Bandits start competition with a bang
THE South Otago twenty20 competition started on Friday night with some fireworks at Swamp Hen Park in Owaka.
After electing to bat first, the Owaka Bandits recorded a whopping 193 for two against the Clutha Comets, Bandits opening batsman Jeremy Gray finishing the innings unbeaten on 96.
The Bandits’ openers, Gray and Joel White, put on 124 runs for the first wicket, which set the platform for the home side to make a huge total.
White was dismissed for 44 with five overs remaining.
Gordon Edwards came to the crease and carried the momentum on with 32 runs off 18 balls before sacrificing himself for Gray to have a chance at his century.
Unfortunately that individual milestone was missed but it was a good team effort nonetheless. Kelan Smith was the pick of the Clutha bowlers.
Smith remained wicketless and returned figures of none for 18 off four overs.
In reply the Comets were bowled out for 60 runs in the 15th over, largely thanks to three wickets at the start of the innings from James Maclean and three middleorder wickets from Francis Parker.
Clutha could not get any partnerships going and Owaka rode its momentum to the finish. Jared Crawford (16) and Scott McLaren (15*) were the only batsmen to make double figures.
Maclean finished with figures of three for eight, and Parker three for 13.
The Valley Stingers started their season off with a win over the Lawrence Lions at Lawrence, thanks to DuckworthLewis system.
Lawrence batted first and recorded 90 for nine off its 20 overs.
The bulk of the runs came from the bat of George Franklin, who scored 42 off 51 balls, including two fours and two sixes.
The rest of the Lions fell around him, but some late hitting from Bailey Kennedy (17*) took Lawrence to a target that could have been tricky to chase early in the season. Bevan McCall and Jonny May were the chief destroyers for Valley with the ball. McCall picked up figures of four for 17. May also
the bowled well and picked up three for 15 at the top of the innings.
With the weather closing in, the Stingers’ openers had to score quickly to ensure they had enough runs on the board.
That they did with opening batsman McCall and Lachie Johnston putting 31 on the board off four overs. Valley made it to 61 for two off 10 overs before the heavy rain came and stopped the match. Valley’s superior score and run rate gave it the win. McCall finished unbeaten on 25. Ryan Banks took the only two wickets for Lawrence and finished with two for 11 off three overs.