Taupō cricket: Defending champs toppled as underdogs take out local derby

Wayne Shaw (left) and Sid Bicchu pose after their match-winning performances for Lake Taupō Cricket Club. Photo / Supplied

With Generation Homes Lake Taupō Cricket Club Premiers taking the bye this week, the long-awaited local derby between the Lake Taupō Cricket Club Reserves and defending champs Cossie Club College Old Boys A took centre stage at Owen Delany Park on Saturday.

Lake Taupō Cricket Club Reserves were asked to bat first and got off to a flyer with Sid Bicchu (46) in good form, sending a couple of big heaves over the ropes. At the halfway point, Lake Taupō were 71/1. Bicchu, ably supported by Moko Rivers (17), kept the pressure on the field as they looked to set a big total.

However, the fall of Bicchu and the rest of the top order in a slick spell of Old Boys bowling saw Lake Taupō in a spot of bother on 112/5 off 16 overs. The last five wickets (including a hat-trick to Sam Bunny) fell for just nine runs, as College Old Boys bowled Lake Taupō out for 121 and took the momentum into the second innings.

Lake Taupō took the upper hand early when captain Wayne Shaw bowled hard, hitting opener Simon Smith for six. Rivers and Shaw applied pressure in the middle overs with their spin, and with the Lake Taupō attack taking wickets regularly, Old Boys were struggling on 100/8. Requiring 22 runs off the last two overs with only two wickets in hand, the penultimate over bowled by Rivers only gave up six runs. Old Boys required 16 off the final over, however the final wicket taken by Ian Lawrence meant Old Boys fell 15 runs short, handing the Lake Taupō Reserves their first win over their cross-town rivals in over two years.

Generation Homes Lake Taupō Cricket Club Reserves — 121 (S Bicchu 46, S Bunny 3/21, C Jackson 2/7) defeated Cossie Club College Old Boys A — 106 (S Dufty 24, W Shaw 4/19) by 15 runs.

Up State Highway 1, Generation Homes Lake Taupō Cricket Club Academy visited Tokoroa on a warm Saturday afternoon looking to cause an upset.

Stand-in captain Michael Mitchell won the toss and elected to bat. Despite losing a wicket in the first over, a steady partnership of 71 between Mitchell and Tom Martin helped to set a competitive total. With the dismissal of Mitchell (43), Martin continued his excellent form and finished the innings 49 not out, taking his season run tally to 171 and making him the leading run scorer in the competition to date. A valuable 20 from Will Perry saw the first innings finish at 126/4.

The youngsters came out with a real spark and began with disciplined bowling from Perry and Liam Allen. Through the middle overs the Lake Taupō Academy bowlers all contributed, with Zach Forster applying a lot of pressure, bowling his four overs for just 11 runs.

With the score at 52/4 it looked like Academy would claim their second win of the season, however a partnership between H Singh and G Hall of 44 changed momentum towards the home side and the game began to slip away. Despite a wicket in the 17th over from Jed Walker, it was not enough for the victory. A superb innings from G Hall (57*) steered Tokoroa home in the final over.

Generation Homes Lake Taupō Cricket Club Academy 126/3 — (T Martin 49*, M Mitchell 43) lost to Tokoroa Cricket Club — 127/5 (G Hall 57*, H Singh 22, L Allen 2/18)

In the third fixture featuring Taupō teams, the young Geyser City Mavericks travelled south and played well to topple the Cossie Club Old Boys B by 31 runs.

The young side batted first and posted 118/4 from their 20 overs, lead by good knocks from Cohen Stewart (45) and Brooke Mitchell (38). Carl Barker bowled with his usual line and length to return figures of 2/18.

In reply, Stewart again played a starring role taking 3/4 with the ball. Supported by Harrison Hill (3/13) and a good fielding effort, the young Rotorua side stormed home to take their first win of the competition.

Geyser City Mavericks 118/4 (C Stewart 45, B Mitchell 38, C Barker 2/18) defeated
Cossie Club College Old Boys B 87 (C Corbett 33, C Stewart 3/4, H Hill 3/13)