Left-arm seamer Will Faulks (2-20), medium-pacer Gibson (2-30), off-spinners Grant Walsh (3-10) and Charles Morrison (1-20) gave West a supporting cast with skill and variety. Morrison bowled only four overs, Gibson and Walsh five each with West and Faulks a full complement of six in the 30-over contest. Walsh was every bit as good this time around as he was when he took 4-22 in last year’s final.
Presidents gritted their teeth in reaching 116-9 in 30 overs on the back of second-drop Yegan Lanka’s 82-minute vigil for 39 (Needham described him as “a compact, correct batsman with a cool head — our anchor”).
Lanka’s 41-run partnership with No.7 Jason Lines (16 off 17 balls, three boundaries) and 20 not out from the lively Mahmood Ghaznavi, eighth man to bat, reinvested HSOB: these three players’ response under semi-final pressure was significant.
Lines and his new-ball partner Anil Kumar (2-17) then turned the screws on Ngatapa. Lines took 4-15, conceded no extras and bowled a maiden over: he was excellent value with the wind at his back.
Change bowlers Lanka (1-32) and Jack Jefferd (2-21), like Lines and Kumar, all got through six overs and seven of the Green Caps’ batsmen were bowled, LBW, caught by ’keeper Needham or stumped, which speaks to the discipline of their seamers.
Seven caps made six or fewer than six runs, opener Walsh’s 28 being their highest individual score. His dismissal — with the score at 62, bringing to an end the 33-run, seventh-wicket stand with West — and West’s departure, nine runs later, were huge moments.
No.9 Faulks (16 not out) and left-hander Hamish Briant (10), batting at 11, put on 25 for the 10th wicket and when Briant fell, caught by Ghaznavi off the bowling of left-armer Baljeet Sandhu (1-3 in 1.1 overs) when Ngatapa needed just 14 runs from 17 balls.
Needham was decisive for Presidents in a tense, hard-fought game, with two catches and the stumping of West (16).
“Ngatapa’s middle-order had to work hard for their runs,” said the HSOB captain. “We held our catches, which was crucial, and celebrated a very rare victory over the Green Caps late into the night.”
Ngatapa player-manager Chris Hurlstone said that from the point of view of both players and supporters, the game was “pretty hard on the nerves”.
“We bowled them out for 116, gave ourselves a chance — but then lost wickets early on, and regularly, which put us under the pump,” he said.
“Still, we showed fight to get to 102, had an enjoyable summer, introduced new players into the Green Caps family: Ryan West, Charles Morrison, Hamish Briant, Richard Briant, Sam Briant, George Whitehead, Ben Holden and a few one-hit wonders.
“We’ll definitely be back next season — the boys are as keen as mustard.”
The archetypal New Zealand sportsman or woman is humble and prefers underdog status.
Rawhiti Legal Old Boys’ Rugby remain modest despite having won 14 of 15 games, but HSOB are doubtless the underdogs. The Craig Christophers-led OBR won a crushing, 10-wicket victory over Siteworx Horouta on Saturday only a week after beating The Waka by 143 runs.
Unlike that match on March 6 or the 95-run loss in Round 4, this time around Horouta captain Mel Knight won the toss and chose to bat.
She also faced the first ball of the match from Lloyd van Zyl (1-5) and Knight carried her bat for 44 not out — the highest individual score in the first innings — Horouta’s next-best being 11, by both No.5 Vishal Singh and Grace Kuil, who came in at seven.
Seven batsmen made three or fewer than three runs, their biggest partnership was one of 26 for the 9th wicket between Knight and Priyantha Withanage (10, from 10 on the list).
The Waka made 100-9 in 30 completed overs.
Horouta MVP Knight said: “It was hard going on a wet, sticky pitch early on. OBR bowled well but the odd ball popped, held up, did a bit sideways and took turn. That said, it had dried out a bit by the time they batted.”
In addition to van Zyl, OBR leg spinner Mana Taumaunu (3-25 off four overs), Christophers (1-14), Jacobs (1-15) and the competition’s leading wicket-taker George Reynolds (2-18) all held the upper hand. Taumaunu and van Zyl bowled four overs each, the captain bowled five, with only Reynolds, and another left-armer in Jacobs, bowling out.
Christophers (60 off 56 with a six and seven fours) his left-handed opening partner Peter Stewart (25, three boundaries) saw OBR home with 102 in 15.5 overs. Piumal Madasanka and Grace Levy bowled tidy four-over spells first-up, for 20 and 25 respectively.
OBR MVP Christophers and his happy band can now look forward to the final — they have pace, good spin, batsmen in form and they field well.
“This game was super important because we really wanted to improve on our semi-final performance of last year, having lost in the semis,” he said.
“This time around, there were outstanding performances from members of both teams.”
Umpires Gary Coutts, Marty Bennett and James Raroa made a fine contribution to the Hope Cup semi-finals: with five LBWs given, they were from a bowler’s standpoint positive but set a high bar in that regard.
