Bay of Plenty go close in T20 tourney

Joe Carter, left, scored the first Twenty20 century for Bay of Plenty. PHOTO/FILE

Bay of Plenty have finished second at the inaugural ND Twenty 20 tournament in Taupo this week.

Played as a full round robin of T20 games for the first time, no team survived all five rounds unbeaten. Northland won four games to take the trophy by a point ahead of Bay of Plenty.

Entering the final day on Tuesday, Bay of Plenty were in contention after winning all three games. First up in the day-three title race was Northland who made 154-7 off 20 overs, led by 82 from Henry Cooper. Bay skipper Jono Boult took 3-15.

Bay of Plenty batsmen struggled early on against some tight line and length. Sean Davey stepped up to make his side's top score of 55, with Peter Drysdale batting at seven contributing a handy 20 but Bay ended up one run short on 153-7.

Bay of Plenty then squared off with Hamilton in the final game of the Brian Dunning Trophy competition. Boult anchored his side's innings with a hard-fought 67 with Joe Carter and keeper Tim Clarke making 23 each out of 151/6.

Hamilton's Peter Bocock top-scored with 59 as they closed in on the target. Captain Boult went to 15-year-old Tim Pringle to bowl the last over, with the youngster taking a dramatic wicket to force a rare tie.

Opening batsman Joe Carter made the individual highlight in smashing 122 not out off 64 balls against Poverty Bay on day two. It was the first Twenty20 century for Bay of Plenty and Carter's seventh ton for Bay of Plenty behind just Bharat Popli (10 centuries).

ND Brian Dunning One-Day Tournament

Points: Northland 8, Bay of Plenty 7, Counties Manukau 6, Hamilton 5, Waikato Valley 4, Poverty Bay 0

Day Three
Northland 154/7 (H Cooper 82; JJ Boult 3/15) defeated Bay of Plenty 153/7 (SB Davey 55, RPO Drysdale 20; B Hyde 3/20)
Hamilton 151/8 (P Bocock 59; T Clout 2/14, JJ Boult 2/25, SB Davey 2/27, T Pringle 2/27) tied with Bay of Plenty 151/6 (JJ Boult 67, JF Carter 23, SB Davey 23; S Dovey 4/28)

Day Two
Counties Manukau 143/8 (J Mills 35; SB Davey 3/36, JJ Boult 2/19) lost to Bay of Plenty 144/9 (JJ Boult 35, B Musgrave 28; J Mills 4/27)
Bay of Plenty 233/3 (JF Carter 122no, B Popli 44, SB Davey 38no) defeated Poverty Bay 118/8 (SB Davey 2/10, TJ Clarke 2/14, RPO Drysdale 2/16)

Day One
Bay of Plenty 151/6 (JJ Boult 65no, SB Davey 45; Y Kumar 2/19) defeated Waikato Valley 142/7 (SD Cooper 61; T Pringle 2/17, SB Davey 2/19, JJ Boult 2/30)