Cricket: Local teams seek redemption

Central will be looking to turn their form around against Tauranga Boys' College tomorrow. Pictured is Central player Kyle Blanchard. Photo / Stephen Parker

After a nightmare start to the Williams Cup competition, the pressure is already on for Rotorua's two premier cricket sides.

Rotorua Central were removed for 44 runs last weekend against Mount Maunganui, while the Bay of Plenty Indians (Rotorua) were bowled out for 88 runs against Greerton.

Both teams lost by about 200 runs.

The two local teams are in action again tomorrow during round two of the Williams Cup - the most sought-after trophy in the Baywide premier cricket competition.

Central will go up against Tauranga Boys' College in Tauranga tomorrow, with the schoolboy team building up for the Super Eight competition next week.

Two key Tauranga Boys' players are top order batsman Jonty Grigson and keeper and captain Tom Renouf, while Central have a genuine strike weapon in Andrew Gibbs, who grabbed a seven-wicket bag earlier in the season.

The Indians have a tough match-up against Mount Maunganui at Blake Park.

Meanwhile, the biggest match-up in the second round is the fixture between defending Williams Cup champions Te Puke and Baywide Cup title holders Eves Realty Greerton.

The game at the Te Puke Domain is also a replay of last season's Williams Cup final. Both teams won their opening matches in the competition last weekend.

In the final match of the round, the form book would suggest that Element IMF Otumoetai Cadets should have little trouble with Whakatane United in the Eastern Bay.

* Williams Cup draw (games start at 12pm):
Whakatane United v Cadets, Rex Morpeth Park; Tauranga Boys' College v Central, Nicholson Field; Mount Maunganui v BOP Indians, Blake1; Te Puke v Greerton, Te Puke Domain.