Taupo march towards Western Bay cricket glory

Geyser City Joshua Simpson

Lake Taupo CC have cemented their Western Bay of Plenty Championship title hopes with a hard fought victory over defending titleholders Te Puke.

Te Puke batted first on Saturday and were bowled out for 132 with Lance Staiger a shining light with 68 runs.

Habib Malik did plenty of damage with the ball grabbing five wickets for 25 runs. The Taupo region team got home with three wickets to spare, with Lance Staiger taking four wickets for Te Puke.

Tauranga Boys' College were bowled out for 170 by Whakatane United, who lost just two wickets in the run chase. Greerton were also beaten after batting first, with Sikh Sports getting home with six wickets in hand.

In the Reserve Grade Plate encounters, Geyser City cruised to a nine wicket win against Cadets, after dismissing the Western Bay team for 111 with R&A Sangha getting past Mount Maunganui in another match where plenty of runs were produced by both teams.

Katikati batsman Ben Warren led his side to victory over Aquinas College, in a high scoring encounter, smacking an unbeaten 104. Katikati batted first in the WBOPCA Reserve Grade Plate match at the Uretara Domain and posted 245/5 in their 50 overs. The Aquinas students weren't deterred by the big target and reached a highly respectable 216, with Carson Wills top scoring with a half century.

The Mount Maunganui versus Grasshoppers B Grade championship match-up turned out to be a thriller, with a batsman from each side smashing their way to three figures scores.

Mount Maunganui batted first and posted a big total of 235/6, with Jason Luke making his second ton of the season reaching104 before being dismissed.

Not to be outdone, Grasshoppers' Bob Curran set about chasing down his side's big target and smacked an undefeated 113, as his side fell just short of victory being restricted to 220/5 in their 40 overs.

Defending B Grade titleholders in the Singh XI easily defeated Albion, with Wanderers posting a five wicket win over Tauranga Boys' College thirds.

WBOPCA Reserve Grade Results

Championship
Te Puke 131 (Lance Staiger 68, Habib Malik 5/25) lost to Lake Taupo CC 132/7 Justin Scott 4/45, Lance Staiger 3/39)
Tauranga Boys' College 170 (Scott Ellerington 42, Wiremu Leef 28, Rhys Keighley 3/2, Pip Thickpenny 3/40) lost to Whakatane United 171/2 (Tom Yates 93no)
Greerton 182 (Ben Lind 57, Kyle Montgomerie 46, Gurdev Singh 4/26) lost to Sikh Sports 183/4 (Amritpal Singh 84)

Carryover Points (Provisional) Lake Taupo CC 60, Whakatane United 49, Te Puke 45, Sikh Sports 35, Tauranga Boys College 31, Greerton 18.

Plate
Cadets 111 (Cameron Ball 41, Scott Ingram 3/32) lost to Geyser City 113/1 (Eamon O'Donoghue 48no, Kane Vanner 48no)
Katkati 254/5 (Ben Warren 104no, Dylan Shea 36) defeated Aquinas College 216 (Carson Wills 54no, Louis Robinson 30, George Catto 30)
R&A Sangha 261 (Harkaran Gujral 81, AS Virk 81) defeated Mount Maunganui 171 (AS Virk 5/25, VS Kahlon 3/35)

Carryover Points (Provisional) Geyser City 60, Katikati 45, Cadets 42, R&A Sangha 32, Mount Maunganui 28, Aquinas College 22.

B Grade

Mount Maunganui 235/6 (Jason Luke 104, Blair Parlane 41) defeated Grasshoppers 220/5 (Bob Curran 113no)
Singh XI 261/6 (Rambo Singh 64no, Shraj Gupta 53no, Kuljit Singh 44, HS Kahlon 37, Bruce Majoribanks 3/35) defeated Albion 106 (Jaideep Singh 3/3, HS Kahlon 3/20)
Tauranga Boys' 3rd XI 129 (Campbell Smith 30, Chris Uden 4/19, Neri Hutchins 3/29) lost to Wanderers 131/5 (Reagan Collins 50, Rob Foord 34, Cameron O'Dea 3/32)
(Friendly) Punjab Warriors 342/9 defeated Mount Maunganui Colts 73.
Points Table (Provisional) Wanderers 24, Singh XI 24, Tauranga Boys' College 18, Mount Maunganui 18, Grasshoppers 12, Albion 6, Mount Maunganui Colts 0.