Cricket: Te Puke and Greerton start premier Twenty20 strongly

Central Indians Batsman Stephen Nicholls plays a shot on the opening day of the Bay of Plenty premier cricket season last weekend. Photo/Andrew Warner

New World Te Puke and Eves Realty Greerton sit atop the Baywide Twenty20 standings, with two wins apiece, after the first two rounds were completed last weekend.

Ray Boord Park in Rotorua is the venue for the next two rounds of the Premier Twenty20 competition today,before the T20 championship is put on hold until the new year.

Bayleys Central Indians were unable to post a win during the opening weekend, going down to Te Puke and Carrus Mount Maunganui, but captain Andrew Gibbs said he took a lot of positives out of those games.

"Huge positives - we've got a much stronger overall squad than I believe we had previous years and, to be honest, it was only the one per centers that let us down last weekend. We dropped a couple of catches early in the first game, which allowed their openers to get away, but we hadn't really had a fielding training or anything before that so it was really like our first pre-season game.

"There were definitely more positives than negatives, I thought we played really well," Gibbs said.

He said building partnerships and controlling the tempo of their batting were the big work-ons for Central Indians this weekend.

"In the second game, as you can in Twenty20, Mount Maunganui bowled really well and our batsmen struggled to score through the middle of the innings and probably wasted a bit too much time. That meant we had to push on aggressively towards the end of the innings and ended up being bowled out."

Meanwhile, Te Puke could feel the backlash of Element IMF Cadets' first-up loss to Greerton, when the two sides square off. Cadets posted 136/7 and could only watch as Greerton cruised to a seven-wicket win, courtesy of a solid half-century from captain Shane Wineti. Cadets captain Jono Boult top scored for his side with 45 runs.

Two Te Puke players lead the individual statistics after play on the opening day of the new season. Stephen Crossan leads the batting stakes with 117 runs which included 83 off about 30 balls in the opening stanza. Christian MacDonald showcased his talents with the ball to grab six wickets.

Cooney Lees Morgan Tauranga Boys' College enter the Baywide title hunt for the first time this season after returning from a two-week South African tour. They will face Greerton in the early afternoon action hoping to test their unbeaten start to the season.

Bay of Plenty representative wicket keeper Tim Clarke, who teaches at the school, has assumed player/coach responsibilities this season and with 68 games in the Bay of Plenty uniform, gives his side a valuable cricket resource.

The third round three match-up, will see Mount Maunganui meet GM Painters Lake Taupo CC. Mount Maunganui posted a comfortable seven-wicket win over Central Indians in round two, after sitting out the bye in the opening round last weekend.

Round four sees Central Indians square off with Cadets, Mount Maunganui meeting Tauranga Boys' College and Te Puke resuming hostilities with Greerton - while Lake Taupo CC sit out the bye.

BOPCA T20 at Boord Park, Rotorua
Round Three: Carrus Mount Maunganui v GM Painters Lake Taupo CC, Boord1; New World Te Puke v Element IMF Cadets, Boord2; Eves Realty Greerton v Cooney Lees Morgan Tauranga Boys' College, Boord3; Bayleys Central Indians the bye.

Round Four: Bayleys Central Indians v Element IMF Cadets, Boord1; Carrus Mount Maunganui v Cooney Lees Morgan Tauranga Boys' College, Boord2; New World Te Puke v Eves Realty Greerton, Boord3; GM Painters Lake Taupo CC the bye.

BOPCA Baywide T20 Points Table
New World Te Puke 6, Eves Realty Greerton 6, Carrus Mount Maunganui 3, Element IMF Cadets 3, Bayleys Central Indians 0, GM Painters Lake Taupo CC 0, Cooney Lees Morgan Tauranga Boys' College 0.

Baywide T20 Individual Leaderboards
Runs 117 - Stephen Crossan (New World Te Puke) - HS 83
Wickets 6 - Christian MacDonald (New World Te Puke) - BB 3/20