Uphill for Horouta cricket after DJ Barry Cup semis

Stars skipper Sam Singh slashes outside the off stump in his innings of 137 against Gisborne Boys’ High School at Harry Barker Reserve. The Stars won this DJ Barry Cup game on Saturday and sit second with one round-robin game to go before the semifinals. Picture by Paul Rickard

A MAN-of-the-match performance from OBR medium-pace bowler Jimmy Holden has almost certainly ended Horouta’s hopes of a place in the DJ Barry Cup semifinals after the penultimate game in the round-robin format at the weekend.

Horouta went into the match at Harry Barker Reserve in fourth spot but lost to Bain Construction OBR by 62 runs, with a fired-up Holden capturing four wickets for 17 runs off 6.5 overs.

The loss, along with a 10-wicket demolition of Campion College by Tamarind High School Old Boys, allowed HSOB to leapfrog Horouta.

To make the semifinals, Horouta must beat second-placed Bollywood Stars in their last game and hope Gisborne Boys’ High School (2) can cause the upset of the season by downing HSOB.

Stars skipper Sam Singh, his Boys’ High first 11 counterpart Drew Scott and HSOB medium-pacer Beau Minogue-Harrison were also in top form. Singh scored 137 and Scott, 87, while Minogue-Harrison took eight wickets for 22 runs off 8.5 overs against Campion College.

Singh thumped his 137 off 115 balls, including 11 fours and two sixes, before being bowled byRyan Nepe with one ball remaining in the Stars’ 40 overs. They scored 274.

Singh and Harry Singh shared a third wicket-stand of 105, with Harry hitting 34 off 35 balls. Ajay Kumar chipped in with 31.

Nepe and Korban Harrison-Allen gave Boys’ High a solid start with a 31-run partnership before Nepe was bowled by Keegan Martin for 21. Paul Stewart joined Harrison-Allen and they took the score to 59 before Stewart was caught by Sam Singh off Martin.

Scott and Harrison-Allen took the game to the Stars with a 76-run stand before Harrison-Allen was caught behind by Kumar off Gary Singh, for 42 from 46 balls.

Fourth-wicket partnershipScott then shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 87 with Matthew McNeil, who was unbeaten on 24.Gagan Dhingra ended the combination when he bowled Scott.

OBR skipper Jonathan Purcell won the toss and chose to bat first but, apart from a 50-run partnership from opener Craig Christophers (27) Ian Loffler (18), it was a day the OBR batsmen would rather forget.

“It wasn’t so much our batsmen who failed,” said Holden after his side were bowled out for 146 in 32.3 overs. “You have to give credit to Clarrie Campbell and Billy Morse. They bowled superbly and got the ball to move through the air, Clarrie with his left-arm orthodox off-spin and Billy with his medium pace.”

Horouta skipper Mel Knight changed things up and had Campbell and Sukhi Karpania open the bowling. Horouta rewarded their skipper with a good display of bowling and fielding. Morse finished with 3-18 off six overs and Campbell took 3-27 off 10.

They were well supported by Chad Collins, Phoebe Taylor, Knight and Karpania, who all took a wicket each.

Unfortunately for Horouta, their chase was in trouble after three overs. They were 10-2, with Greg Taylor trapped leg before wicket by Holden, who then had Edwin Sandys caught behind by Loffler.

Duncan Gibson followed five runs later, caught and bowled by Timoti Weir.

Vishal Amin smashed 12 off an Arun Kurup but was bowled by Matt Cook with the score at 36.

Mel Knight finished 19 not out. Phoebe Taylor tried to stay with her Poverty Bay women’s coach and mentor as Horouta looked for the magic 100 runs for a bonus point, but they fell 16 runs short.

Capping a solid gameChristophers capped a solid game with figures of 3-9 off eight overs, and Holden mopped up the tail.

Kevin Hollis Glass Pirates stay in pole position for the playoffs, 1 v 4 and 2 v 3, on 100 points, following their eight-wicket defeat of GBHS (2). The Stars are second on 84 points, with OBR next on 80, then HSOB on 67 and Horouta on 61.

Pirates dismissed the school side for 69. Pirates captain Mitchell Turner and Daniel Torrie each took three wickets. Simon Blaker marked his return to the Pirates team with two wickets.

Torrie led the chase with his highest score (42) since he joined Pirates from Campion two years ago.

Minogue-Harrison was the star of the show for HSOB. He took 8-22 off 8.5 overs as Campion were rolled for 52 in 17.5 overs. HSOB replied with 53 without loss. Glen Udall scored 19 (retired) and Matt Jefferd scored 19 not out, extras making up the remaining runs.