North Otago
By TERRY O'NEILL
Union and Albion had wins in the penultimate qualifying round of the Dick Hunt trophy cricket on Saturday and, with only one round remaining before the playoffs, are assured of a place in the final.
Union beat Oamaru by 200 runs at King George Park while Albion at Weston beat Valley by seven wickets.
Oamaru asked Union to bat after winning the toss and although Union lost Ben Cant (12) early, Chris Smith (15) and Duncan Drew (21) saw Union through to 62 for one after 15 overs.
With 20 overs remaining, Union was balanced at 114 for four with Drew unbeaten on 43.
Eight overs later, Union was 160 for six with Drew still there on 62.
Drew was finally dismissed for 70, but enter Phil Crossan.
Crossan smashed 57 runs from just 26 balls.
This included six sixes and two fours before he was out.
Stu Dickison chipped in with 21 and Paul Johnston added an unbeaten 20 as Union made 276 for nine in its 50 overs.
Ben Coleman took four for 87 for Oamaru while Paul Selbie and Jordan Horrell took two wickets each.
Oamaru was bundled out for 76 in 21 overs, with Crossan, Dan Conlan and Glynn Cameron taking two wickets each.
Ben Cant claimed three for three off three overs.
Valley batted first against Albion after winning the toss and although openers Nick Webster (37) and Dean Malcolm (28) gave the side a solid start, the remaining batsmen failed to build on it and the side was dismissed for 117 in the 32nd over.
Brent 0'Connor took six for 20 off his 10 overs while Gareth Duncan claimed three for 25.
Albion openers Johnny McMann (45) and Peter Cartwright (36 not out) made light work of the chase, cruising through to 118 for three after 27 overs.
Hamish McKenzie took the three wickets for 32 runs.
Bowls
Four teams had clear-cut wins in the seventh round of the Mills Shield played on Saturday morning.
Phoenix Maroon beat Awamoa Blue, John Smith beating Andrew Paton and Trevor Robertson beating Brian Papps by identical scores, 26-15.
RSA beat Meadowbank Gold 2-0, Ian Williams beating Noel Read 20-12 and Allan Kerby accounting for Dave Runner 32-16.
Maheno showed its depth with a 2-0 win over Kurow, Neville Ludemann beating Ian Willson 23-20 and Hugh Catto defeating Brian Trembath 21-20.
Another country club, Hampden, beat Phoenix Gold 2-0, Noel Riddell beating Tony Hill 31-20 and Allan Deuchrass downing Mike Gorman 28-21.
In the other game, Meadowbank Green and Awamoa Gold drew 1-1.
The eighth round of men's sevens was played on Saturday afternoon.
Maheno and Awamoa Blue came through without dropping a game.
Maheno was too strong for Phoenix Maroon, with Ray Forbes beating Bruce Kelly in the singles 31-12.
Hugh Catto beat Gordon Brown in the pairs 23-18, and Ian Beck took the fours with a 20-17 win over Doug Harwood.
Awamoa Blue's Sonny Brown took his singles with a 31-27 win over RSA's Ian Williams in a match which went 34 ends.
Bob Wilson took the pairs, beating Allan Kerby 32-21, while Ken Piner took the fours with a 22-14 win over Laurie Heselwood.
In other sevens games, Phoenix Gold beat Meadowbank Gold 2-1, while Awamoa Gold and Meadowbank Green had similar wins over Kurow and Hampden respectively.
Because of the funeral of Awamoa stalwart May Larcombe on Saturday, only one game was played in the women's sevens, with Phoenix beating Meadowbank Gold 2-1.
Kerry Kelly beat Lana Craik in the singles 31-18, while Brenda Hope took the fours for Phoenix with a 26-10 win over Aileen Blyth.
Dorothy Breen gave Meadowbank its solitary win with a 30-18 win over Brenda Direen in the pairs.
