NORTH OTAGO
- Terry O'Neill
Albion and Oamaru tied in the second round of Dick Hunt Trophy cricket on Saturday, while Valley beat Borton Cup leader Union by one wicket at Weston. Oamaru won the toss and decided to bat first at Centennial Park.
It battled for runs, with the 50 coming up in the 16th over with six wickets in hand. The 100 came up in the 31st over, with Ben Guild unbeaten on 35. Guild defied the Albion attack and with George Inwood (28) added 44 runs for the ninth wicket. The final wicket fell at 178 in the 46th over, with Guild defiant on 66.
Jeremy Smith and Gareth Duncan took three wickets each for Albion. Albion had 98 for three after 27 overs and looked set for victory at 164 for seven with five overs remaining but North Otago selector Peter Cartwright (72) was run out going for the winning run, with Albion needing three runs from the last ball of the game.
• Valley put Union into bat at Weston Park and Union was dismissed for 158 in the 48th over, with only Sean Conlan (35) and Todd Sidon (27) showing any resistance. Brad McKenzie claimed five for 53 and Blair Malcolm two for 34.
Hayden Tisdall (22) gave Valley a sound start and this was built on by Geoff Mansfield (45) and Hamish McKenzie (20) to take Valley through to 159 for nine in the 46th over. Isaac Shields took three for 27 off his 10 overs.
Bowls
Kurow leads the Mills shield with 19 points, one ahead of Meadowbank Green and Phoenix Maroon. On Saturday Kurow beat Meadowbank Gold, Brian Trembath drawing 18-all with Graeme Robins, while Ian Willson beat Peter Lee 23-10.
Meadowbank Green drew with Phoenix Gold. Neville Hansen beat Ian Pitches 26-23 and Jim Ellis went down to Pat Kelly 36-15.
Phoenix Maroon was too strong for Meadowbank Blue, Tony Hill beating Graeme Sangster 23-15 and Russell Aimers beating Don Robb 29-14. Maheno beat Awamoa Gold 2-0, with Neil Robson and Ian Beck chalking up wins.
Meadowbank Gold leads by six points over Awamoa Blue in the Centre Sevens after six rounds. Meadowbank Gold shut out Kurow on Saturday, Bob Campbell beating Bill Sheppard in the singles 31-10. Graeme Sangster took the pairs with a 27-17 win over Ian Willson, and Jock Sangster beat Brian Trembath 20-9 in the fours.
Second-placed Awamoa Blue beat third-placed Phoenix Maroon 2-1. Bob Wilson beat Wayne Forbes 47-6 in the pairs and Ken Piner just shaded Trevor Wilson 21-20 in the fours, while in the singles Ray Forbes gave Phoenix its win with a 31-26 margin over Mark Lister.
Phoenix Maroon is a point behind Awamoa Blue. Maheno is fourth.
CENTRAL OTAGO
- Rhys Chamberlain
Cromwell is the Vincent Cricket Association Scurr Cup twenty/20 champion for the second year in a row, after it beat Queenstown in the final by 53 runs at Anderson Park on Saturday afternoon. Cromwell took to the crease first and made 163 for the loss of eight wickets, Tom Gillespie the best with 75 from 50 balls. He smashed nine boundaries, including five sixes.
Ross Anderson made 43. Kyle Patterson took three for 39 Queenstown, including the wicket of Gillespie.
Queenstown could score only 110 for nine off 20 overs, Patterson completing a good match with 38 runs.
• Blacks Hill was third after it beat Alexandra at Poolburn, by six wickets.
Alexandra won the toss and elected to bat, making 121 for nine. Andrew McGregor top-scored with 37 and Craig Smith scored 22. Blacks Hill bowlers helped Alexandra's total with 23 extras but the bowling of veteran Russell Nevill (two for nine) and Brodie Flannery and Cam Nicolson, who also with two wickets apiece pulled it back. Blacks Hill reached the total with just three wickets down and four overs to spare.
Nicolson was at the crease when the winning runs came on 43 and he had help from Dougan Flannery who scored 24, the pair putting on 64 for the third wicket. Saul Bedford was the best of the Alexandra bowlers, taking two for 12.
• Dunstan and Albion played off for fifth place at Clyde, where Dunstan won by seven runs.
Batting first, Dunstan made just 97 for nine. Sasha Hill and Trevor Kitto scored 29 and 24 respectively. Joe Cotter took three wickets for Albion.
At 20 for three, Albion was looking good, until Payman Hamadani changed the game. The medium pacer took two for five off three overs. Alistair Banks was also in good form with the ball taking three for 20. Only Andrew Lovelock put up any real fight with the bat for Albion scoring 40.
• Palmerston picked up another win in the Maniototo Eastern Districts competition, beating Macraes by 10 wickets at Macraes. The home side elected to bat first and made just 83 off 40 overs, thanks to James Grubb's five-wicket haul, for 17 runs, off eight overs. Al Sutton was Macraes' best batsman, scoring 30.
