In club cricket on Saturday, Coastal Concrete OBR (on six competition points) joined the circle of victors, Bollywood High School Old Boys (14pts) made it three consecutive wins to start the season, Horouta (10pts) suffered their first defeat and the Galaxy World Gisborne Boys' High School first 11 (two points) were still seeking their first win.
Greeks won the toss on Harry Barker Reserve No.1 and chose to bowl first.
Horouta No.1 Harmanpreet Singh (34 runs) and his fellow opener Teghbir Singh (33) hit the ball hard without being reckless. Their 71-run partnership was the premier grade's biggest of the round.
First drop Brick struck 33 off 42 balls and all-rounder Bruno Judd — fifth man in — looked classy for 26. The energetic Judd also took 1-42 from 6.4 overs with the ball and was tasked with bowling the last over of the match.
Greeks bowled his full complement of eight overs tidily, taking 1-31.
OBR's MVP (most valuable player), Paul Stewart, took 4-35 from eight overs and Karan Solanski took 2-25 from four.
Horouta were all out two balls into the 38th over.
In the OBR innings, Horouta MVP Jagroop Singh took 3-29 from eight overs. Fellow seamers Aekamjot Singh, 2-35, and Hasantha Withanage, 1-17 (including two maiden overs), also bowled out.
Brick respects the doughty OBR.
“Paul (Stewart, 57 at the top of the batting order) made the most of his opportunity,” he said.
“We all know how determined a cricketer he is.
“Nick (Greeks, unbeaten on 37 off 49 balls from No.7) played a real captain's knock. His flick-shot for six — only the second boundary of his innings — to win the game, power and placement-wise, was something special.”
Greeks, whose younger brother Jesse (0 not out) was with him at the end, said of the first innings: “Jimmy Holden (1-31 from seven overs) and Matt Cook (1-37 from 6.2) took the new ball, Karan had Teghbir — a big wicket — caught by Cookie at mid-off, and Paul made a great start to his season with a four-wicket haul, bowling line and length with good variations.
“That game definitely represented our best effort so far in the field. Paul and Sean (Henry, 16) did a top job for us with the bat, putting on 48 for the first wicket.
“Paul kept the score moving, and displayed an excellent temperament even as wickets fell around him. I batted pretty well with us needing 15 off the last two overs and 12 off the last. Karan also played a big part at No.9, getting us close with some clean hitting for 24.
“We're very happy to come away with a win this week, a good team performance getting us over the line.”
It's frightening to imagine what Bollywood High School Old Boys will do when they really click.
Under game-day captain Dave Castle, the blue-and-whites — premier cricket's No.1 team — cruised to victory over Gisborne Boys' High School by 44 runs.
Castle won the toss on the representative wicket, opted to bat and HSOB had made 165 when Daniel Torrie (23), in at eight, was bowled by Luke Fisher (2-15 in 4.3 overs) with three balls remaining in the 40th over.
The Boys' High bowling attack was spearheaded to tremendous effect at the weekend by Cohen Loffler.
Possibly the competition's quickest bowler, Loffler took 3-12 from eight overs, two of which were maidens. His new-ball partner, skipper Nathan Trowell, and first-change paceman Bekko Page both went wicketless for 38 and 18 off eight and three overs respectively.
Off-spinner George Gillies (3-43) and leg-spinner Dylan Foster (2-36) provided variety to the GBHS bowling unit.
Limiting HSOB to 165 was a good effort.
Castle said: “We had to work hard on that wicket. A damp outfield meant both teams scored fewer boundaries than would normally be the case and Dylan was fantastic with the ball for GBHS in the best spell I've seen from him.
“In their innings, it was our plan to curb their scoring intent early on by creating dot-ball pressure. Dan Torrie (left-arm orthodox spin, 4-38 from 7.3 overs) bowled beautifully for us and got the big wicket of their No.3 Nathan Trowell (13), stumped by wicketkeeper Scott Tallott. Everyone worked hard across the park.”
Castle took 4-15 from eight overs of tight off-spin. Spin bowlers took 13 of the 20 wickets to fall in the match.
Travis O'Rourke led the Boys' High run-chase from the top with Loffler. They both made 20 and shared an opening stand of 43. Dylan Torrie showed intent to score in his 20 off 38 balls coming in at No.7. Even so, High School Old Boys' reading of the game (and calling of it, in the middle) was sharp and accurate.
The ability to generate “scoreboard pressure” hinges on four factors: accurate bowling, thoughtful field placements, busy fielders and the kind of chat that promotes the bowler and his outfit without denigrating the opposition.
A month in, the camaraderie in club cricket is good. During a time in which player enjoyment and retention is critical, it is important that this remain so.
Trowell acknowledged that the Castle-led Blues bowled tight lines and were difficult to score against.
He was pleased with the application shown by O'Rourke, Loffler and Torrie. Although spinners Gillies and Foster flighted the ball well and gave it a chance to curve, dip and turn, the Boys' High MVP was Loffler.
HSOB made their MVP a team award.
Bollywood High School Old Boys 165 (David Salmon 26, Scott Tallott 26, Daniel Torrie 23, Jarrod Renouf 20; Cohen Loffler 3-12, George Gillies 3-43, Luke Fisher 2-15, Dylan Foster 2-36) Galaxy World Gisborne Boys' High School 121 (Travis O'Rourke 20, Cohen Loffler 20, Dylan Torrie 20; David Castle 4-15, Daniel Torrie 4-38, Angus Orsler 2-24).
Coastal Concrete Old Boys' Rugby 187-8 (Paul Stewart 57, Nick Greeks 37 not out, Karan Solanski 24; Jagroop Singh 3-29, Aekamjot Singh 2-35) Horouta Te Waka 185 (Harmanpreet Singh 34, Teghbir Singh 33, Ben Brick 33; Paul Stewart 4-35, Karan Solanski 2-25).
