Premier cricket’s DJ Barry Cup competition takes a break tomorrow.
Instead, teams will play Twenty20 games for the Walker Shield over the next two Saturdays.
They will each play two games tomorrow, and complete the competition on Saturday, February 5.
At 10.30am tomorrow, Bollywood Stars High School Old Boys play Siteworx Civil Horouta and Coastal Concrete OBR play Galaxy World Gisborne Boys’ High School.
At 2.30pm, Horouta play Boys’ High and HSOB play OBR.
The third round of the competition will be at 10.30am on Saturday, February 5, and playoffs will be that afternoon.
After an upset victory over OBR last weekend, Horouta will have confidence in spades going into their game against HSOB.
With captain David Situ in good form and a bowling attack with a proven ability to win matches, the fortunes of Horouta will rest on the execution of their game plan.
This season they have struggled to keep their wickets in the longer-form competitions, so the T20 format will likely suit their batting style of aggressive shots while they look to push the run-rate.
OBR will want to bounce back after their loss to Horouta last weekend.
Skipper Nick Greeks’s team have the batting firepower to post big totals and will need to play around their big hitters.
Their line-up — used to batting with consistency and patience — has a shock to the system in store. They’ll come out swinging as they transition from 50-over cricket to the T20 format.
OBR have been consistent with the ball, and their tight line and length will suit the competition format and challenge batsmen to play more dangerous shots.
They have built a tight-knit unit of key players, and will look to field one of their strongest teams this season.
Boys’ High have struggled to find form with the bat and will hope Graham Sharp reproduces the magic that helped them cruise to the final last season.
Sharp hit back-to-back centuries in the opening weekend of the Walker Shield last season and looked unbreakable in the middle. It was the start of an incredible run of form that had him dominating the run-scorers’ leaderboard for the remainder of the season.
This season, he has struggled to make significant runs despite several good starts for Boys’ High. It’s a trend that he will want to break this weekend with some strong power-hitting.
HSOB have been the team to beat this season and come into the competition as favourites.
They have a batting line-up with skill and depth in spades. A strong start would help them bat through their overs and take teams out of their depth.
In the field, HSOB have sometimes struggled to take key wickets, but they make up for it with their passion and camaraderie.
They have some of the loudest and most supportive team members in the competition and keep their energy levels high despite the punishing heat.
With two games on both competition days, they will look to keep their energy high throughout to put their opponents on the back foot.