Rep season under way

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

Poverty Bay got their representative season under way at the Northern Districts boys’ junior secondary schools tournament in Rotorua yesterday.

The Year 9-10 side lost to Bay of Plenty Lakelands by 56 runs and then lost to Counties-Manukau by 34 runs, after rain washed out two days’ play.

Lakelands reached 127-4. Viren Patel scored 43 before he was run out by bowler Daniel Stewart (1-22 off three overs), who sprawled to stop a hard-hit drive, sat up, saw Patel’s bat in the air and shied at the stumps to remove the non-striker.

Lakelands skipper Harry Jones scored 29 off 33 balls and vice-captain Cohen Stewart, 29 from 38.

Seamers Travis O’Rourke (1-10 off two) and Matthew Foster (1-4 off three) bowled with control.

Poverty Bay were 71-9 at the end of their 20 overs. Cohen Loffler (16 off 27 balls) was the only Poverty Bay player to score in double figures. Patel, Ethan Forbes and Sam Lund (2-12-3) took two wickets each.

Counties-Manukau scored 133-1 batting first in the second match. Foster took the only wicket in his three overs for 26 runs.

Co-captain Anthony Bolton hit three sixes and four fours in his 56 not out, while opener Hamish Farrell scored 46 not out.

For Poverty Bay, Loffler scored 15 off 14 balls and Liam Spring, 14 off 10. Poverty Bay had one wicket in hand and 99 runs on the board after 20 overs. Unusually, Counties bowled 23 wides.