Cadets bowler Donovan Deeble and his side have booked a spot in the Baywide Twenty20 final, they will find out who they are playing on Saturday. Photo / File
Cadets bowler Donovan Deeble and his side have booked a spot in the Baywide Twenty20 final, they will find out who they are playing on Saturday. Photo / File
The Baywide Twenty20 Championship will be decided in Tauranga this weekend.
However, before today's title decider at Fergusson Park gets under way at 3pm, the last round of qualifying play to decide who will play in the final will take place in the morning.
Element IMF Cadets, who will sitout the last round bye, have already booked their berth in the final, after they dispatched Lake Taupo CC and Carrus Mount Maunganui last weekend. A highlight of Cadets' victory over the team from the Great Lake region was a blistering 93 from former New Zealand under-19 allrounder Sean Davey.
The key match in finding Cadets' opponents in the final is the encounter between Mount Maunganui and New World Te Puke in the last round of preliminary play. Ben Musgrave posted a vital half-century in the Mount's hard-fought win over Greerton last weekend. The Mount have a number of genuine young prospects in their premier line-up who could play a big hand in getting them through to the grand final.
Veteran Te Puke batsman Tai Bridgman-Raison knows all about the pressure of finals cricket and a big innings from the long-time premier player could propel his side to victory. Christian MacDonald has earned his stripes since joining Te Puke a few seasons ago and is a match-winner with bat and ball.
Eves Realty Greerton, sitting fourth in the standings, will want to grab a place in the third-place playoff. Standing in their way are Bayleys Central Indians who won two on the trot last weekend against Tauranga Boys' College and Lake Taupo CC.
The other early afternoon game sees Tauranga Boys' College squaring off with Lake Taupo CC.
Round Seven: GM Painters Lake Taupo CC v Cooney Lees Morgan Tauranga Boys' College, Fergusson1; Bayleys Central Indians v Eves Realty Greerton, Fegusson2; Carrus Mount Maunganui v New World Te Puke, Fegusson3; Element IMF Cadets the bye.
3pm – Baywide T20 Grand Final
Points Table Cadets 15, Mount Maunganui 12, Te Puke 9, Greerton 9, Central Indians 6, Tauranga Boys' College 3, Lake Taupo CC 0.
Baywide Twenty20 Championship winners
2011/12 - Tauranga Boys' College 2012/13 - Tauranga Boys' College 2013/14 - Rotorua Central 2014/15 - Rotorua Central 2015/16 - Otumoetai Cadets 2016/17 – not played
