A nice day in Dunedin for cricket – although quite a bit of wind around.
The Bottle-O Eagles were up against University-Grange at Tonga Park. Skipper Talor Cumberland kept up his record of losing the toss and UG decided they would have a bat.
Tommy Clout opened the attack with the wind a nice direction for his left-arm in swing and this proved helpful as Tommy claimed a wicket in each of his first two overs. At the other end James Brown had a quiet start until his third over when he claimed three Grange wickets to leave the Spartans reeling at 18/5. Things did not get any better for Grange as Tommy took his third to have UG sitting at 29/6. Some power hitting from the other end had the UG run rate acerating but Tommy managed his 4th and then Patrick Arnold draw a false shot and Tommy took a nice outfield catch. Dylan Fletcher drew another false shot and a good catch on the boundary by Jack Clough saw the score at 97/9. Tommy had bowling continuously from his end and in his 9th over was rewarded with his 5th wicket as he skittled the final Grange bat to have them all out for 99 and Tommy finished with 8.5 overs 5/18.
Jack Clough and Lucky Singh opened up the chase and both batted sensibly and the score moved to 46 when Lucky was out for 20. With the score at 64 Jack followed for 30. This had Amal Ashok and Taylor at the wicket and they guided the team to victory in the 26th 98 – Amal 25* and Taylor 15* for a comprehensive 8 wicket victory. This 6th victory in a row also cements a place in the One-Day final to be held in a fortnight.
The Turkeys also took on University-Grange in a top of the table clash at Logan Park. After losing the toss the Turkeys were asked to bat and were in trouble with the early loss of a wicket. Nathan Sims (34) and Freddy Birch (27) moved the score to 54 when Nathan was out then 74 when Freddy departed. Wickets then fell and they were in trouble at 101/6. Kane McKay, back in the fold after a number of years away, made a valuable 32 before he departed making the score 133/8. Thomas Harris and Gerard Finnie then put together a good partnership to move the score to 168 when Gerry was out for 11. Thomas kept the scoreboard going and was last out for a tidy 44 that had taken the score to 193 in only the 34th over – so 10 plus over remained.
With a strong wind at his back skipper Brad Thomson opened up the bowling and struck three times in his 5 over spell and battling into the wind Richie Buchanan claimed two wickets to have Grange well on the back foot at 45/5. Freddy Birch came on down-wind and he was also quickly into the wickets claiming two to reduce UG to 57/7. UG then steadied and had moved the score to 96/7 at drinks. Immediately after the break Thomas struck to claim the 8th and from the other end Gerry secured the final two wickets to have UG all out for 116 and claim the bonus point to take the Turkeys to the top of the table with two matches remaining.
The HG Super Chunks were up against Taieri out at Brooklands and after winning the toss decided to have a bat. At the top of the order Cyrus Barnabas continued his good season scoring 87 – however only Simran Sahota with 16 made double figures as the SC were out in the 31st over for 174.
Taieri completed the chase in just 28 over for the loss of 4 wickets with Gurudatta Vishwasrao the best for the SC with 2/40.
The Kilda were back at home against University-Grange and UG decided to have a bat after winning the toss. I am sure they regretted this decision as Kieran Parker ripped thru the top order and then came back to mop up the tail to finish with the outstanding figures of 6/24 off 7.3 overs. Kieran received good back up from skipper Scott McCormack 2/21 off 7 and Chris Morris 2/24 off 6 overs to see UG bundled out for just 93 in the 25th over.
The chase did not get off to a great start as Kirk Brocklebank was run out for 9 with the score at 20. Andy Arnold and Mark Somerville came and went – but Chris Morris (40*) had remained patient as along with Shaun Wheeler (14*) they guided the Kilda to a comfortable 7 wicket victory. The Kilda also top their table and with this win secure a place in their final in two weeks.
The Rebels looked to keep their good run going against Taieri at Peter Johnstone Park. After winning the toss skipper Finn Davidson decided they would have a bat. Unfortunately, they did not get off to a good start losing two wickets with only 1 run on the board. Dan Duke was joined by Max Davidson and they took the score to 59 when Dukey was out for 44 off just 19 balls. When Max followed for 23 the score was 81/4 and this quickly became 86/7. Daksh Pattansheeti watched this unfold from the other end before he was dismissed for 16. Jason Marshall batted very patiently before he was out for 16 and the innings wrapped up at 122 in the 31st over.
Taieri lost two wickets fairly quickly before the Rebels struck 3 times in the 60’s to have Taieri under some pressure at 66/5. Taieri steadied and took their score to 122 when they lost their 6th before claiming victory shortly after. Caleb Marfell led the bowling with 3/30 and Jarred Baigent with 2/28 – but just not enough runs on the board. The Rebels retain their led and have secured a place in their final in a fortnight.