Wheelchair bowler Peter Wylie claimed his second two-life development singles title yesterday, when he beat Peter Bell 21-7 in the final at the RSA green.
Wylie came through section play as the only two-lifer and in the first round of post section play yesterday morning he beat Russell Denniston while Bell knocked out Allan Holmes 21-20.
Bell then took one of Wylie's lives with a 21-5 win but in the final Wylie's superb weight gave him the edge.
Bell went out to a 4-2 lead after five ends but on the sixth end Wylie took four shots to give him a lead he never relinquished.
Wylie led 7-5 after eight ends then stretched his lead to 17-5.
Bell came back with singles on the next two ends but a three and a four on the 18th and 19th ends gave Wylie the title for the second year in a row.
Wylie has two open centre titles to his credit, having won the champion of champion pairs last season with Jock Sangster, and as well was part of Meadowbank's winning champion of champion triples with Sangster and Gus Young.
In addition, he won the Development pairs with Brendan Day and the Development triples with Day and Eric Smith.
Central Otago
By RHYS CHAMBERLAIN
Ranfurly scored a four-wicket win in the final over against Palmerston in a Maniototo Eastern Districts competition match on Saturday afternoon.
Batting first, the visitors posted a very competitive 185 for five off their 40 overs after being 45 for two after 20 overs.
Jeff Grubb (67) and Jeff McCelland (63) were the big run-scorers for Palmerston, and Matt McCelland with 27 helped push the score on.
After choosing to open the bowling with two leg spinners in Vaughn Dowling and Luke Steele, Palmerston's wickets were shared among three bowlers including Steele, Willie Miller and Brendan Gately, who all picked up one each.
The visiting side was guilty of throwing away too many of its wickets with careless run-outs.
Ranfurly's chase saw it slump to 62 for four early on but Ryan Dowling was the saviour, cracking an entertaining 87 in an innings that included six sixes.
Gately also featured with the bat, occupying the crease until the finish with 32 not out, and Steele made a much needed 20, Ranfurly ending four wickets clear at 187 for six.
James McKay was the best of the Palmerston bowlers, taking two for 33.
Gimmerburn amassed a very good 227 for four off its 40 overs and went on to beat Macraes at Macraes by 41 runs.
The hero for Gimmerburn was Shane O'Neil, who scored an unbeaten 103.
Paul Docherty pitched in with a half century of his own and Charlie Hore scored 27 in the innings.
Bevan Wilson picked up two of the four wickets for Macraes, finishing with a respectable two for 28.
The reply from Macraes was hard-fought but it came up short, all out for 186.
Scott McKenzie (39), Mick O'Connell (38) and Leon Watson (32) were the players to feature with the bat for Macraes.
Cameron Gray's four for 29 was the pick of the bowling for Gimmerburn, with Quentin Smith and Mark Pringle each picking up two wickets.
The home side might rue the 10 catches it dropped in the Gimmerburn innings, which surely shortened its odds of winning the match.
Queenstown had no problems in disposing of Cromwell at Anderson Park on Saturday afternoon, winning the match comfortably by eight wickets.
Cromwell batted first and made a modest 153 all out.
Sam McHugh (30), Ryan Anderson (29) and Mark Rushton (28) made the bulk of the total.
Cam Fawkner picked up three wickets for 37 while Sean McCone and Fraser Wilson had two scalps each in a solid bowling display.
The visitors' run chase posed no problems, with each of the four batsmen to feature scoring double figures.
The best of these was Liam Curran, who scored 57, while Jared Andrew scored 34 not out.
Wilson and Damien Petre scored 27 and 26 respectively, the winning total being 155 for two.
In the other match of the weekend, Albion beat Blackstone Hill at Poolburn.
Ronnie Kotcamp was the star, taking an impressive six for 24 for the visitors.
Batting first, Albion made a modest 131 off its 50 overs, with Kotcamp (17) also featuring with the bat.
Lindsay Scott picked up three wickets for Blackstone Hill while Sean Moran and Liam Donnelly each had two.
