Bay of Plenty has won the right to contest the Hawke Cup after amassing over 300 runs from 50 overs and bowling Poverty Bay out for about 150. We secured a bonus point which took us further ahead of the chasing pack form ND.
'This is the most complete performance I have seen by a Bay team in the 18 months I have been coaching the team,” says coach Jimmy Pamment.

After the match we had to wait on the results of the two other games in our zone to see if we would be too far in front going into the last round for the pack to catch us. If not, we would have to beat Counties in the last round to ensure we got a challenge.
For the Bay to be clear – Northland had to beat Hamilton and Counties had to miss a bonus point against Waikato Valley.
Northland beat Hamilton with Hamilton needing 15 off the last over. Counties bowled Waikato Valley out, but they made six runs too many and Counties missed the bonus. Hence the Bay now has an unassailable lead and will challenge for the Hawke Cup in February.
The Central Districts zone has the first challenge for the cup and the Northern zone has the second. So the Bay will face either the holders, Hawkes Bay, or another Central Districts side that has beaten them. We lost two warm up matches against Manawatu earlier in the year so there are strong sides in their region.
Six teams in Northern Districts fight it out for the right to challenge and the Cup is decided by who wins on the first innings of the three day match.
In the match against Poverty Bay, Jono Boult batted very well for 80 odd runs. On a slow wicket he stayed calm and nudged the ball around well.
The heat was immense down there. There was a norwester blowing with not a cloud in the sky. It was very much like playing in Christchurch or Napier – very hot and very sapping.
Jono and I put on quite a few for the third wicket before we were both run out. We put a lot of pressure on their infield as they had guys back protecting the fence.
They bowled quite well to their plan. Lance Cairns is coaching them and their bowlers bowled one side of the wicket and with good rhythm. Lance has obviously done a good job with their seamers as it is the straightest they have bowled since I have played them. "They won't blast you out but at least we can work to a plan," says Lance.
So boundaries were not easy unless prepared to make room or take risks in order to hit to where the boundary gaps were. We got through to about 170-180 off 40 overs and with wickets in hand our big hitters had a free licence to take those risks and actually take on the field. They cleared guys on the ropes several times when their bowlers gave them the length to get under.
Benny Williams scored a great 60 with some fine hitting. Te Ahu Davis also accelerated the scoring with his huge power.
In the field, Te Ahu Davis again shone with the ball. He took the top off the PB innings and tied them down. They had no freedom to score easily. Daniel Hill trudged into the breeze from the other end and kept it tight with his swing bowling. Jono Boult and Jason Trembarth then made it difficult for PB with good flight – Te Ahu came back to clean up the tail.

All in all it was a good performance by the guys, especially as most of the team arrived at midnight on Saturday after club cricket and the long drive through the gorge to Gisborne.