ALL-ROUND PERFORMER: Campion College seamer Max Briant had an excellent all-round match against OBR on Saturday. File picture by Paul Rickard
CRICKET
They came close. But the fact is that Horouta lost to unbeaten Hope Cup cricket competition leaders Ngatapa by two wickets at the weekend.
Civil Project Solutions Ngatapa Green Caps (12 points) won the toss and dismissed Coastal Ultrasound Horouta (6pts) for 128 in 29.4 overs of the 30-over contest on the Harry Barker Reserve practice block.
Horouta’s Piumal Madusanka, batting at No.9, hit six boundaries in his 40-ball innings of 33 — a knock that helped the Waka fight back, from 76-8 in 18.1 overs, to 127-9 in 29.1 overs.
Madusanka’s 51-run stand for the ninth wicket with No.10 Kayley Knight (seven runs) was gritty stuff.
Former Northern Spirit off-spin bowler Mel Knight, batting at No.3, had earlier made 18 and cagey Amit Vyas had scored 17 from No.7. These modest but immensely valuable contributions gave Horouta renewed heart and — possibly — just enough runs to defend.
Ngatapa captain Mike Gibson (4-20 off six overs), Phil Cook (3-12 off 3.4) and Angus Orsler (2-33 off six) generally kept a good line and length.
Green Caps opening batsman Jack Jefferd — as with his cousin and fellow opener Matt Jefferd for High School Old Boys President’s against the Gisborne Boys’ High School Colts — was a calming influence in the middle after Etienne Botes (2-22 off six) took the wickets of Simon Wilson and Murray Cook in the first over.
The Waka were fizzing and Ngatapa were two down without a run on the board. Jack Jefferd made 60 off 69 balls from No.2. The only other score of consequence was 20 from Gibson, who came in at six.
Botes had excellent support with the ball from K. Solokara Mudiyanselage (2-13 off five overs), Vyas (2-22 off five) and Abdul Fahad (1-14 off 2.1).
Horouta were tenacious in the field, too. Their captain, Heyan Ranasinghe, said: “I’m happy that we gave Ngatapa a good fight. We can bat better than we did but certainly our bowlers and fielders gave of their best.”
Matt Jefferd is gold.
Ever-watchful, he made an admirable unbeaten 64 off 83 balls to steer Bollywood High School Old Boys President’s to a seven-wicket win against the Gisborne Boys’ High School Colts on Saturday.
Jefferd — who took 2-20 off six overs bowling medium-pace in the first innings — carried his bat for the Isaac Hughes-led President’s, who chased down the GBHS 30-over total of 121-6.
HSOB, who with nine points are placed second behind Ngatapa in the six-team race, had three overs in hand at the end of an interesting game against the Colts (in fifth place on three points).
GBHS won the toss and batted first, but their captain Daniel Stewart was bowled first ball of the match — for a royal duck — by Jake Theron (1-18 off six), whose quality outswing was the perfect complement to Jefferd’s fourth-stump line and the full length of Tayla Hollis (2-19 off five).
Stewart’s fellow opener, wicketkeeper Jack Whitehead-McKay (19) and No.3 Nathan Trowell (23 off 39 balls) then added 48 runs. Second-drop Daniel Watts (42 not out) and No.7 Matthew Foster (10) had a sixth-wicket stand of 37 for the second Boys’ High partnership of note.
Boys’ High haven’t produced a 50-run stand or had a batsman pass 50 yet this season but Watts, Trowell, Whitehead-McKay and Cohen Loffler have all made 20-run starts in the four games played to date and given signs of more to come.
Jefferd lost his opening partner — Ollie Needham (23 off 33) — leg before wicket to seamer Loffler (1-15 off five) four balls into the 13th over with the score at 52.
Trowell (1-17 off three) bowled HSOB No.3 Nick Armour (1) with a Yorker and Boys’ High’s third wicket-taker, Noah Torrance-Cribb (1-10 off two), had Hughes (8) caught by Stewart at mid-on. It was a good one-handed grab low to his right as he came in.
Hughes described the Colts as worthy competitors.
Stewart said: “Against a good HSOB team, we posted a total and bowled OK, but we need to improve our fielding. All up, though, I’m happy with that performance.”
He makes a big difference.
Max Briant had an excellent match with bat, ball and in the field for Campion College against Rawhiti Legal Old Boys Rugby.
The 6ft 6in 16-year-old took 3-36 in six overs, ran OBR stalwart No.3 Ian Loffler out for 45 from midwicket and as first-drop hammered four fours and a six in a 12-ball innings of 24 at two better than a run a minute.
Team No.6 Campion reached 180-8 in pursuit of OBR’s 255-7 at Harry Barker Reserve. OBR won by 75 runs.
Earlier, OBR skipper Craig Christophers had won the toss and hit nine boundaries in a 59-ball knock of 69 from No.1 before retiring. He and Loffler shared a 99-run stand for the second wicket.
Jonty Fenn took 2-40 off four overs with his off-spin and Hamish Swann took 1-10 off two with his medium pace. They were a great foil for Briant’s steep bounce.
OBR’s 255 — outside of Christophers’ 69 and Loffler’s 45 — was principally made up of 33 from second-drop Matt McFatter, an unbeaten 24 by No.9 Ben Brick and 23 from Mana Taumaunu batting at six.
In Campion’s innings, player-coach Mark Naden (59 from 70 balls, nine fours) played a dab hand at the top of the order. His sound footwork and ability to punish the short ball remains intact, and — without solid Year 11 cricketers Blake Marshall, regular keeper Liam Spring and Luke Hurlstone — the College dug deep.
Under those circumstances, 180 chasing 255 is a good effort from a young team, but OBR — who conceded 45 extras, including 33 wides — might wince at those sundries.
Loffler (3-9 off five overs with three maiden overs), Christophers (2-8 off three) and Lloyd van Zyl (1-24 off five) were the best of the OBR seamers.
In an anomaly reminiscent of Australian Warwick Armstrong (1921) and New Zealander Alex Moir (1951) being the only bowlers in test history to bowl two consecutive overs, OBR right-arm round-the-wicket off-spinner Shaiv Patel (0-15 off one over) bowled an eventful 31st over — 1, 2, 1, 2, no-ball, no-ball, four wides, dot ball, 2 — in what was a 30-over clash.
“Our boys were good today — eight guys bowled, 10 batted — everyone contributed,” Christophers said.
“Campion played well also. ‘Nades’ does a great job with them and it was awesome to see other teachers and dads helping out, too.”
With this their second win in three games, OBR (6pts) are in fourth position; Campion have yet to claim a competition point.