DAVID BEATS GOLIATH IN CLASSIC BUILDERS RESERVE GRADE ROUND TWO

David beat Goliath, in the Classic Builders Reserve Grade competition on Saturday (6 November 2021), when Aquinas College caused the biggest upset in Western Bay cricket for a number of seasons.

In one corner sat United Indians, under the banner of Sikh Sports, winning both the 2020-21 WBOPCA Reserve Grade First Round and Championship titles. On the other side was the Aquinas College First XI, who in spite of some close run encounters, went winless last season.

In addition to the win points on offer, the newly minted Don Warner challenge trophy was on the line. United Indians batted first and set Aquinas a gettable target when they were removed for 174. The Indian team stuttered somewhat at 66/6, before JP Singh batting at nine, top scored with 57 runs. Asa Banbury bowled with enthusiasm to take three wickets for 19 runs while Tayte Marsh and Daniel Coster took two wickets apiece.

Aquinas College were also in trouble at 95 for seven, before Michael Rowlands and Tayte Marsh, came together to post a 46 run winning partnership. Marsh finished with an unbeaten 43 from 51 balls with Rowlands ending his innings with 36 runs.

Mount Maunganui remains the only unbeaten side after they beat R&A Sangha with five wickets to spare. Varinder Sandhu top scored in the Sangha XI total of 144, while Nick Smith continued his all-round form for with three wickets. Two of the Mount youngsters showed their fighting spirit, with Kade Smit belting a half century and Conor Wells finishing with 35 runs, in their sides five wicket triumph. 

Katikati posted their first win of the season in style with a 157 run win over Tauranga Boys College. Katikati set their opponents a very big target of 259 before bowling the students out for 101. Greerton beat Te Puke and Papamoa lost to Hawks to complete the second round of competition.

Tauranga Boys College Third XI, ran their Classic Builders B Grade season start to two from two wins, with the scalp of R&A Sangha in pool one competition. Scott Curtis top scored with 46 runs in the Tauranga Boys total of 184. Bryn Robertson took the best bowling of the weekend, with five wickets for just 14 runs, as the Sangha team were bundled out for 63.

Other pool one results saw Te Puke Green beat Katikati, Albion lose to Greerton and Hawks defeat Mount Maunganui.

Ball dominated bat in the pool two matchup between Te Puke Blue and PapaOMA's. Te Puke were bowled out for what looked to be a modest 139, with Papamoa bowler David Babbage taking 4/30. Not to be outdone, Rana Virk and Happy Singh took four wicket bags as the OMA's were rolled for 79.

The pool two action, was rounded out by Cadets easily defeating Bay Blasters, Grasshoppers winning a low scoring affair against TBC 4th XI and Mount Maunganui Inanga taking the win points on offer from Katikati Singh XI.

Classic Builders Reserve Grade Round Two Results 6 November 2021

United Indians 174 (JP Singh 57, Asa Banbury 3/19) lost to Aquinas College 176/8 (Tayte Marsh 43no, Michael Rowlands 36)

R&A Sangha 144 ( Varinder Sandhu 45; Nick Smith 3/15) lost to Mount Maunganui (Mount Maunganui 147/5 (Kade Smit 52, Conor  Wells 35; V Sandhu 3/21) 

Te Puke 124 (Robert Ward 34, Ryan Crossley 33; David Street 3/22, Israel Turner 3/27) lost to Greerton 127/6 (Richie Earl 41)

Katikati 258/9 (Matt Earl 52, Jacob Morton 49, Braden Brewer 44; Fynn Williamson 3/33, Andrew Friskney 3/38) defeated Tauranga Boys College 101 (George Moore 40; Ben Warren 4/3)

Papamoa 156 (Xavier Lee 47; Naseeb Kumar 4/18) lost to Hawks 158/8 (Bikram Singh 38, Aman Singh 33; Yash Patel 3/33) - Cadets the bye.

Points Table (Provisional) Mount Maunganui 43, R&A Sangha 32, Katikati 32, United Indians 31, Papamoa 39, Greerton 29, Hawks 26, Aquinas College 25, Cadets 23, Tauranga Boys College 14, Te Puke 5.

Classic Builder B Grade

Pool One: Te Puke Green 262/6 (Gagan Singh 57no, Sukhpreet Singh 50no, Kala Singh 48) defeated Katikati 147 (Chris Dean 35, Colin Chase 33, Beaven Edwards 30; Gurjant Singh 5/38)

Tauranga Boys College 3rd XI 184(Scott Curtis 46; Nitish Kumar 4/32) defeated R&A Sangha 63 (Bryn Robertson 5/14)

Albion 129 (Daryl Blunsdon 46; Bobby Tagore 3/34) lost to Greerton 133/7 (Josh Anderson 44)

Hawks 176/7 (Alexander Macmillan 3/31) defeated Mount Maunganui 121 (Andrew Hoogstraten 44; Verinder pal Singh 3/33)

Points Table (Provisional) TBC 3rd XI 13, Hawks 13, Te Puke Green 13, R&A Sangha 7, Greerton 7, Katikati 2, Albion 2, Mount Maunganui 1.

Pool Two: Te Puke Blue 139 David Babbage 4/30, Josh Jacob 3/42) defeated PapaOMA's 79 (Tony Jackson 38; Rana Virk 4/16, Happy Singh 4/20)

Cadets 249/4 (Luke McConaghty 61, Te Manewha Rikihana 52) defeated Bay Blasters 115 (Kush Joshi 3/22, Joe Smythe 3/28) 

Grasshoppers 130 (Bob Curran 30; Rhydian 3/7) defeated Tauranga Boys College 4th XI 104 (Craig Williamson 4/16)

Katikati Singh XI 150 (Mandeep Singh 80; Tyler Perry 5/27) lost to Mount Maunganui Inanga 152/7 (Josh Parsons 60; Karan Joshi 3/25)

Points Table (Provisional) Grasshoppers 14, Hawks 13, Mount Maunganui 8, TBC 4th XI 7, PapaOMA's 7, Cadets 7, Katikati Singh XI 2, Bay Blasters 1.