Cook hat-trick hero in Ngatapa victory

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

Unsung heroes and the battlers of local club cricket — the Stirling Logging Ngatapa Green Caps can wear those tags as a badge of honour.

They beat High School Old Boys’ Presidents by five wickets the previous weekend and on Saturday they produced Poverty Bay club cricket’s Hope Cup team performance of the season: a 10-wicket win against Old Boys’ Rugby (2).

Ngatapa’s unassuming man of the match was big Phil Cook, whose steady medium-pace bowling return of 5-9 off five overs included a hat-trick.

Fellow seamers Steve Hickey (2-3 off 2.3 overs), Jock Spence (2-20 off five) and Chris Richardson (1-24 off six) were the other wicket-takers.

OBR (2) captain Tim Hofman had won the toss and OBR were all out for 80 in 27.2 overs of the 30-over contest.

Cook did the hat-trick with the score at 35. Opener Mana Taumanu, who top-scored for OBR with 22, Dylan Foster and Manaaki Terekia fell off the third, fourth and fifth balls of Cook’s second over.

Jason Devery (15) and David Gray (three runs) shared a gutsy 21-run stand — advancing the total from 49 to 70 — for the seventh wicket.

Ngatapa’s opening batsmen ended the contest in 11.2 overs.

Richardson hit seven boundaries in his 49, while Murray Cook (31) struck five fours.

OBR captain Hofman said they didn’t have enough runs to play with.

“Our bowlers were good and Ngatapa batted superbly.”

Hofman’s man of the match was left-arm opening bowler Sean Henry (0-20 off four overs). Despite a side-strain, he kept both Cook and Richardson watchful.

Ngatapa captain Matt Raleigh said Cook was outstanding in another great result.

“We back our bowling attack, and follow that up with the bat,” he said.

Coastal Ultrasound Horouta chased down HSOB Presidents’ 79 with eight wickets remaining in their Round 9 clash.

Presidents captain Isaac Hughes won the toss and elected to bat, his side reaching 79-7.

Second-drop Joe Reynolds (18) and opener Herman Fourie (16) were to the fore.

Horouta captain and man of the match left-arm spinner Clarence Campbell (3-12 off five overs) and all-rounder Vaughan Thompson (2-17 off six) were Horouta’s best bowlers.

Opener Duncan Gibson, with 42 not out off 43 balls, was their best batsman.

Veteran Gibson’s solidity and skill in batting time is of real value to Horouta, who hit the ball even now in the same spirit as former match-winner Johnny Nukunuku: hard.

The Campbell-led Horouta won the game in 15.1 overs, but not before 12-year-old Hamish Swann — on his HSOB debut — claimed the scalps of opening batsman Bryan Forde (leg before wicket for 16) and first-drop David Situ, caught by wicketkeeper Ollie Needham for four.

Both Forde and Situ are experienced, capable players. Those two wickets (2-6 off 2.1 overs) plus a score of five not out from three balls — including a boundary — at No.7 helped earn Swann Presidents’ man-of-the-match honours for his energy and attitude.

Campbell was pleased with his bowling attack.

“We’re pleased to have Bryan (Forde) back, if only part-time,” he said.

“His partnership of 66 with Duncan was the highlight for us.”