Holden hits the target in bowl-off

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

It was the inevitable anti-climax, but one that the Smash Palace Bail-breakers profited from.

They won last night’s six-a-side “bowl-off” against the Eastland Broncos to decide who would face the Bollywood Stars in next Friday’s grand final of local cricket’s Walker Shield T15 Blast.

Jimmy Holden, who first played club cricket here for Campion College under Marc Peard as an 18-year-old in 1999, bowled the Bail-Breakers to victory.

The rules for the bowl-off required the captains — Nic Hendrie of the Bail-Breakers and Craig Christophers of the Broncos — to select six bowlers and toss to decide which team would bowl first. If one team “hit” first, the other team would either do the same or be eliminated.

Christophers won the toss and opted to bowl first in artificial practice net No.3 at the Harry Barker Reserve in driving rain. The Broncos bowling order was: Graham Hudson, Blake Marshall, Richie Needham, Sam Patterson, Jason Drain and Amit Vyas. The Bail-Breakers order was: Josiah Turner, Holden, Jacob Colbert, Hendrie, Vaughan Thompson and Parminder Singh.

Had both teams missed in the round, a bowler would have been selected by each team’s captain to bowl on a “first to hit wins” basis.

But it never came to that. Holden hit the stumps and last man up for the Broncos, veteran Amit Vyas, the most accurate bowler from either team in the warm-up, was wide of off-stump.

Bail-Breakers leg-spinner Parminder Singh was spared a turn.

Christophers said his team enjoyed the T15 format. The camaraderie and enthusiasm among the Broncos for this competition was excellent.

Hendrie said: “I was stressed that we might not make it, but the Silver Fox (Holden) got us through.”