With a logjam at the top of the Williams Cup standings, there is extra pressure on the championship contenders as they eye the four spots in the March Baywide playoffs.

The 2015 Williams Cup has become a five horse race with just three rounds remaining in the round robin competition. City Sports Bar Te Puke, Element IMF Cadets, Eves Realty Greerton, Carrus Mount Maunganui and Rotorua Central are locked in a battle, for the four post section berths on offer.

Defending Williams Cup titleholders Te Puke face a big test when they play Cadets at the Tauranga Domain. The two sides will know that a win on Saturday will take the victor a big step towards a semi-final showdown – while defeat will mean a real battle to the end to make the post section play.

Te Puke batsman Tai Bridgman, who is chasing Andy Roberts most all-time centuries for the Te Puke Club, is always difficult to dislodge at the batting crease and will be a real target for the Cadets bowlers.

Cadets representative batsmen Ben Christensen and Joe Carter have been in outstanding form in the 2015 Williams Cup, with Carter smashing 116 not out off just 53 balls in the opening round.

Current Baywide champions of champions Mount Maunganui, will hit the road to the Eastern Bay of Plenty, to play Whakatane United at Rex Morepeth Park in Whakatane.

Longtime Whakatane United member Trig Yates, will have prepared a grass wicket at Rex Morepeth Park,that will produce plenty of runs but also give the bowlers lots to work with.

The home side will need to target Mount skipper Peter Drysdale, who leads the way in the Williams Cup batting stakes this year, with 256 runs and a highest score of 111 not out.

The backbone of the Eastern Bay sides batting line-up is Alex and Tom Yates along with Stephen Ford, with the trio all in good touch with the willow.

Mount Maunganui bowler Dan Hill, leads the way by a country mile in the Williams Cup bowling stakes with 24 wickets. Hill is also a hard hitting lower order batsman who can be difficult to dislodge.

Whakatane United bowlers Joel Mathews and Dean Butterworth have been in good form with the ball and could be a thorn in the side of the Mount batsmen.

Newly crowned ND Club Champions Eves Realty Greerton will square off with Tauranga Boys College at Nicholson Field. The Pemberton Park based side had a dream two days last weekend, narrowly defeating archrivals Mount Maunganui, before backing up to beat Maungakaramea from Northland in the ND Club Champs title decider.

Tauranga Boys College, who go through a rebuilding phase each season after the school leavers depart, have shown some real fight in the Williams Cup in spite of sitting near the bottom of the standings.

The formbook says that Rotorua Central should win the Rotorua derby with BOP Indians at Smallbone Park. Key players in the match include Central skipper Jason Trembath with both bat and ball and BOP Indians rep batsmen Bharat Popli who smashed a century a couple of weeks ago.

Williams Cup (Baywide Premier) Draw

Central v BOP Indians, Smallbone Park; Tauranga Boys College v Eves Realty Greerton, Nicholson Field; Element IMF Cadets v City Sports Bar Te Puke, Tauranga Domain; Whakatane United v Carrus Mount Maunganui, Rex Morepeth Park.

Williams Cup Points Table

Mount Maunganui 18, Cadets 18, Te Puke 18, Central 18, Greerton 18, Tauranga Boys College 3, BOP Indians 3, Whakatane United 0.