Tauranga Boys picked up their first win of the tournament, successfully defending 195 in a close affair against Palmerston North Boys’ High School.
Having won the toss and opting to bat, Tauranga Boys struggled to form a strong partnership, despite the first three batsmen all making starts. At 63 for three Cameron Neal came to the crease and struck a mature innings of 42. He found help from Joshua Dwight (36) and Ben Musgrave (20) as Tauranga clawed their way to 195 all out in the 50th over. It was another strong performance with the ball from Navin Patel, taking four for 35 in eight overs.
In reply, Palmerston North struggled to put partnerships together and made the run chase look very hard. Opener Brynn Cleaver (91) did his best to bring Palmerston North to victory, but couldn’t find anybody to stick with him. Needing sixteen runs to win in the last over, Cleaver was bowled on the second delivery, ensuring that Tauranga would successfully defend their total. Pick of the bowlers was Thomas MacRury who took 3-40 from his ten overs.
Tauranga Boys 195 all out (Neal 42, Patel 4-35) BEAT Palmerston North BHS 184 all out (Cleaver 91, MacRury 3-40)
Result: TAURANGA BOYS' COLLEGE won by 11 runs
Full scorecard - http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1203/scorecard.aspx
