Horouta get by with a little help from HSOB friend in Poverty Bay premier cricket

HSOB and Gisborne Boys' High School First XI will face off in Poverty Bay Premier Grade cricket's DJ Barry Cup 40-overs final this Saturday.

It was the batting form reversal Horouta needed.

The James Birrell-led Moshim’s Spice Horouta Te Waka held off a resurgent Gisborne Boys’ High School First XI for victory by 11 runs on Saturday.

But it wasn’t enough to stop the Steve Whitaker-coached boys’ high from advancing to join unbeaten Bollywood High School Old Boys in the DJ Barry Cup Premier Grade 40-over championship final.

It was the only Premier game on Saturday after Coastal Concrete OBR defaulted to HSOB.

Gautam Sareen led the Horouta batting with 84 off 90 balls, including 12 fours, while Pushpinder “AJ” Kumar - a HSOB man down to his boots - found himself at a loose end because of OBR’s default and rode to the rescue of Horouta with 77 off 83 balls (10 fours).

Clubs and administrators are allowing for the departure of university students and availability of players in a gracious way that facilitates games being played.

Sareen deputised for Birrell and won the toss on a good, firm No 1 deck at Harry Barker Reserve.

Te Waka posted 209-7, which featured a 114 run-stand for the fifth wicket between Sareen and Kumar.

The left-arm orthodox spin of Jordyn Haley (3 wickets for 37 runs off seven overs), who came on at first change, and his skipper and right-arm spinner Charlie Whitfield (2-43-10) proved to be the students’ main weapons.

Whitfield bowled Sareen with the score at 163, then Kumar at 190, when 220-230 looked on the cards.

Earlier, left-arm spearhead Caleb Taewa was effective and economical as opening bowler with 1-9-3.

Boys’ High performed well but fell short in the run chase.

At the top of the order, Joel Kirkpatrick followed up his excellent 75 in an eight run-win over OBR the previous Saturday with 65 in 82 balls, including nine boundaries.

Whitfield, 60 off 112 at No 3, chose an opportune time to strike form and bring up his maiden half-century for the First Xl as they look to Saturday’s final, followed by the Super 8 secondary schools tournament in Hamilton from February 15-19.

Kirkpatrick and Whitfield put on 112 for the second wicket and GBHS got to 198-4.

Haley (19 off 23) and player-coach Whitaker (33 not out in 15 balls including three sixes) pushed for a win, while Robbie Newlands, unbeaten on 10 off 8 at No 6, was also busy.

“It was good to get a win and I think that if we’d picked one up earlier in the DJ Barry Cup competition, we could have made it to the final,” Birrell said. “The pitches now favour the batsmen. For us, Gautam and AJ [Kumar] capitalised on that.”

Whitfield, as ever, noted areas requiring attention.

“I thought that we let Gautam and AJ off the hook. That cost us runs and we also left runs out there when we batted. Regardless, we’re happy to be in the final and confident that we can complete the double (DJ Barry Cup and Doleman Cup).”

SCOREBOARD

Poverty Bay Premier Grade DJ Barry Cup 40-over championship

Moshim’s Spice Horouta Te Waka 209-7 (Pushpinder Kumar 84, Gautam Sareen 77; Jordyn Haley 3 wickets for 37 runs off 7 overs, Charlie Whitfield 2-43-10) def Gisborne Boys High School First XI 198-4 (Joel Kirkpatrick 65, Charlie Whitfield 60, Steve Whitaker 33 not out; James Birrell 1-21-3, Bobby Maan 1-31-10) by 11 runs.

Bollywood High School Old Boys def Coastal Concrete OBR by default.

Poverty Bay Reserve Grade Hope Cup 30-over championship

Gisborne Boys’ High School Second XI 137-6 (Cody McMurray 28, Harvey Reynolds 27; Mark Kennedy 2-14-4) def Pioneer Ngatapa Green Caps 122 all-out in 21.5 overs (Hoffman Haasbroek 56, Mark Kennedy 18; Harvey Reynolds 5-33-5, Callum McInnes 2-23-3.5 overs) by 15 runs.

Chicking High School Old Boys’ Presidents 123-5 in 18.2 overs (Jeff Chambers 41, Ollie Needham 23 retired out; George Judd 2-19-3) def Moshim’s Spice Horouta Te Waka 108 all-out in 29.4 overs (Matthew Kotuhi 24; Ollie Needham 1-5-2, Bradley Clark 1-7-4) by 5 wickets.