Dominant performances from the top-of-the-table teams and some individual brilliance made for an exciting day of play in round three of the Bayleys Bay of Plenty Cup.

Meanwhile, there was a massive upset in Reserve Grade cricket.

Pete Drysdale got off to a positive start for Mount Maunganui after they won the toss and elected to bat against a strong Greerton lineup with a beautiful straight drive for four in the first over. It wasn't fellow opener Ben Pomare's day, spooning the ball to the man at cover in the third over.

Niven Dovey was in next and quickly got into his work, forming a partnership of 146 (off 110 balls) with Drysdale. Drysdale fell victim to Hampton LBW in the 36th over – just one run shy of his half century. Dovey followed in the next over, run out on 90.

An eighth wicket partnership of 55 between Dale Sawn and Craig Baldry, with a rain delay towards the end of the innings, took their total to 259 from their 60 overs. Hampton the best of the Greerton bowlers with four wickets at an economy rate of 3.29.

Hoping to replicate the 85 ball opening partnership they put on in Round One, Tom MacRury and Jeet Raval started strong until MacRury was run out for 27. Raval carried on, bringing up a stylish half century before succumbing to the bowling of Dale Swan. Five ducks were conceded by Greerton in their innings and a fantastic 70 from Nick O'Sullivan wasn't enough to chase down the total, losing by 78 runs.

Bond & Co Mount Maunganui 259/8 – 60 overs (Niven Dovey 90, Pete Drysdale 49; Brett Hampton 4 for 46)

Eves Realty Greerton 181/10 – 42.1 overs (Nick O'Sullivan 70, Jeet Raval 55; Tony Goodin 3 for 32)

Bond & Co Mount Maunganui won by 78 runs

Otumoetai Cadets also took advantage of the toss and had a bat first. What followed was an absolute batting masterclass with the top three batsmen contributing 271 runs. Fergus Lellman was the standout with 139 not out off 140 balls and was supported by both Marcel Collett (66) and Joe Carter (66). A late cameo from Andrew Mascall who scored 20 off 12 balls set an intimidating 316 target for Tauranga Boys College to chase for the win.

It was a positive start for Tauranga Boys with Charles Williams making 52 runs from 46 balls before he was dismissed by the competition's top-ranked bowler, Tim Pringle. Pringle then ripped through the Boys College line up, finishing up with seven wickets at an economy rate of 1.52 securing the home side a 164 run win.

Element IMF Otumoetai Cadets 315/4 – 51 overs (Fergus Lellman 139 not out, Marchel Collett 66, Joe Carter 66; Finn O'Brien-O'Loan 1 for 42)

Holland Beckett Law Tauranga Boys College 151/10 – 47.5 overs (Charles Williams 52, Seb Heath 22; Tim Pringle 7 for 21)

Element IMF Otumoetai Cadets won by 164 runs

It was a low scoring affair in Rotorua with the two local teams going head to head. Central Indians won the toss and put Geyser City in to bat. Andrew Gibbs shone with the ball for the Central Indians – taking seven wickets in 10 overs for 34 runs. The Geyser City tail helped to get their team to a more respectable total with Gurtej Billing highest scoring on 21 not out.

Central Indians weren't mucking around chasing down the 91 runs needed to win. Opener Daniel Ford contributing a quick 20 off 10 balls before being run out in the third over. Fellow opening Stephen Nicholls and Nadeera Nawela partnered up for 36 runs to help reach Geyser City's score in the 14th over.

Craigs Investment Partners Geyser City 91/10 – 28.4 overs (Gurtej Billing 21; Andrew Gibbs 7 for 34)

Bayleys Central Indians 93/4 – 13.3 overs (Nadeera Nawela 28 not out, Stephen Nicholls 22; Jono Collier 2 for 32)

Bayleys Central Indians won by 6 wickets

Papamoa played host to Te Puke and put them in for a bat after winning the toss. What followed was a beautiful batting showcase from opener Iman Singh, scoring 117 off 136 balls. A fifth wicket partnership of 81 from Gareth Wallace (58 not out) and Stephen Crossan (53 not out) set Papamoa an intimidating 285 to chase down after declaring after 55 overs.

An impressive 82 from Nikhil Vishwanath and contributions from Jass Randhawa (31), Edward Sclater (16) and Ashish Dhameliya (11) wasn't enough to get close to Te Puke's total – the game finishing with Te Puke taking out the first innings win.

The Flying Mullet Te Puke 285/4 – 55 overs (Iman Singh 117, Gareth Wallace 58 not out, Stephen Crossan 53 not out; Michael Brown 1 for 37)

Papamoa 165/5 – 50 overs (Nikhil Vishwanath 82, Jass Randhawa 31; Josh Earle 2 for 29, Iman Singh 2 for 35)

The Flying Mullet Te Puke first innings win

There was a David beat Goliath upset 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.