Campion win interschool derby by a boundary

Taye McGuinness, take a bow.

The 14-year-old Campion College first 11 cricketer confirmed his commitment to their cause on Saturday with body-on-the-line fielding of a type not often seen.

McGuinness held three catches in Campion’s four-run win in the first derby match of 2021-2022 against Gisborne Boys’ High School (2).

Campion have nine competition points after Round 7 of the 12-week season, having beaten Hope Cup holders and defending Senior B Grade champions Bollywood Stars High School Old Boys Presidents.

Civil Project Solutions Ngatapa Green Caps beat HSOB Presidents by eight wickets on Saturday.

Ngatapa, with five wins from six games, have — like competition leaders Rawhiti Legal OBR — 16 points, although they trail OBR by 0.034 on net run-rate.

OBR beat Horouta Te Waka (nine points, with three wins in five outings) by five wickets.

HSOB Presidents, who — like GBHS (2) — have yet to record a win, have one point.They are 2.084 ahead of Boys’ High (2) on net run-rate.

Campion game-day captain Hamish Swann won the toss on the practice wicket and chose to bat. As in all four of the other games, the Harry Barker Reserve turf’s consistent bounce and quick outfield were pluses.

Opener Swann hit five fours in his 35-ball innings of 29 and Year 9 all-rounder Connor Starck (10) was the only other Campion batsman to score runs in double-figures. Tailenders Manjot Singh (eight runs) and Ramandeep Singh (four runs) deserve special mention for their 19-run stand, which was as valuable as the fifth-wicket partnership of 21 between Swann and Starck.

The enthusiasm for cricket and extra practice of Manjot, Ramandeep and Gagandeep Singh, Anikate Bandral and Izahn Duckworth bore fruit then and later in the field.

For Boys’ High, Jarrod Ormiston held on to two chances at mid-off and Kelan Bryant, two at slip, but GBHS were 50-50 in that area and the old axiom is that catches win matches.

Off-spinner George Gillies (4-11) and left-arm orthodox spinner Riker Rolls (1-16) both bowled six overs. Gareth Langford (2-8) bowled a good line, as did the spinners.

Boys’ High captain Bekko Page, in a rare move, gave 10 of his players a whirl with the ball.

Page rewarded his players for their loyalty. For a captain to balance the need to give untried teammates opportunities, against doing justice to bowlers currently on the money — while still learning to read the game himself — is tricky.

Campion took tremendous heart from having reached 99 in 29.3 overs.

In the Boys’ High innings, a Rhys Grogan outswinger kissed opening batsman Page’s off-stump as Akira Makiri’s inswinger had done for Campion opener Daniel Baillie; both were magic balls.

Lukas Fry, batting at No.8, was Boys’ High top-scorer (18 from 19 balls) and shared a 40-run partnership for the seventh wicket with wicketkeeper Kavindu Withanage.

Langford, Withanage and Fry were all caught by McGuinness square of the wicket, and Year 13 student Hurlstone ended the Boys’ High run-chase (95 all out in 23.5 overs) with a dipping yorker.

“Both teams bowled well,” Page said.

“Our spinners were vital to restricting their batsmen. George and Riker took five wickets between them.

“It was really good, too, to have a tight finish to a great game of cricket.”

Campion’s Grogan, who scored five runs off 11 balls and took 3-12, pipped fellow seamer Hurlstone (4-32) to be Campion MVP (most valuable player) and Boys’ High MVP Gillies to be the overall match MVP.

Campion College 99 (Hamish Swann 29; George Gillies 4-11, Gareth Langford 2-8) beat Gisborne Boys’ High School (2) 95 (Lukas Fry 18; Luke Hurlstone 4-32, Rhys Grogan 3-12).

OBR are nothing if not consistent.

That polish extended to a five-wicket win against Horouta.

OBR captain Craig Christophers won the toss and opted to bowl on HBR 4.

OBR kept Horouta on a tight leash at 127-6, although the green-and-golds’ Etienne Botes (48) and Jason Brooks (36no) were in fine form with the bat for The Waka at No.3 and No.4 respectively.

Botes is an excellent competitor. He plays cricket in the right way and gives it his all, first game of the season or not.

Christophers (2-3) and left-armer George Reynolds (2-16) do a fine job for OBR bowling seam-up. Reynolds (12 scalps in four games) trails only Rhys Grogan (14 in five) of Campion College on the bowlers’ leaderboard, while Ngatapa captain Grant Walsh and emerging Boys’ High (2) paceman Akira Makiri have nine wickets apiece.

Christophers has the best figures (6-16 against Boys’ High), economy rate (2.11), strike-rate (6.75) and lowest average (2.38). He has taken eight wickets for 19 runs so far this season.

