Blues and Royals captain Kelan Bryant won the toss and opted to bat. Bryant (22 off 21 balls) and Noah Torrance-Cribb (42 from 23) put the hammer down in a 64-run opening stand, and second-drop Bekko Page (36 from 34) later shared a 29-run partnership with Taylor Scott (eight runs, batting at six) to advance the score to 108.
GBHS posted 146-7, with Campion captain Rhys Grogan (2-15) and player-coach Jonty Fenn (2-45) both bowling four overs.
In the run chase, opening batsman Reuben Swanepoel made a superb 56 from 53, and as his opposite No.2 did for Boys' High, hit nine boundaries. Grogan backed up his great spell with the new ball by making 24 off 15 as first-drop. Blues and Royals opening bowlers Akira Makiri (2-19 in three overs) and Page (2-41 from four) had the most success for Boys' High.
The Challenge Cup, originally limited to Y9-10s, has received a tremendous boost with the inclusion of older players, such as Fenn and his fellow Y13 Liam Spring (Campion Green). Campion teacher Mark Naden explains: “We're very lucky to have these guys giving back to the sport by mentoring our young cricketers.”
The Tairawhiti Women's Cricket Club, led by Gisborne Girls' High School Y13 Northern Districts and New Zealand representative Kayley Knight, and the five Y11s spread across three GBHS teams, all made valuable contributions in the opening week, Round 1 having been rained off.
The TWCC beat an Admiralty crew hard-hit by injury with skill and discipline: their margin of victory was six wickets. GBHS captain Alex Shanks (fractured right thumb) won the toss, took first knock and the Boys' High innings closed at 49 in 8.4 overs, Shanks and Y11 Sebastian Wilson unable to bat. Second-drop Daniel Watts made a run-a-minute 32 from 28 balls, impressing umpire and TWCC coach Mel Knight with his effort and mature approach to the game.
Knight junior's ND u19 teammate Y11 Grace Levy picked up 2-4 off two overs and saw TWCC home with an unbeaten 18 from No.1; Admiralty off-spinner George Gillies took 2-17 in three overs.
Knight senior said: “The girls were happy — Grace with a double wicket-maiden to start the game, Jess Hayward (1-2 from two) also bowled tidily, and together those two put on 38 for the third wicket to win it.”
Campion Green gave the Life Guards a real push.
The David Gray-led Guards beat Green under Hamish Swann by 26 runs, but not before Campion had restricted GBHS to 122-6. Gray opened the batting and made 21; No.5 Dylan Foster scored 38 not out, with Green seamers Ramandeep Singh (2-9 off three) and Philburgh Viljoen junior (2-27 in four).
Campion blooded a raft of new cricketers on a memorable evening, with David Liti and his hard pursuit of the ball to the boundary a highlight.
Swann (48 off 46 with four boundaries) later took the Boys' High pace attack head on with four superb pull-shots in the second innings: Spring, his opening partner, made 14 and gloveman Daniel Bailie 12, batting at five, in support of Swann.
Two young medium-pacers, Malsha Mahabalage and left-armer Jonathan Gray, both took 1-9 from two while John Broad (1-16 in three) and spearhead David Gray (2-26 off four) all performed well. Leg-spinner Foster, none for 16 in four overs, turned in his second straight quality showing with the ball and Marcus Gray — with 13 from 23 batting at seven and 1-11 from four, had a great game. Keeper Jarrod Ormiston, with catches to dismiss Swann and No.7 Liti for one, had a solid game behind the stumps.
Guards captain Gray said: “I was proud of our middle order — particularly Marcus and Dylan for building a strong partnership towards the end. I was also happy with Malsha's good line and length bowling, plus the effort and athleticism of Jacob Te Kani-Brown in the field.”
