Valley, Celtic score T20 wins
Both Wairau teams blew golden opportunities to notch wins in the Marlborough senior Twenty20 cricket competition at Horton Park on Wednesday evening.
Wairau Cavaliers batted well to reach a very defendable 144-4 from their 20 overs on a tricky number one wicket, but were run down by Celtic, who batted well throughout their order to reach the winning target with an over to spare and four wickets in hand.
On the number three ground, Wairau dismissed the unbeaten Wairau Valley side for 105, but were unable to push on to victory, coming up five runs short at 101-8 when the final ball was bowled.
The Valley’s total was based around three meaningful innings. After losing the key wickets of Rikki Bovey, Greg and Matthew Stretch early, Heath Murphy contributed 24 from 23 balls, Louis Woolcombe scored 20 from 30 then Sam Boyce finished off with a quick fire 17 from just nine deliveries.
Wairau’s bowling attack was steady, well supported by solid ground fielding. Hayden Taylor bagged 3-25 from his four overs, Tarin Mason picked up 2-17, the same figures as spinner Alex Kennedy, while Chris Turkington made a solid re-introduction to Marlborough cricket with 1-15 from four.
Their batting effort got off to the worst possible start when Ma’ara Ave was bowled by Sam Boyce from the first ball and wickets tumbled freely from then on. A solid 25 from 39 balls by Harrison Boyce added some solidarity then, when he departed at 79-6, Tarin Mason hit out, scoring 22 from 32. Entering the final over, bowled by Heath Murphy, Wairau needed 13 with Taylor and Mason at the wicket. With Taylor being run out and Mason stumped, just eight runs were added, leaving Wairau frustrated at a golden opportunity lost.
Valley’s bowling was miserly. Greg Stretch grabbed 3-8 from three overs, Bovey picked up two wickets and one each went to Boyce and Murphy as their golden summer continued.
On the number one ground the Cavaliers’ total was based around a 72-run opening stand between Geoff Barnett, who scored 49 from 37, and Cleighten Cornelius who went on to score 35 from 33 balls. When Cornelius departed in the 15th over, at 107-2, the rate slowed but their total appeared very handy on a difficult batting surface.
Jaden Adams, 2-27, Ben Blackman, 1-24, and Jack Porter, 1-32, were the Celtic wicket-takers.
A 37-run opening stand between John Porter and Gandharv Sharma set the tone for a solid Celtic reply then, when they departed, Andy Fitzpatrick, Landon Neal, and Blackman chipped in with handy contributions to keep the run rate under control.
Blackman’s departure at 96-6 in the 14th over saw Andrew Courtney and James Croker join forces and the pair saw Celtic home in style. They started slowly but 17 runs from the 18th over, then 16 from the 19th got the job done. Courtney finished undefeated on 30 from just 19 balls to be top scorer, with Croker scoring 20 not out from 13.
Vaughan Harris picked up two wickets for the Cavaliers, Brent Hefford, Cornelius, Greg Logan and Jonathon Davis boasting claiming one each.