Walker Shield champs

BOYS' HIGH WINNERS: Gisborne Boys' High School beat High School Old Boys by six runs to win the Walker Shield final at Harry Barker Reserve on Saturday. Boys' High are, back (from left): Travis O'Rourke, Kelan Bryant, Graham Sharp, Keegan Jooste, Luke Fisher, Cohen Loffler and Malcolm Trowell (head coach). Front: Adam Situ, Lukas Fry, Dylan Foster, Nathan Trowell (captain), Alex Shanks and Bekko Page. Picture by Paul Rickard

GISBORNE Boys' High School are Walker Shield champions after they held off High School Old Boys in a dramatic last over on Saturday.

Boys' High scored 141-5 then, with HSOB needing 12 runs off the final over to win, took two wickets and conceded only five runs to win by six.

Both teams looked likely winners at different times in an enthralling Twenty20 match.

Galaxy World GBHS had a strong start through Graham Sharp (48) and Cohen Loffler (29), and captain Nathan Trowell chipped in with a handy innings of 32 not out.

However, they struggled to bat on as they looked to push the run rate. Three batsmen had ducks.

Behind Ryan Majstrovic's three wickets for 22 runs, Bollywood Stars HSOB were able to contain the damage, but captain Carl Shaw said he thought they gave away too many runs.

“The 141 should have been 120-odd. Too many dropped catches and extras meant that the total got away on us.”

An 18-run final over for GBHS highlighted the difficulty HSOB had containing the runs late and gave Nathan Trowell and his men a defendable total.

“Anything over 140 on that pitch was winnable with runs on the board,” Trowell said.

HSOB also had a strong start. Scott Tallott (34) and Baxter Mackay (28) put on 66 before Tallott was caught in the 10th over.

Despite having played almost 400 overs of cricket in the previous week, GBHS rallied and took seven wickets in six overs to take back the momentum.

Although stumbling, HSOB were still well within striking distance as the game reached the business end.

With HSOB needing just 12 runs from the final over to win, the game was still in the balance and supporters were anxious.

HSOB had three wickets in hand, but the first two balls from Alex Shanks brought two catches, one caught and bowled and the other on the boundary, to bring out the last two batsmen.

The pressure had eased for Boys' High, bowling to two fresh batsmen who had yet to face a ball, but it was not over yet.

HSOB had four balls to get the runs needed but they were unable to find the boundary and finished the game 135-9.

Shaw said he thought they had a good chance after the strong start from Tallott and Mackay, but a better team beat them on the day.

“Boys' High showed how to field — taking every catch, attacking the ball and working well together.

“We had too many people giving their wicket away or silly run-outs . . . not the recipe to win any game, let alone a final.

“Boys' High put in a far more complete performance and deserved the win.

“Nice work lads.”

Trowell said batting first gave them a strong advantage in adapting their game plan to how the pitch played.

“I figured when we were batting it was easier to score off the pace bowlers than it was to score off the slower bowlers.”

He said the decision to bowl Keegan Jooste, Luke Fisher and Alex Shanks was a success as the batsmen had to generate their own power and play shots they wouldn't usually play.

“I'm proud of the lads. We had a massive week of cricket and to win this competition was an awesome way to top it off.”