HSOB are nipping at the heels of the frontrunners, with two wins and two losses to their name.
They have been playing some excellent cricket, but lapses in concentration have let them down in their losses to Boys’ High and OBR.
Horouta, at the bottom of the table, have struggled to find the form to put up a competitive total. Their highest score this season has been 134-7 and they have been dismissed for less than 100 in consecutive weeks.
The team knew their rebuilding period might be rocky, but the top order has struggled to find form and push on for big totals. Ben Brick, for his innings from No.8 against HSOB, has the highest individual total for the season so far — 26.
Horouta captain David Situ says a lot of the players at the top of the order have an aggressive style that can mean their wickets go cheaply.
Last week they had a focus on their fielding and improved substantially, but they weren’t good enough with the bat.
“There are plenty of top-class batsmen in our team . . . everyone in the team has the potential to do well.”
He said the team had lost a wealth of experienced players over the off-season, so they’d had to rebuild from the ground up.
“Due to a big loss of players, it’s more rebuilding in the sense of team culture,” he said.
Horouta welcome back medium-pace bowler Ryan Nepe tomorrow after his return for university holidays.
OBR captain Ian Loffler said his side needed to be on their game tomorrow, and not underestimate their opponents.
“We want to put out another positive performance,” he said.
“Our goal is to finish No.1 going into the semifinals.
“We have to be sensible. Like last week, we’re looking for someone to go big and bat around them.”
He said he’d been impressed with younger players stepping up this season, notably Paul Stewart and Sam Patterson, who had contributed massively to OBR’s team culture and attitude.
HSOB and Boys’ High already have a bit of a rivalry after their first match this season.
It was a game that had a lot of passion, and tomorrow’s clash will likely be hotly contested.
HSOB will want a change in fortunes after their 81-run loss to OBR last weekend, while Boys’ High are coming off their best performance of the season.
GBHS captain Nathan Trowell expects a challenging game.
“They’ll be the usual HSOB they’ve been the last few years. They’ve always been a good club that we look up to.
“I’m looking forward to it, I think it’s going to be close again and a good battle.”
He said his team would be without Nicholas Hendrie this week because he would be out of town playing cricket in Taupo.
Hendrie scored a century last time the teams met, and Boys’ High will need someone else to step up and score runs.
The team will welcome Te-Reimana Gray into the side tomorrow and will hope the all-rounder will be a threat with the bat and the ball.
Gray has returned to Gisborne after living in Hamilton. He had completed Year 9 at GBHS before the move to Waikato.
HSOB will be without their captain, Carl Shaw, again tomorrow and will be captained by Jak Rowe.
He will be returning to action after two weeks off and said he should be “firing on all cylinders” despite a “side injury” he is carrying.
He expects a competitive game as both teams fight for the top of the table going into the semifinals.
“Boys’ High will be confident; they’re a good bunch of young players.
“We will look to put pressure on their top order early and try to get a look at what their middle order can do.”
