Gisborne HSOB machine rolls on in Poverty Bay Hope Cup club cricket

The Poverty Bay Reserve Grade Hope Cup semi-finals are being held on Saturday at Harry Barker Reserve, as is the postponed Premier Grade DJ Barry Cup final between Horouta and Gisborne Boys' High First XI.

Captain Glen Udall and his men are heading into Poverty Bay’s Hope Cup Reserve Grade semi-finals with confidence.

Bollywood High School Old Boys Presidents played impressive cricket all-round to beat Moshim’s Spice Horouta Te Waka by 69 runs at Nelson Park.

That said, they didn’t have an armchair ride in Round 6 of the 30-over competition.

Having won the toss, HSOB elected to bat first, but good medium-pace bowling from spearhead Aman Kamboj (1 wicket for 25 runs off 5 overs), the runout of Udall (5) at the top of the order, whose opening partner Jak Rowe (1) fell to Kamboj, and the loss of first-drop Matthew Jefferd (1), also run out, saw HSOB teetering at 3-14 in the fifth over.

But HSOB bat deep. Daniel Torrie (14) and Brad Reynolds (41) put on 48 for the fourth wicket, and Alex Shanks made an unbeaten 50 in 51 balls.

Anthony Boyder – usually a devastating hitter – took 14 balls to get off the mark and struck his first boundary 18 balls into his knock – a measure of the Horouta bowlers’ competitiveness and effectiveness.

Boyder (13 in 26 balls) and Jonny Hardie (20 off 20) played their part in the Reynolds/Shanks-led fightback as HSOB reached 164-6.

In reply, the Waka were all out for 95 in 24.1 overs.

HSOB spearhead Reynolds (3-14-4) and Hardie (2-5-3) produced maiden overs.

Hardie’s fellow off-spinner Jefferd (2-3) and left-arm paceman Rowe (2-6) each probed Horouta’s defence in tight three-over spells.

Left-handers Hansa Fernando (22) and Senthooran Thedchanamoorthy (12) put on 19 for the third wicket – Horouta’s biggest partnership, but their crew twice lost two wickets at the same score, 59 and 69.

The game ended when veteran Tony Bucheler (15) was adjudged out leg before wicket to Boyder (1-6-2.1 overs), the eighth bowler used.

Davis puts students to the sword

Jacque Davis has always been a good batsman and posted the highest individual score on Saturday.

The Ngatapa Pioneer Green Caps opener struck the ball cleanly in his 61 ball-innings of 80, which included a long straight six and seven fours, after his mob were put in to bat by Gisborne Boys’ High School Second XI captain Cody McMurray.

Ngatapa made their way to 236-3 in a 150 run-win, Davis’s opening partner and skipper Charles Morrisson opting to retire at 35 with the score at 121.

Davis was caught by Kegan Van Zyl at long on from the medium pace of McMurray (1-44-6) with Ngatapa on 145 in the 18th over.

Opening bowler Callum McInnes (1-35-6) bowled Ngatapa first-drop Tim Fox for 14 while young left-hander Jake Kirkpatrick (6) showed promise before being run out.

No 4 Sam Briant played shots all around the ground for 48 off 42 balls – his finest hand of the season to date.

Ngatapa held a top-drawer reflex catch and a chase-and-dive effort to hobble the Boys’ High batting effort. The chase and dive from Tim Fox in the gully to remove Charlie Hope (11) prevented a certain boundary, and Morrison latched on to a remarkable leaping catch – high to his right with two hands at short mid-wicket – to dismiss left-hander Bihandu Withanage (3).

McMurray, with 17 at No 5, showed stickability and technique and Hope also spent time in the middle before old head Edward Nepe (1-11-4) had him out caught.

Boys’ High finished on 86-8, No 10 Reef Bull-Parsons having got off the mark with a cut shot off the first ball he faced and Jed Martyn 8 not out.

Saturday’s semi-finals from 2pm at Harry Barker Reserve pit unbeaten HSOB Presidents against GBHS Second XI and Ngatapa against Horouta.

The postponed Premier Grade DJ Barry Cup final will be played on the rep wicket tomorrow. Defending champions Horouta face Gisborne Boys’ High School First XI at noon.