Teams get three points for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. If the final results in a draw, the team who led the regular season points will win the title.
GBHS coach Mal Trowell said his team would be looking to continue the positive brand of cricket they've been playing all summer.
Their South African adult players Graham Sharp and Nicholas Hendrie, who played pivotal roles in their Walker Shield final victory over OBR last Saturday, are unavailable.
“I will be quite interested to see how the boys go on their own,” said Trowell. “Someone always performs, but I need a couple more of them to do it (this weekend).”
David Gray will step in as opener in Sharp's absence. Trowell said Year 9 student Gray had been a fantastic addition to the team. He had shown maturity and poise beyond his years at the top of the order.
“You don't get kids like this coming along all that often.”
OBR will be out for redemption in the first week of a competition that could favour their strong bowling attack.
However, captain Ian Loffler said they were missing five of their front-line players tomorrow and had to pull together a “makeshift team”.
Loffer will be stepping aside as captain for the rest of the season as he looks to “hand the reins over” to the next generation.
Nick Greeks will lead the side tomorrow and Cody Andrews will likely captain the team through the rest of the season.
Opening bowler Jimmy Holden, out of action through a hand injury, would be sorely missed as he had been an integral part of their success, but the team had proven they have the depth to cover his absence, said Loffler.
“Other people are looking in. We all know we're missing Jimmy. He's been one of the best bowlers in the last 10 years in Gisborne.”
Horouta had a tough time of it in the Walker Shield but proved to themselves they have the potential to score runs.
The pressure to perform on the experienced players has seen them struggle to find their feet but with nothing to lose and everything to gain, they could pose a threat to any team they face.
They take on DJ Barry Cup defending champions HSOB tomorrow in what could be an exciting game if they play as they did in the T20 competition.
Captain David Situ says the format suits his team, who have a strong bowling attack led by Tushar Balat and Parminder Kulaar, who will get more overs to bowl in the new format.
The team performed better than they expected in the Walker Shield and Situ felt the scorecard wasn't an accurate representation of how they played.
“We're going to be trying a few things to mix it up this week, like shuffling the order around.”
Horouta have also been formulating plans for how they will target different teams but Situ was tight-lipped on what that might mean.
HSOB go in as favourites, having beaten Horouta in all their clashes over the season including the Walker Shield playoff for third last weekend.
“It's nice to have a new competition with a few rule tweaks,” said HSOB captain Carl Shaw.
“We have a couple of strategies for this competition that we are looking forward to experimenting with.
“As always we are excited to be playing Horouta. They bring a great attitude and a lot of positive energy, and we look forward to the competition.”
HSOB team will be back to full strength this week and their line-up will include debutant Izzy Turner.
“We're also looking to make the most of Drew Scott and Adam Whibly before they head back to university, too.”
■ Hope Cup senior B club cricket resumes tomorrow. A preview of those games will be posted on The Gisborne Herald website.