Palmerston's openers Cam Grubb (40 not out) and Blair Camplin (36 not out) went about their business and led their side to a very good win.
• At Ranfurly, 51 from Carl McDiarmid ensured a win for visitor Naseby, by 21 runs. Batting first, McDiarmid, along with John Pyle (24 not out), Matt Brown (22) and Murray Becker (21) built a competitive total of 174 for the loss of nine wickets.
The nine wickets to fall were shared around the Ranfurly bowlers. Ranfurly battled hard to reach the total but eventually ran out of overs as Naseby defended its total well. Kris Miller made 59 and Steve Pringle an unbeaten 30. Rex Gibson took three wickets for 26.
• Gimmerburn had a 37-run win over Waikouaiti, at Waikouaiti, on the back of an excellent 67 from Geoff Blakely, who helped build a good score of 219 for five. Tim O'Neill was also impressive with the bat, scoring 36. Waikouaiti was all out for 182 in reply, Brad Clouston hitting 44.
Softball
Alexandra is the champion of Central Otago softball after it beat Dunstan A 15-5 in the final at Alexandra. Dunstan started well, scoring four runs in the first innings but work from Alexandra pitcher Juliette Lyon allowed her batters a chance to take the win.
• Dunstan Ex Girls beat Queenstown in the play-off for third and fourth, winning the match 25-11 despite a home run from Queenstown batsman Lisa Murphy.
• Maniototo Area School beat Junior Girls by a solitary run 14-13. The win came by way of seven strikeouts between Maniototo Area School pitcher Katarina Kuti and catcher Shayne Hughes.
Bowls
Clyde 1, Alexandra CB, Alexandra W and RSA 2 all picked up three wins in the final round of the ECNZ Trophy competition for the year. The result leaves Alexandra SL on the top of the standings with 40, one point clear of Alexandra W and two ahead of RSA 2.
• Big wins to Ranfurly bowlers Ray Kearney and Neville Wahrlich were the highlight of the latest round of pennants action in the Maniototo. Kearney beat Dick Parker, of Waipiata, 27-13 while Wahrlich beat Alistair Tisdall, of Middlemarch, 27-15. Other winners were Andy Weir (Waipiata), Stuart Hore (Naseby), Bill Morice (Naseby) and Peter Williams (Waipiata).
SOUTH OTAGO
- Norman Woods
Batting first, Kaitangata beat Tapanui in club cricket, scoring 224 from its 40 overs. Brad Storer led the way with a fine 78, and was supported by Brady Carmichael (59) and Roger Pennell (32). Best bowling for Tapanui came from James Anderson with two for 33.
Tapanui was all out for 56. Craig Joyce was the only one to make a start, being 19 not out. Bowling for Kaitangata, Matt Herring took three for 19 and Brad Paterson three for 16, as Kaitangata won the game by 168 runs.
• SOHS, batting first against Lawrence, was all out for 112. Gilbert Bowden made a well-compiled 40. Bowling for Lawrence, Sam Wyber and Tony Potter took three wickets each.
Lawrence replied with 113 for eight, just getting up in the late stages for a two-wicket victory. Dean Lawrence top-scored with 23. Tyler Houghton took three for 38 and Scott Sutherland two for 28 for SOHS.
• Milton, batting first against Owaka, scored 189 for eight wickets. Dillon Mathieson (37), Peter Grant (36), and Phil Scott (34) led the scorers. Cameron Burgess was the best of the Owaka bowlers, taking three for 50.
Owaka scored 156 for nine, with Jeremy Gray making 25, Jim Young 15, and Steve Clark also 15. Best bowling for Milton came from Braden Adams with four for 32, as Milton won by 33 runs.
Bowls
Kaka Point maintained its lead in the latest round of the men's interclub bowls competition played on Saturday, beating Clinton 8-4. For the winners John Bisset scored two wins, with Neville Murdoch and Ray Hopkins scoring one win each. The best for Clinton came from Alan Mathieson and Wynstan McLachlan with one win each.
• Finegand beat Waihola 12-0. Dave Roxburgh, Jack Harrold, Peter Miller and Charlie Wyndham scored the wins.
• Lawrence beat Stirling 8-4. For Lawrence, Gavin Patrick had two wins, with Don Cameron and Geoff Slack picking up one win each. The best for Stirling came from Max Collett and Bob Sanders, with one win each.
• Town and Country beat Milton White 10-2. The highlight was the effort of Bruce Campbell and Ian Aitken in a pairs game, winning 45-4.
• Clutha Valley and Balclutha drew 6-6. Dawson Cowie, Ken Rishworth and R K Crawford were winners for Clutha Valley. For Balclutha, Blair Thomson (2) , and John de Malmanche picked up points.
• In the local derby at Milton, Blue beat Gold 10-2. The best for the Blue team came from Gerry Wyber and Sandy McNoe with two wins each and Bill McDonald added a further two points. The best for the Gold team came from Blake Dyer, who won his pairs match over Bill McDonald, by 14-12.
