TOP PERFORMER: Bharat Popli impressed for Central Indians in their defeat on the weekend. Photo/ George Novak.
TOP PERFORMER: Bharat Popli impressed for Central Indians in their defeat on the weekend. Photo/ George Novak.
Crucial dropped catches were costly for Bayleys Central Indians as they lost in their opening game of the BOPCA Baywide premier competitions.
The away team were defeated by five wickets, in the Baywide Cup, against Cooney Lees Morgan Tauranga Boys' College, after setting a target of 152 runs to chase, at Fergusson Park on Saturday.
Despite the defeat co-captain Andrew Gibbs, who was his side's second highest batter with 29 runs, was happy with the result and said it was a "good learning day" for the newly formed side.
"We didn't get the end result but we are still all really pleased because we competed," he said.
"The team fought hard in the field but it was just silly little things that let us down.
"We dropped some key catches - including one from the very first ball and it proved to be costly.
"Also we didn't quite reach our individual targets with the bat because we lost wickets at key times. That stalled our momentum."
Gagandeep Singh of Central Indians faces a Tauranga Boys' College bowler on the weekend. Photo/ George Novak.
Gibbs added that a standout player for his side was Northern Knights batsman Bharat Popli - who had the highest batting innings on the day with an impressive 60 runs and was his side's best bowler taking two wickets for just two runs.
"Bharat looked class and he was very impressive," he said.
"Unfortunately we didn't quite build strong enough partnerships so that's something we can definitely look to work on."
Tauranga Boys College' particularly impressed with their batting with Tom Renouf's top score of 42, whilst Charles Williams and Tim Clarke, who are the side's joint player/coaches, also made solid contributions.
Meanwhile in the Western Bay of Plenty reserve grade Rotorua's Geyser City first XI side were beaten comfortably by current Baywide titleholders R&A Sangha XI away.
They lost by 124 runs and it was always going to be an uphill battle after the Western Bay side ran up a score of 223 all out, but co-captain Matt Collier impressed for Geyser City - picking up the first five wickets.
IN FORM: Geyser City's first XI co-captain Matt Collier picked up the first five wickets for his side on Saturday. Photo/ File.
"We still have the target of finishing in the top four and it is very achievable," Collier said.
"We now have a better idea of what we are up against and we would like to improve." Results
BOPCA Baywide premier competition Saturday, October 8, 2016
Baywide Cup:
Bayleys Central Indians: 152 (Bharat Popli 60, Andrew Gibbs 29, B Sandford 26; Josh Ormrod 3/25, Iman Singh 3/31, Rhys Mischewski 2/10 Cooney Lees Morgan Tauranga Boys College: 153/5 (Tom Renouf 42, Charles Williams 41, Tim Clarke 36; Bharat Popli 2/2)
Eves Realty Greerton: 110 (Shane Wineti 21, Craig Budd 20; Donovan Deeble 5/19, Gupreet Singh 2/24) Element IMF Cadets: 111/1 (Sean Davey 63no, Joe Carter 38no)
Carrus Mount Maunganui: 264/3 (Ben Musgrave 88no, Brenton Thompson 67no, Dean Brownlie 46, Daniel Flynn 37) New World Te Puke: 113/8 (Josh Earl 26no, Jonty Grigson 21; Tony Goodin 3/39, Dale Swan 2/19)
Points Table (Provisional)
Element IMF Cadets 20, Cooney Lees Morgan Tauranga Boys College 20, Carrus Mount Maunganui 16, New World Te Puke 8, Bayleys Central Indians 0, Eves Realty Greerton 0.
WBOPCA Western Bay of Plenty reserve grade: Saturday October 8, 2016
Greerton: 225 (Sam Brown 93, Richie Earl 33, Sam Norris 3/39) Mount Maunganui: 224/9 (Blair McKenzie 112, Logan Carr 34no)
