Pups beat feisty Sharks

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Cricket

The dog had its day.

The Bollywood High School Old Boys Pups last night beat a feisty OBR Sharks crew by eight wickets in Round 2 of the six-week, nine-a-side T15 Colts cricket league at Nelson Park.

Having only three players initially (five by game’s end), OBR Sharks were permitted to bat first and made 50-3 off 14.5 overs, second-drop Jack Holden (10 runs off 22 balls) hitting four cut-shots.

Holden and Year 6 opening bat Joel Kirkpatrick (eight runs) countered the high bounce of the artificial wicket with fine footwork and positive intent at the crease, while Taye McGuinness (1-6 off 1.5 overs), Oliver Egan (1-12 off three overs) and Gagandeep Singh (1-13 off three overs) all bowled well for the Pups.

HSOB captain Hamish Swann then hammered two pull-shots in an unbeaten 18 ball-innings of 25.

Hard-hitting No.4 John Broad (14 not out) and first-drop Singh (12 not out) likewise dealt harshly with the short-pitched ball, despite some gutsy fielding by Egan at mid-wicket.

With the bowlers operating from one end only throughout the match, Egan worked very hard to help brave opposition low on numbers in the 7.4 overs of the second innings — an excellent sporting gesture.

The Tairawhiti Women’s Cricket Club continued their strong start to the season with their second T15 win in a row.

TWCC beat a DNature Dragons team missing the likes of Theo McKay by seven wickets.

The Dragons were bowled out for 28 in 12 overs, captain No.5 Alex Shanks their top-scorer with nine runs off just seven balls, seamer Grace Kuil (2-2 off one over), Tegan Hayward (1-0 off two overs), Savannah McGhee (1-3 off two overs) and Mandy Pardoe (1-9 off three overs) the successful bowlers.

The women made 30-1 off 5.3 overs to win the shortest game of the competition to date, openers Kuil (12) and Pardoe (11 not out) in good touch, medium-pacer Izan Duckworth (1-9 off 1.3 overs) the Dragons’ successful bowler, claiming Kuil’s wicket with the first ball of the fourth over.

The Ngatapa Knights’ six-wicket win in 9.4 overs against the Bollywood Stars was a gritty affair.

Knights captain George Gillies won the toss, Ngatapa then restricting the Stars to 70-4 off 15 overs, first-drop Arlo Willis and skipper Connor Starck both scoring seven runs each.

Knights seamer Jonah Reynolds (2-2 off two overs), Dylan Torrie (1-6 off two) and Tom Rouse (1-12 off two) bowled well.

Reynolds (16 runs) and fellow opening batsman Gillies then laid the platform for victory, Gillies hitting four boundaries in a quality knock of 24 retired, not-out off the maximum 18 balls.

Vincent Patrick Page (1-4 off one) and talented all-rounder David Gray (1-17 off two) were the Stars’ best with the ball.

In tomorrow’s 8.30am T30 games at Nelson Park, the TWCC take on the Bollywood Stars on Nelson Park No.5, the Ngatapa Knights face the DNature Dragons on No.4 and the Bollywood HSOB Pups play the OBR Sharks on No.3.