The Cook Islands Cricket Association T20 domestic season kicked off last Saturday, September 16, with exciting matches set to take place in round two on Saturday.

Four matches from the men’s division were played with both the women’s teams and the newly formed Tupapa Young Rookies having the opening week off and a slightly longer wait to their start.

At Victoria Park, hosts Tupapa fell to a powerful Turangi attack 206 to 109. 

Young Tutu from the aptly named Turangi Young Guns scored 54 with the bat and bowled an impressive 4 overs for 18 runs with 4 wickets taken.  He was supported by team newcomer Ben Vakatini with his 48 runs and an additional 3 wickets with the ball. Father and son duo Vane Senior and Junior combined for 74 more and it was a fine first Saturday for the men in maroon. 

In response, Tupapa was bowled out in the 15^th over with twin top scorers of 27.  They will look to bounce back in a minor civil war this Saturday as they take on the Tupapa Young Rookies on their shared home ground.

Over at Nikao field the other Tupapa team, K11 faced a pack of hungry Wolves and found themselves in strife. 

Nikao 1 started strong by batting first and putting a solid 173 runs on the board led by Deacon Teapa and his “oh so close to a half ton” 49 runs. The hosts finished their 20 overs with K11 bowler Ray Roumanu taking 4 expensive wickets at the cost of 43 runs.

K11 had a step hill to climb and lost their first wicket on the first ball. Lone standout Tikove Piira tried to keep it close but was eventually dismissed after a brave 58 runs of 37 balls. However, it wasn’t enough as K11 was all gone for 100 in 14 overs. John Brown of Nikao showed real skill with 4 wickets in only 3 overs at a low cost of only 15 runs. 

Nikao 1 secured its first win of the season 173 to 100.

Down the road a way at Raemaru, the 2022 runner-up Redbacks hosted the Takuvaine team. The visitors batted first and with steady work posted 138 runs.  Led by Uwi and his season opening 50, the visitors batted through and awaited the Arorangi riposte. 

The response came from captain Manu Emile. In leading by example, he added 52 runs to his haul of 4 TKV wickets. Sadly, for the West-siders it was in vain as they fell short in the final over with 131 on the board and two boundaries short of victory.

TKV won by 8 runs 138-131.

The final match of the day saw the Muri Creeps and their newcomer Tomasi Vanuarua take on the Nikao 2 team at Nukupure. Muri showed their rust early losing both opening batsmen for no runs.

Clearly stunned by their misfortune they struggled to rally and only could find 114 runs in the innings. Tuku Samuel set the stage for his monster day with bowling line of 4 overs, 1 maiden, 3 wickets for 23 runs. 

The Nikao 2 boys knew Muri would be coming out blazing trying to emulate their bowling performance and it came pass. Muri paceman Vanuarua blasted the bails off with his third ball and the next two batters played a cautious series of overs. 

Muri was looking for the win when in at number 7 came Nikao’s hero Tuku. Not to let his bowling stand alone, he proceeded to strike his way to 59 runs not out and saw his team to victory.

Muri could not remove him, and it cost dearly.  The final strike a 4-run boundary to end the match with a Nikao 2 win 117 to 114.

• Cook Islands Cricket

Women’s	DATE	Home	vs	Visitor	VENUE
Round 1	23/09/2023	Muri	vs	Arorangi	Nukupure Park
CIFA - Raemaru Park		Takuvaine (TKV)	vs	Turangi	Turangi Oval
Open - Matavera Field		K-11 Women (Tupapa)	vs	Tupapa	Victoria Park [Tupapa]
Open - Nikao Field
		No Game - Bye		Nikao	No Game
All games 12:30pm start

Men’s	DATE	Home	vs	Visitor	VENUE
Round 2	23/09/2023	Nikao 2	vs	K-11 (Tupapa)	Nikao Field
CIFA - Raemaru Park		Muri	vs	Arorangi	Nukupure Park
Open - Matavera Field		Takuvaine (TKV)	vs	Turangi	Turangi Oval
		Tupapa 2	vs	Tupapa 1	Victoria Park [Tupapa]
All games 3:30pm start		No Game - Bye	vs	Nikao 1	No Game