It’s first blood to Ngatapa

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

Mike Gibson’s Ngatapa crew took their first step to making it three Senior B club cricket championships with a seven-wicket win in the Hope Cup final replay on Saturday. The Civil Project Solutions Ngatapa Green Caps beat the Bollywood High School Old Boys Presidents by seven wickets, having opted to bowl first on artificial pitch 2 at Nelson Park in round one of the competition.

The Ollie Needham-led Presidents were dismissed for 43 in 18.3 overs, medium-pacer Tim Gardner (4-11-6), off-spinner Grant Walsh (3-23-3.3 overs) and Gibson (2-1-3) all bowling well, but debutant Ryan West, with 1-8-6, was in his captain’s mind, the pick of the Green Caps’ three seamers.

“Ryan’s certainly a good replacement for Angus Orsler (last season a Green Cap, now in HSOB’s first-grade side). He put pressure on downwind while Tim took wickets at the other end,” said Gibson. “All of our bowlers were great, especially considering it was the boys’ first run.”

The key feature of Ngatapa’s excellent performance with the ball was their discipline in bowling maiden overs: West with three, Gardner and Gibson with two each for seven scoreless overs in 30-over cricket, is outstanding. They conceded only seven wides as total sundries.

HSOB knew they had to strike early and they did. The new ball pairing of Kyle Jean-Louis (1-4-2) and Nick Armour (1-15-2) was a marriage of thrift and luxury, Jean-Louis good for a maiden first-up and his fellow seamer buying the wicket of West (4) with the last ball of the second over, which cost 11 runs. Israel Turner, who beat his HSOB captain and No.1 Ollie Needham’s 12 to top Presidents’ scoring list with 15 not-out off 19 at six, turned his hand to medium-pace, first change: he took 1-13-2. His victim, Ngatapa opener Jack Jefferd, hit a six and three fours in the game’s only dominant innings, for 20.

Batsmen and bowlers aside, the best individual performance in the match was that of Wanganui Collegiate old boy Green Caps’ wicket-keeper Simon Wilson. He held two catches and made two stumpings.

Needham said: “We struggled against a strong Ngatapa bowling attack led by Ryan. He bowled with venom, while into the wind, Tim swung and moved the ball off the deck. Forty-three was never going to threaten Ngatapa, who will be favourites again this year. Their batsmen struggled with the bounce, losing three wickets on the way to victory.

We’ve lost much of our talent from last season — Glen Udall, Simon Blaker and Jake Theron — and will have to work hard and improve each week to remain competitive.”

Horouta were gritty.

They clung on to beat Campion College by two wickets. Their season opener was a great contest and Siteworx Horouta captain Heyan Ranasinghe’s men — and four women cricketers — knew they had won a close one.

“I think we did a great job — especially the girls. I’m very happy with my team,” said Ranasinghe. “Luke Hurlstone and Blake Marshall were superb for Campion too. Campion and Horouta are like brothers. Every time we play, we remember our man Vaughan Thompson.”

Horouta took back the Naden-Taylor Trophy they had taken from The Waka on November 23, 2019: the first occasion on which Campion lifted the prize.

Marshall, 17, couldn’t swing the game Campion’s way despite making the highest individual score in the match, 43 off 51 balls from No.1. His knock included four fours and a six. His partner, captain and keeper Liam Spring (13) off the last ball of the fifth over with the score at 21, Spring having earlier won the toss and chosen to bat.

Campion were 88-9 at the end of the first innings, off-break bowler Mel Knight (2-5-4), spearhead Etienne Botes (2-17-5) and left-arm orthodox spinner Clarence Campbell (2-21-6) all claiming doubles as the college, having recovered with Marshall and Cameron Rowell posting a 32-run partnership for the second wicket, they lost their last seven wickets for 18 runs.

The absence of big left-hander and former Poverty Bay men’s senior representative Darryl Dunn was keenly felt by Campion, who nevertheless resolved to make Horouta work hard for what might otherwise have been an easy win.

The deceptive Hurlstone took 4-18-6 while promising Year 9 Rhys Grogan (2-11-5) and the tearaway Marshall (1-13-5) also bowled accurately. Cameron Rowell held three catches, including former Northern Spirit player Mel Knight, caught-and-bowled for 7: Rowell, a tall slow-medium bowler, took 1-23-6.

Campion captain Spring said: “It’s just the start of the season for our young side. We worked hard to defend a modest total and had some promising moments with the ball.”

OBR have a good opening pair.

Captain Craig Christophers and big-hitter Thom Berry set up a successful run-chase for the older team against Gisborne Boys’ High School in Rawhiti Legal Old Boys Rugby’s eight wicket-win.

GBHS captain Noah Torrance-Cribb had won the toss and chosen to bat. Father and son pair Deevon and David Gray made 32 and 25 respectively in a 63-run stand for the first wicket, Boys’ High posting 154-6.

Craig Christophers and Thom Berry lay the platform for OBR.

Their partnership of 101— broken only by Berry’s retirement for 50 in Rawhiti Legal Old Boys Rugby’s eight wicket-win over the Gisborne Boys’ High School second 11 — made for a great case study in contrasting techniques.

Captain Christophers is one of club cricket’s great survivors, a skilful all-rounder possessed of great line and length as a seamer, and a natural timer of the ball. Burly keeper-batsman Berry strikes the ball cleanly. He hit a great straight six and two other boundaries as the older team chased down GBHS’ score in 23.3 overs.

Gisborne Boys’ two successful bowlers were leg-spinner Dylan Foster (1-24-2) and Jack of all trades Alex Shanks (1-9-2).

GBHS captain Noah Torrance-Cribb had previously won the toss, his team posting 154-6 in 30 overs. Opening up, the father and son combination of Deevon (32) and David Gray (25) shared a 39-run stand in 8.3 overs for the first wicket, with Boys’ High — the youngest team in senior club cricket — four down for 70 at the 15 over-mark (drinks).

Tall left-armer George Reynolds’ inswing, movement away off the seam and steep bounce posed problems for the GBHS batsmen — he took 1-22-6 — but every bowler in the match who dropped short paid for it. Gray senior hit two 6s over deep backward square leg off short deliveries.

The high-bouncing artificial wicket saw Gray junior caught down the leg-side off Reynolds, while both Christophers (32) and OBR first-drop the left-handed Peter Stewart (8) played the ball onto their own stumps.

The GBHS captain was philosophical. “We played pretty well — batted for 30 overs, David was solid,” said Torrance-Cribb.

“John Broad’s a Year 9, but he surprised me with how consistent he was — with his length — bowling full and straight. We had good energy.”