Second Premier club cricket trophy for Gisborne Boys’ High

Gisborne Boys' High First XI after adding the DJ Barry Cup Premier club cricket title to their Doleman Cup victory. Back row (from left) are Jack Williams, Gayesha Mahabalage, Robbie Newlands, Caleb Taewa, Anthony Boyder, Jonah Reynolds, Steve Whitaker (player-coach) and Brandon Fearnley. Front: Alex Shanks, Joel Kirkpatrick, Charlie Whitfield (captain), Jordyn Haley and Pranash Senthooran.

It has been a great 2025-26 Poverty Bay Premier Grade club cricket season for Gisborne Boys’ High School First XI.

On December 13 last year, they beat Bollywood High School Old Boys by 21 runs in the Doleman Cup 40-overs final.

On Saturday, they defeated reigning champions Moshim’s Spice Horouta Te Waka by three wickets to claim the DJ Barry Cup 40-overs championship.

And this Saturday at Harry Barker Reserve, they again line up against Horouta in the Premier 30-over competition decider.

A Premier Grade triple crown for the Steve Whitaker-coached, Charlie Whitfield-captained GBHS side is a possibility in what has been a roller-coaster summer, ranging from the highs of their trophy victories to the lows of losing all four of their games at the Super 8 tournament in Hamilton last month.

The highs are what they will remember, the latest of those being Saturday’s hard-earned win.

“It was a low-scoring game in which every GBHS player made a contribution,” Whitaker said.

“The boys bowled straight, backed that up with strong fielding and later Joel Kirkpatrick (49 not out) and Pranash Senthooran (4no) got us over the finish line with the bat.”

Horouta captain James Birrell won the coin toss and chose to bat on the No 2 wicket.

Budding all-rounder Jack Williams (two wickets for 23 runs off five overs), on at first change, was the first GBHS medium pacer to strike. Two balls into the seventh over, he had dangerous left-hander Hansa Fernando (11) caught by Jonah Reynolds at mid-off with Horouta on 23.

Williams struck again four balls into the 13th over when he bowled Gautam Sareen (25 off 34 balls) with Horouta on 48 – a huge blow considering Sareen’s ability to turn a game with his aggressive stroke play.

Horouta went into consolidation mode but found runs hard to score before losing two quick wickets, including Birrell (14), who was caught by Robbie Newlands from the left-arm orthodox spin of Jordyn Haley (2-30 off 8).

Tall seamer Newlands backed that up with his best bowling of the season – 2-8 off 6 – and Whitfield, another left-arm finger spinner, applied the screws with 1-11-4, including two maidens.

Opening bowlers Brandon Fearnley (1-15-2.5 overs) and Jonah Reynolds, with a fine return of 2-12 off 9 – four of those maidens – came back to mop up the tail to dismiss Horouta for 103 in 34.5 overs.

The Waka, through Bobby Maan (15), Aman Kamboj (15) and Birrell, did what they could, but could not build a bigger partnership than the stand of 23 between Fernando and Sareen.

In response, GBHS put up two partnerships, for the sixth and eighth wickets, of 23, but no more ... a measure of the grit needed to grind runs out at Harry Barker Reserve this summer.

They lost wickets regularly but easily their best batsman of the last month – Kirkpatrick – stepped up, carrying his bat for 49 off 85 balls, including five boundaries.

Kirkpatrick was outstanding over the DJ Barry Cup competition, scoring 65, 75 and Saturday’s unbeaten 49.

Guest player Anthony Boyder, of Bollywood High School Old Boys, came in at No 7 and was the only other GBHS team member to pass double figures.

Boyder adopted a rather different approach. He hit the first ball he faced for six and made 16 from seven balls – with a second six among those runs.

“It was a hard day to score runs on a slow, dusty pitch and we needed a few more runs to be competitive,” Birrell said. “We knew at the break that we had to get quick wickets to make a game of it. We did well to keep the run rate down, but then Anthony came out, took charge and swung the game Boys High’s way.”

SCOREBOARD

Poverty Bay Premier Grade 40-over DJ Barry Cup grand final

Gisborne Boys’ High School First XI 107-7 in 28.2 overs (Joel Kirkpatrick 49no, Anthony Boyder 16; Arun Babu 3-11-5, James Birrell 2-26-5) def Moshim’s Spice Horouta Te Waka 103 all-out in 34.5 overs (Gautam Sareen 24, Bobby Maan 15, Aman Kamboj 15, James Birrell 14; Robbie Newlands 2-8-6, Jonah Reynolds 2-12-9, Jack Williams 2-23-5, Jordyn Haley 2-30-8) by 11 runs.

Poverty Bay Reserve Grade Hope Cup 30-over championship semi-finals

1 v 4, Bollywood High School Old Boys Presidents 167-9 in 29.3 overs (Jeff Chambers 38, Nathan Quimpo 27, Glen Udall 21 retired; Kobe Donnelly 5-34-5.3, Jed Martyn 2-23-3) def Gisborne Boys’ High School Second XI 120 all-out in 21.5 overs (Mike Hope 54no, Harvey Reynolds 31; Jak Rowe 4-16-6, Bradley Clark 2-21-5.3, Quimpo 2-23-3) by 47 runs.

2 v 3, Pioneer Ngatapa Green Caps 44-3 in 6 overs (Jacque Davis 14, George Whitehead 9no; Amit Vyas 2-12-3) def Moshim’s Spice Horouta Te Waka Presidents 43 all-out in 13.4 overs (Lucky Singh 12, Vyas 6; Hoffman Haasbroek 3-8-4, Archie Gillies 1-11-3) by 7 wickets.

Gisborne Boys’ High School T20 Challenge Cup, Round 4

GBHS The Life Guards 105-5 (Pranash Senthooran 36no, Cody McMurray 25no; Brandon Chari 2-27-3, Jed Reynolds 1-4-3, Reef Bull-Parsons 1-23-4) def GBHS The King’s Own 103-4 (Harvey Reynolds 38, Jed Reynolds 24, Charlie Hope 13; Felix Askew 1-16-2.3 overs) by 2 runs.

GBHS The Blues & Royals 40-2 in 8.1 overs (Jasper Sutherland 16no; Zach Kirkpatrick 2-9-3) def GBHS The Admiralty 39 all-out in 14 overs (Mitchell Van Zyl 5, Niall Schutte 4; Kushan Malimage 3-7-4, Sutherland 2-10-4) by 4 wickets.