He (40) and Thom Berry (22) shared a 65-run opening stand in the chase. Mana Taumaunu (18), who came in at No.6, and Phil Viljoen Snr (25), at No.8, were in the middle when victory was achieved at 129-5, three balls into the 26th over.

Before that, Botes (2-27) had bustled in at second-change for left-arm spinner Clarence Campbell; offie Mel Knight (2-22) had bowled out. After the loss of Berry, OBR lost four more wickets for 16 runs until Taumaunu and Viljoen put on 46 runs together to seal the deal.

Horouta’s bowlers were accurate. They conceded only nine boundaries in the 11.1 overs before the first wicket fell. Their resilience is born of experience and a level head, much of which is due to Knight, captain of The Waka.

She said: “We went at a steady pace batting first and kept wickets in hand through the first 20 overs, but were 30 runs short of a good total. For cricketers, dismissals are the most important decisions and on Saturday umpire Gary Coutts got every one spot-on.”

Botes and Christophers were their teams’ MVPs, with Botes getting the nod for match MVP.

OBR 129-5 (Craig Christophers 40, Phil Viljoen Snr 25 not out, Thom Berry 22; Mel Knight 2-22, Etienne Botes 2-27) beat Horouta Te Waka 127-6 (Etienne Botes 48, Jason Brooks 36; Craig Christophers 2-3, George Reynolds 2-16).

NgatapA were almost clinical on Saturday.

Ngatapa Green Caps skipper Grant Walsh has good reason to be pleased with his posse’s eight-wicket win against HSOB Presidents, defending champions of the grade.

“That was a good toss for me to lose as we thought that, early on, there would be more in the pitch for the bowlers than there might be later on,” Walsh said.

His opposing captain, Ollie Needham, having chosen to bat first on HBR 3, had made 41 at No.3 and second-drop Jeff Chambers made 21.

“We had to work hard in the heat to get through them,” Walsh said.

“All the bowlers chipped in with wickets at a decent run-rate to slow HSOB down, although 156 was a reasonable target.

“Our opening batsmen Charles Morrison (20) and left-hander Richard Briant (28), got us off to a great start — through the first spell of their strike bowler Jason Lines (0-8 in three overs) — then Ryan West (30) and I (63) finished it off unbeaten from three and four.

“We’re in a great spot for next weekend’s top-of-the-table clash with OBR.”

Lines bowled out to finish with 0-11, including one maiden over, and the Green Caps’ ability to fend off the Presidents’ spearhead was a crucial factor in their win. Walsh will not have forgotten that while he, bowling off-spin, dismissed Lines leg before wicket in Round 6 last year, Lines then trapped four Ngatapa batsmen lbw in taking 4-13 from six overs.

There was a time when more conservative umpires might have been loathe to give four lbw decisions in an innings.

Slow bowler Nic Armour (1-24) and whirlybird seamer Yegan Lanka (1-36) were tidy in support of Lines.

Needham was happy with his side’s batting effort, the contributions down the order, and that they batted out for the second time this season.

“Unfortunately our bowlers stuggled to find consistency in support of another whole-hearted Lines performance,” Needham said.

“On a good batting deck with a fast outfield, we bowled two bad balls an over. Grant and Ryan cruised home with a mixture of clean hitting and sharp running.

“We haven’t yet managed to combine a good batting/bowling performace on the same day: that’s the work-on for us. Grant was superb with a stand-out performance.”

Walsh was both the Ngatapa and match MVP, with Needham claiming the team honour for HSOB Presidents.

Ngatapa Green Caps 160-2 (Grant Walsh 63no, Ryan West 30no, Richard Briant 28, Charles Morrison 20; Nic Armour 1-24, Yegan Lanka 1-36) beat High School Old Boys Presidents 156-9 (Ollie Needham 41, Jeff Chambers 21; Grant Walsh 4-21).

Standings: OBR, 5 wins from 6 games, 16 competition points, 1; Ngatapa Green Caps, 5 from 6, 16pts, 2; Horouta, 3 from 5, 9pts, 3; Campion College, 2 from 5, 6pts, 4; High School Old Boys Presidents, 0 from 5, 1pt, 5; Gisborne Boys’ High School (2), 0 from 6, 1pt, 6.

THE Senior B cricket draw for Round 8 on SATURDAY is —

2pm: HBR 3, Horouta Te Waka v Campion College; HBR practice wicket, GBHS (2) v Bollywood Stars High School Old Boys Presidents; HBR 4, Civil Project Solutions Ngatapa Green Caps v Rawhiti Legal OBR.