Sport: Rotorua Central early front runners in T20

DEFENDING CHAMPS: Central will go in search of two more wins in the Baywide T20 competition this weekend. Pictured is Central batsman Vaughan Blanchard.PHOTO/ANDREW WARNER

Defending Baywide T20 title holders Rotorua Central are the early front runners in the 2014/15 edition of the smash and bash competition.

Central posted two emphatic wins in the first two rounds of the Baywide T20 competition and will look to carry that form into this weekend.

Central skipper Jason Trembath leads the way in the most-runs stakes, after blasting 148 in the opening two matches on the first day of November.

Trembath smashed 92 off just 58 balls against Te Puke and followed it up by blasting 56 from no more than a dozen balls against the Bay of Plenty Indians.

Not to be outdone, fellow Central players Vaughan Blanchard and player/coach Tahir Afridi have taken five wickets apiece to sit top in the bowling honours.

Tomorrow the Baywide T20 batsmen will pad up at Fergusson Park in suburban Tauranga, with a further two rounds to be played out.

The defending champions face two big challenges in order to keep their unbeaten start to the T20 season alive.

Central face the two other unbeaten sides in the competition, squaring off against Greerton in round three and Mount Maunganui in late afternoon action.

Long-time rivals Element IMF Cadets and City Sports Bar Te Puke meet in round three, with the boundaries at Fergusson Park likely to be under fire, with both sides having big hitters in their ranks.

Former Baywide T20 champions Tauranga Boys' College face Whakatane United in their early afternoon match-up while Mount Maunganui should account for the Indians.

Greerton back up against Te Puke in round four with a game of attrition on the cards. Tauranga Boys' College play the Rotorua-based Indians in a late afternoon game with Cadets meeting Eastern Bay visitor Whakatane United.

? Lonestar Tauranga T20 draw tomorrow (round three and four):

Round One: Te Puke v Cadets, Fergusson2; Central v Greerton, Fergusson4; BOP Indians v Mount Maunganui, Ferguson3; Whakatane United v Tauranga Boys' College, Ferguson1.
Round Two: Cadets v Whakatane United, Ferguson4; Tauranga Boys' College v BOP Indians, Fergusson3; Mount Maunganui v Central, Fergusson1; Greerton v Te Puke, Fergusson2.

? Points table:
Central 6, Greerton 6, Mount Maunganui 6, Cadets 3, Te Puke 3, Tauranga Boys' College 0, Whakatane United 0, BOP Indians 0.