The business end of the Versatile Williams Cup sees teams jockeying for home track advantage in the playoffs at the end of March.

A logjam at the top of the Williams Cup standings, where Flying Mullet Te Puke, Eves Realty Greerton and Bond & Co Mount Maunganui sit locked together, has ramped up the intensity with just three rounds of preliminary play remaining.

Lurking just off the pace is Papamoa who sit in fourth equal on the standings.

Today, Saturday, Papamoa travel the short distance to the Te Puke Domain to square off with the home side.

Their first meeting this season, saw Te Puke bowl their opponents out for 107, then cruise to a six wicket win. Since then Papamoa have reeled off three Williams Cup wins out of five encounters.

Papamoa will look to Nikhil Vishwanath to continue his good form with 143 runs from four turns at bat.

Te Puke has a genuine strike weapon in Tasman Carsons who has taken 36 wickets in Baywide competition this season.

Greerton, will face an extremely determined Element IMF Cadets, who are in the danger zone on the points table. The Tauranga Domain based side have won the Williams Cup prize thirteen times since their first success in 1995, and won’t lie down at Pemberton Park.

Generation Homes Lake Taupo, who sit in equal fourth spot can make a solid bid for a post section spot, if they get past Sanford Wall Lawyers Central Indians at Owen Delany Park.

Mount Maunganui, whose Williams Cup campaign has been blighted by two rained off encounters, should bank the win points on offer against Craigs Tauranga Boys College.

The Bay of Plenty senior representative team will enter their two-day ND Fergus Hickey Rosebowl hungry for success at the Tauranga Domain.

There will be plenty of attention focused on long serving all-rounder, Peter Drysdale. who is on the cusp of becoming just the second Bay batsman to shatter the 4000 run barrier.

RPO Drysdale, who will be playing his 128th game in the blue and gold representative strip, needs just 56 runs to join Bharat Popli in posting four thousand runs for his province.

BOPCA Versatile Williams Cup March 2 2024

Generation Homes Lake Taupo v Sanford Wall Lawyers Central Indians, Owen Delany Park; Craigs Tauranga Boys College v Bond & Co Mount Maunganui, Nicholson Field; Flying Mullet Te Puke v Papamoa; Eves Realty Greerton v Element IMF Cadets, Pemberton Park; Geyser City the bye.

Points Table: Te Puke 25, Greerton 25, Mount Maunganui 25, Papamoa 20,  Lake Taupo 20, Cadets 17, Geyser City 15, Central Indians 12, Tauranga Boys College 5.

ND Fergus Hickey Rosebowl @ Tauranga Domain – March 2/3 2024

Bay of Plenty v Waikato Valley