#BPL09: Close contests mark opening night
The ninth edition of the Bowls Premier League (BPL09) is underway with four extremely tight contests from the first round of play.
Returning to the Naenae Bowling Club in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, following the successful staging of the event at the venue for BPL07, a boisterous local crowd were treated to some world-class bowls.
Unfortunately for the home crowd, the NZ Blackjacks were unable to get their campaign off to a win, going down to BPL08 fast-starters the Illawarra Gorillas.
The Gorillas famously got away to an undefeated start after four matches at Club Pine Rivers in the last Bowls Premier League, before a form slump ultimately saw them miss the finals.
Elsewhere, the returning Ben Twist inspired the Sydney Lions to a tie-break victory over the Melbourne Roys, Aron Sherriff produced a scintillating final delivery to see the Gold Coast Hawks pip the Muray Steamers at the death, while defending champions the Brisbane Pirates were clinical in the big moments against the Perth Suns.
Round 1 –
Sydney Lions def. Melbourne Roys – 10-4 3-4 2-0
Gold Coast Hawks def. Murray Steamers 8-3 6-5
Illawarra Gorillas def. NZ Blackjacks 4-3 1-6 1-0
Brisbane Pirates def. Perth Suns 7-5 9-6
BPL09 continues tomorrow through to Thursday and you can catch all the action from New Zealand live on your screens.
Matches during the day will be streamed live on Bowls Australia’s Facebook page from 9am AEDT, while the night sessions will be broadcast live on Fox Sports, Kayo Sports (14-Day FREE trial at www.kayosports.com.au) and Sky Sport NZ from 4pm AEDT.
