Baywide cricket: Battle of the Bridge teams play for bragging rights

Otumoetai Cadets player Joe Mcluskie during their match against Rotorua's Central Indians this season. Photo / George Novak A_191019gn08bop.JPG
Cricket

Baywide cricket rivalry is about to reach its peak once again as Element IMF Cadets and Carrus Mount Maunganui prepare to square off for bragging rights.

The Battle of the Bridge match will take place at Tauranga Domain tomorrow and with Mount just three points ahead of Cadets on the competition standings, the win has even more importance.

Defending Bay of Plenty Cup champions Eves Realty Greerton sit at the top of the leader board after an unbeaten start to the season. This weekend Greerton are at home at Pemberton Park to Bayleys Central Indians.

The Rotorua side sit mid table, with a victory re-inking their place in the top four, while a loss would make their chances of making the Bay of Plenty Cup playoffs infinitely harder with just three qualifying rounds remaining.

New World Te Puke sit second, six points behind Greerton, with a win over Bond & Co Tauranga Boys' College cementing their top two spot. Tauranga Boys' lurk on the cusp of the top four and victory will ramp up their chances of booking a berth in the playoffs.

In Rotorua, the competition's two recent newcomers Generation Homes Lake Taupō, who are in their second season of the three Baywide competitions, and Geyser City, in their first premier season, face off at Smallbone Park.

Both teams have accepted the challenges of Baywide Cricket with individual players stepping up.

A measure of the player progress is provided by Lake Taupō skipper Habib Malik gaining selection for the Bay of Plenty XI that played Hawke's Bay in pre-season competition last weekend.

Bay of Plenty Cup draw - November 2:

Geyser City v Lake Taupō, Smallbone Park; Cadets v Mount Maunganui, Tauranga Domain; Tauranga Boys' College v Te Puke, Nicholson Field; Greerton v Central Indians, Pemberton Park.

Points: Greerton 28, Te Puke 22, Mount Maunganui 19, Central Indians 16, Cadets 16, Tauranga Boys' College 13, Lake Taupō CC 10, Geyser City 4.