’ High students Matthew Foster (Y10) and Cohen Loffler (Y9) deserved special mention.
Foster conceded only four runs in four overs in a good spell of increased pace and improved accuracy.
HSOB left-arm spinner and Poverty Bay men’s selector Ryan Majstrovic credited Loffler with playing a major part in winning the game.
Loffler watched the ball sail over his head for six at deep square leg off the third ball, then held the catch off Hofman’s bowling to dismiss HSOB opener Herman Fourie next ball.