The task for Blackstone Hill looked to be a comfortable one before Kotcamp picked up three of his six wickets in one over and went on to collect three more.
Cam Nicolson was the only batsman to show any real poise making 46, but was unable to help his team from being dismissed with the total at 107.
Albion won the match by 24 runs.
Alexandra had the bye.
Bowls
Patearoa played host to the Maniototo Sub-Centre Champions Fours event on Saturday afternoon.
The event was won by Jim Brown, Duncan Cotton, Stuart Hore and Philip Dowling of the Naseby club.
The Scheib Cup was also played for at the Waipiata club, where the pairing of Al and Betty Traves beat runners-up Ted Shea and Fred Carey.
The Wanaka Bowling Club's progressive tournament continued on Friday, where Mike Barnett, Norman Cross and Fred Anderson all lead their respective disciplines.
South Otago
By NORMAN WOODS
Clinton continues to lead the South Otago cricket competition after out-playing Owaka on Saturday.
Clinton batting first scored 210 for nine wickets from its 40 overs.
Best batting came from Morgan Culbertson with 50 and Kurt Thompson 41.
Bowling for Owaka, Tony Miller took three for 42, including a hat trick.
All three wickets were catches.
Cameron Burgess and Jamie Shaw collected two wickets each.
In reply, Owaka could only muster 120 off 35 overs.
Gordon Edwards gave another splendid innings, making 53.
Next best was Trevor Parker with 23 and Jamie Shaw with 16.
Bowling for Clinton, Morgan Culbertson completed a fine day by taking four for eight off four overs, to go with his 53 when his team batted.
Cameron Johnston and Heath Culbertson were other wicket-takers.
Kaitangata scored a big win over Lawrence in its game at home.
Batting first, Kaitangata had 50 runs on the board before losing its first wicket, and followed this with a 65 partnership for the second wicket, which set it up for a solid total of 191 for seven wickets from its 40 overs.
Brad Storer led the way with 51, Blair Benington 34, Roger Pennell 20 and Tony Phillips 23.
Best bowling for Lawrence came from Dave Alderton with three for 26.
Lawrence in reply was dismissed for a paltry 55.
Tony Potter top-scored with 11, while extras amounted to 26.
Ten batsman between them could only muster 18 runs.
Kaitangata bowlers Tony Phillips with three for six, Harley McHardy two for 15 and Jason Young two for 12 from six overs, did the damage.
Milton kept its chance alive with a big win over SOHS.
Milton scored 214 for six wickets.
Dillon Matheison led the way with 76, along with Raymond Burleigh who chipped in with 34.
In reply, SOHS was all out for 57.
Outstanding bowling came from Bradley Frost for Milton, who claimed seven wickets for 12 runs.
Lammy Moana took three for 18 to help the demolition.
BowlsUpsets abounded in the South Otago Men's Inter Club Bowls competition on Saturday.
Competition leaders Milton Blue went down to Milton White 10-2.
For Milton White, Murray Grant (2), Gerry Wyber (2) and John Moana (1) scored wins, while Sandy McNoe, the only winner for the Blue team, beat Ray Allan 18-7.
Clinton, at the bottom of the points table, came alive to beat Owaka 8-4.
For Clinton, Alan Mathieson (2), Geoff Hurst and Rueben Piena were winners.
For Owaka, Tom Dallas and RAR Black posted wins.
Stirling continued its good form with a 8-4 win over Waihola.
Joe Nicol and Max Collet scored two wins each for Stirling.
For Waihola, Trevor Robinson and Bert Russell scored one win each.
Finegand moved into second place with a 9-3 win over Kaka Point, in a one-sided affair.
Balclutha went to the top of the leaderboard when it beat Milton Gold 8-4.
Balclutha hold a four-point lead with two rounds to go.
Three games from round 10 have yet to be played.
Once these have been completed, an official points table will be published.
