A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
This Super 8 tournament is one for the spinners.
In Pool 2 action at Harry Barker Reserve yesterday, Tauranga Boys' College captain and off-spin bowler Darcy Collett, Hastings Boys' High School leg-spinner Kulwant Singh, New Plymouth BHS leggie William Jull and offie Chester Oldfield, and Gisborne BHS leggie Dylan Foster were the leading wicket-takers.
Collett took 4-15 against Hastings, Singh took 3-17 against Tauranga, Jull and Oldfield both took 3-15 against Galaxy World Gisborne, and Foster took 3-31 against New Plymouth.
In only one game — defending champions Palmerston North Boys' High School's 23-run win against Napier in Pool 1 — did the pacemen hold sway.
Palmerston North opening bowler Saim Ahmed took 3-22 and Napier left-armer Finn Diphoorn took 2-34.
Former Black Cap Chris Kuggeleijn, whose Hamilton BHS side had the Round 2 bye because of Rotorua Boys' High School's absence, has been impressed by what he's seen.
“Good spinners are a huge part of the game and here we've had offies, leggies, left-armers — it's been great,” said the three-time national Gillette Cup-winning, 11-time Super 8-winning coach.
“This is my 21st tournament and the camaraderie among Super 8 sports teams is always good. I take my hat off to the people behind the scenes who've made this happen.”
Gisborne leg-spinner Dylan Foster's star turn with the ball against New Plymouth came on the heels of off-spinner George Gillies's 3-36 against Tauranga in Round 1.
New Plymouth captain Jacob Mitchell won the toss on HBR No.3 and chose to bat.
Gisborne dismissed New Plymouth for 255 in 42.4 overs. Eighth option Bekko Page (2-29 off five overs) and third-change seamer Luke Fisher (2-30 off six) both kept the ball up to the bat on a wicket that rewarded the disciplined bowler.
Mitchell, who batted at No.3, looked invincible during his 42-ball innings of 59, the highest individual score of the match. He hit 11 fours in an hour at the crease.
Hrishi Bolar (46), Riley Bettington (40) and Braydon Baker (39) at 4, 5 and 6 respectively also made promising starts on a day during which at least one of the four New Plymouth batsmen might well have joined Tauranga opener Sebastian Heath as a century-maker here.
Gisborne stuck to their task with the ball and in the field. They held some great catches and produced deliveries of rare calibre, such as Page's off-cutter to No.7 batsman Logan Hislop (2) — it was a beauty to bowl five balls into any batsman's innings.
Gisborne's tall wicketkeeper Sebastian Wilson held three catches yesterday, showing good agility to glove the ball at different heights.
Leg-spinner Jull achieved more bounce than any other bowler on show against Gisborne yesterday as he took 3-15 with two maidens in 10 overs. The two byes conceded by New Plymouth 'keeper Hugo Roy were the product of wrist-snap and a nice loop from Jull, which made the ball spit.
Gisborne lost opening batsman Luke Fisher (9) with the score at 38 after 13.2 overs and lost three wickets with the score at 65.
Fisher's opening partner Cohen Loffler and No.7 Travis O'Rourke both top-scored for the home team with 15.
Undoubtedly the catch of the match was Hislop's effort at deep backward square leg to dismiss Gisborne No.4 Kelan Bryant (8) on the sweep off Jull. Having been set forward of square leg, Hislop caught the ball in two hands with his arms outstretched.
Gisborne were bowled out for 93 in 36.5 overs of the 50-over match.
Gisborne coach Malcolm Trowell said: “In our next game against Hastings, we want to play more strongly with the bat. I think our change bowlers need to stay in a channel outside off-stump, not waver on both sides of the wicket. They need to build on the foundation set up by Nathan and Cohen.
“I can't fault our commitment in the field but we need to take any easy catches on offer.”
Trowell's opposite, former Namibian International JB Burger, is working with a solid unit.
“We managed to keep our cool and keep scoring runs even though we kept losing wickets at regular intervals,” he said.
“Gisborne did well to take wickets at key stages, as we got into position to accelerate. Gisborne capitalised on our mistakes but similarly we put pressure on them in their innings by getting wickets. William (Jull) has had a good run in the past few games; he's in rhythm and makes use of his variations.”
Super 8 schools first 11 cricket tournament, Harry Barker Reserve, Day 2, Round 2 (50 overs)
Pool 1
Palmerston North Boys' High School 208-9 (Jaiden Meyer 67, Jett Donald-Charnley 35, Ethan Campbell 31, Sam Kennett 21; Finn Diphoorn 2-34) beat Napier BHS 185-9 (Jacob Cotter 41, Charlie Pawson 35; Saim Ahmed 3-22, Jerome Robinson 2-15).
Bye: Hamilton BHS.
Pool 2
New Plymouth BHS 255 (Jacob Mitchell 59, Hrishi Bolar 46, Riley Bettington 40, Braydon Baker 39; Dylan Foster 3-31, Bekko Page 2-29, Luke Fisher 2-30) beat Gisborne BHS 93 (Cohen Loffler 15, Travis O'Rourke 15; William Jull 3-15, Chester Oldfield 3-15, Braydon Baker 2-14).
Tauranga Boys' College 127-7 (Aiden Green 29, Sebastian Heath 21; Kulwant Singh 3-17, William Taylor 2-18) beat Hastings BHS 125 (Koji Hardgrave-Abe 48, Brayden Reeve 19; Darcy Collett 4-15, Harsh Patel 3-21, Troy Barnett 2-22).
Draw for today, Round 3 —
Pool 1: Palmerston North BHS v Hamilton BHS on HBR 3. Bye: Napier BHS.
Pool 2: Hastings BHS v Gisborne BHS on HBR 2; Tauranga Boys' College v New Plymouth on HBR 4.