OBR will play Gisborne Boys’ High School (1) and High School Old Boys will meet Pirates in the sudden-death Walker Shield Twenty20 cricket semifinals on Thursday night after the final round-robin matches were played at Harry Barker Reserve on Saturday.
Bain Construction OBR finished top of the table with 28 points after beating Campion College and GBHS (1). Tamarind HSOB were second on 24 points after defeating GBHS (2) and Bollywood Stars. Kevin Hollis Glass Pirates came third on 20 points, following wins against GBHS (1) and GBHS (2), with GBHS (1) fourth on 16 pts.
OBR opened the day with a 143-run win against Campion after Craig Christophers and Patrick Mathers shared an opening stand of 146. Christophers was first to go, retired hurt. Josh Adams came and went without scoring, leaving Mathers and Ian Loffler (21 not out) to put on 59 runs before Mathers was dismissed for 102. He faced 77 balls and hit 12 fours as OBR posted 205-2. The wickets were shared by the OBR bowlers as Campion were restricted to 62-8.
Kieran Venema top-scored for OBR in their second game, against GHBS (1). He hit 60 runs off 71 balls. OBR scored 176-7, then restricted Boys’ High to 138-6. Loffler carried on his good form, hitting 35 off 19 balls, while skipper Jonathan Purcell contributed a valuable 29 not out.
Campion bounced back from their mauling by OBR to beat Horouta, with player-coach Mark Naden again starring. The Campion College teacher hit 11 fours as he smashed 64 off 31 balls to steer his side to 185-7. Patrick McHugh and Naden’s son Matt gave Campion a great start with an opening stand of 48 before McHugh was out for 15. After Matt Hudson was out, Matt Naden hit 36 off 34 balls before being dismissed.
Opening bowler Sam Patterson then joined Mark Naden and they put on 92 runs before Patterson was out for 35 off 27 balls. Horouta were never in the hunt. They lost wickets at regular intervals, and were restricted to 73-9. Matt Naden was the chief wicket-taker, claiming 4-27, with Patterson and Hudson chipping in with two wickets apiece.
HSOB started the day on 16 points but stormed home to come second. After easily accounting for GBHS (2), HSOB took on the Stars, scored 125-8 and rolled the Stars for 95. The Stars had kept their playoffs hopes alive by beating Horouta in the first game.