Carl Shaw in form is magic to watch.
The tall left-hander carried his bat for 53 in round four of the 40-over Doleman Cup, a win by eight wickets to his Bollywood High School Old Boys crew against Gisborne Boys’ High School First XI at Harry Barker Reserve on Saturday.
The week before, Shaw retired for 39 against Horouta and the four-team competition’s leading run-scorer is averaging 89.5.
His captain, Dave Castle (118 against GBHS in round 1), is the Premier grade’s only century-maker so far this season.
HSOB chased down the students’ total of 98, reaching the target from a wide, with second-drop Glen Udall (19 not out) on strike, five balls into the 15th over.
A bit of comedy had been supplied the ball before when four leg byes (the ball hit Udall’s helmet) were not signalled by Poverty Bay director of umpires Jason Trowill. The scores then were tied.
GBHS skipper Riker Rolls won the toss on a good, hard No 1 wicket and elected to bat first.
Boys’ High were dismissed in 30 overs. Left-armer Jak Rowe (three wickets for 18 runs off eight overs), spearheaded the bowling attack and was one of three seamers to take three wickets.
Shaw (3-12 off four overs) and Rhys Grogan (3-20 off six), at second and third change respectively, aided Rowe by applying pressure at both ends.
Malsha Mahabalage (15 in 33 balls at No 2) was the best of the four GBHS batsmen to make double figures. Six of them were bowled; two were caught by wicketkeeper Udall.
“We put up a quality bowling performance – a marked improvement in our length and consistency,” Castle said. “Jak and Connor Starck (five overs, one maiden) rewarded us with four wickets in the first 10 overs. From then on, it was about absorbing any fightback and finishing things off.
“Our batting continued as it has this season, with Carl dominating in all bar one innings. Everyone contributed to the win.”
HSOB are unbeaten in the Doleman Cup and Rolls acknowledged the quality of the opposition.
“They were very good. The ball did a bit when they bowled, as it did for our left-armers – Johni Gray (1-16 off four) and Caleb Taewa (1-26 off four), too. Johni produced a classic to get through their No 2 Taye McGuinness (4) – a good-length ball that nipped back to take off stump.”
That delivery, five balls into the third over – and the remarkable catch Akira Makiri took to dismiss Rhys Grogan (12) – a left-handed effort at mid-off running backwards off Taewa four balls into the eighth over, were the highlights of the second innings for GBHS.
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Jimmy Holden has turned in another marvellous performance.
Coastal Concrete Old Boys’ Rugby’s “King of Outswing” took the first five-for of the Premier grade season as Matthew Cook’s crew beat Moshim’s Horouta Te Waka by 86 runs.
Holden took 5-15 off 4.2 overs, including one maiden over, in a triumph of control and shape.
His tidy foil, Etienne Botes, was equally effective in snaring 3-22 off six, as the power-packed Waka were bundled out for 69 in 16.2 overs.
Horouta captain Jagroop Singh won the toss on No 2 and inserted OBR, who made 155 in 34.2 overs.
Holden was the last man to fall, for a three-ball duck, though the match got off to a heady start with Cody Andrews (15) clubbing the first ball from Singh for four.
OBR teenager Jonah Reynolds (33 at No 7), second-drop Tom Garrett (28) and first-drop Amit Vyas (25) played hands of character to stabilise the innings.
Vyas and Garrett’s 60-run stand for the third wicket was the biggest of the weekend.
OBR were helped by Te Waka sending down 24 wides (HSOB let go a round-four high of 27), and Reynolds, Garrett and Vyas did fine work to ensure that their club got a competitive total in 155.
“The pitch gave assistance to the pace bowlers with movement off the seam and bounce, especially in the first few overs,” Singh said. “It was not our day. Despite our taking early wickets, OBR built good partnerships and their bowling is top-notch.
“This defeat is a lesson for us. We will learn from it and come back strongly.”
