Wyber’s willow puts Lawrence Lions on the board
THE Lawrence Lions picked up their first win in the South Otago 40over competition with a fivewicket win over the Valley Stingers in Lawrence on Saturday.
Valley was asked to bat and recorded 174 for eight.
A 52run partnership from opening batsmen Bevan McCall and Lachie Johnston set a good platform. An equally impressive middleorder partnership of 54 by Morgan Culbertson and Marc Phillips pushed Valley towards a defendable total.
Opener McCall was the pick of the Stingers batsmen with 50, his first halfcentury of the season.
Mitch Pryde was the pick of the Lawrence bowlers, taking four for 34 off seven overs.
Will Young returned figures of two for 14 off eight overs.
In reply, the Lions lost three wickets for 18 runs inside nine overs, as Valley’s bowlers quickly took control.
Lions danger man Sam Wyber came to the crease and proceeded to take the game away from Valley with an awesome display of hitting in compiling 98, a knock which included three fours and 10 sixes.
Will Young (25 not out) and Mitch Pryde (15 not out) carried the team home and also managed to sneak inside bonuspoint territory.
Jonny May was the pick of the Stingers bowlers, with three for 37 off eight overs.
The Kai Kings moved up the table to joint second with an 11run win over the Waihola Swans in Milton.
The Kings opted to bat and recorded 150 for nine.
William Casey was unbeaten on 62 at the end of the innings, his equal highest total for the season.
Brady Carmichael (23) and Mark Shepherd (16) also offered useful runs.
Captain Dylan Bungard’s two for 27 off eight was the pick of the Swans bowlers.
In reply, the Swans were dismissed on the last ball of their innings, 11 runs short of the target.
Most of their top order got starts, but noone anchored the innings as Casey did for Kai.
Opening batsman Greg Webber topscored with 26 for the home side.
Mark Shepherd’s three for 19 were Kai’s best figures, while Jason Young took two for12 off eight overs.
The Owaka Bandits extended their lead on the table with a sevenwicket win over the Clutha Comets in Owaka.
Clutha was asked to bat and scored an even 100, all out in the 31st over.
An impressive opening spell of bowling by Quentin Gare and Matt Morahan restricted runs early; only 20 were scored off the opening eleven overs.
Kelan Smith played a controlled innings but was out for 43 as he tried to increase the tempo.
Francis Parker took four for 10 off four overs, but the hard work was done by the bowlers at the top of the innings.
In reply the Bandits chased the total down in the 22nd over for the loss of three wickets. Opening batsman Jeremy Gray carried his bat to finish unbeaten on 57.