Club Competitions 2007 - 2008

This page will be updated with articles and points of interest as the season progresses.

If you are looking for senior competition articles and results from the 2006-07 season you can find these in the archives

McLachlan ensures no fairytale for Temuka.

© Mark Medlicott The Timaru Herald | Monday, 17 March 2008

DROUGHT BROKEN: The Timaru Cricket Club finally took out the two-day Tweedy Cup competition after 20 years of trying.
Back: Jordy Morrow, Andrew McLachlan, Robbie Rankin, Grant Brookland, Josh Smallridge, Chris Leonard Front: Tim Mackle, Srinivas Sonnappa, Hayden Leonard, Zane Sanders, Hitesh Angrish (capt.)

An outstanding 94 by Andrew McLachlan proved to be the main difference in the two sides that fought out an intriguing Tweedy Cup final at Aorangi Bowl over the weekend. This allowed Timaru to gain first innings honours and as the match is played under Hawke Cup rules, this was all that was needed. However, a completely different second day of play (and weather) did not make it a fait accompli.

Timaru won the toss and batted first in splendid sunshine and extreme heat as Timaru topped the country. A shaky start saw them 44-3 at one stage before McLachlan was joined by Grant Brookland and together they added 100 runs before McLachlan was well caught by Ritchie Preston six runs short of his maiden senior century. This had been a patient innings by McLachlan, not losing patience in the fifties but going on, and all those watching would have wished him a century whether they were Temuka or Timaru supporters.

The rest of the middle order all got starts but it was once again last weeks hero, Hayden Leonard with 44 who saw Timaru get through to 258.

For Temuka Paul Coles was well rewarded for his stirling effort with the ball taking 6-86 from 24 overs. Kevin Teahan also put in a long spell and picked up 2 wickets while the other five bowlers used bowled tidily.

Temuka’s start was the worst they could have hoped for losing their first 3 wickets with only 2 runs on the board, and they were now always on the back foot. Simon Attridge and Hayden Broker steadied the ship in a long time together as they added 40 runs and looked like getting Temuka through to stumps and give their team the night to reassess things. As so often happens though, a double breakthrough by McLachlan in the last period before stumps left Temuka perilously placed at 63-5 overnight.

With rain to greet players and administrators on the morning of Day Two, there were two noticeably different attitudes to play. The rain of course was in Temuka’s favour as a no result would have them sharing the cup, while Timaru obviously wanted to push on and gain a first innings win.

Early lunch was taken and play eventually started at 1.15pm with the loss of 25 overs in the day leaving 85 to be bowled.

Jordy Morrow turned it on for his own personal spectators as he helped wrap up the Temuka innings with 3 quick wickets on his way to 4-40 while at the other end Hayden Leonard snaffled two to finish with 4-34, meaning that Temuka were all out for 108, having lost their last 5 wickets in 15 overs.

Although Timaru could have enforced a follow on, they instead decided to bat, and obviously for the rest of the day if possible and close out any opportunities for Temuka.

Unfortunately this scenario is hard to play out if you forget to tell the opposition, and although Timaru’s second innings got off to a flier with 57 added for the first wicket as Srinivas Sonnappa scoring a rapid 38, after that it was all Temuka as 17 year old Dillon Lees picked up 3-18 and Kevin Teahan bowled unchanged at the other end to take 4-51.

Weary of the Timaru tailenders, an inspired captaincy decision saw Vaughan Tarrant bowl 4 overs and take a wicket without conceding a run, and then Ritchie Preston only needed three deliveries to pick up the last two wickets including an unlucky Tim Mackle who had been building a solid innings until he was bounced and the ball ricocheted onto his stumps from his helmet to be out for 33.

Timaru were all out for 108 leaving Temuka a seemingly impossible task of scoring 259 runs at over 7 runs an over from the remaining 36 overs in the day’s play.

Temuka were undaunted, and with nothing to lose went straight on the attack. Willy Stone and Robbie Barry began powerfully and were soon scoring at 11 an over as they ran the singles or pounded the boundary. The first wicket fell in the seventh over with the score already 73, and Timaru without the services of Hayden Leonard who had injured his back had to look to someone to stem the flow of boundaries.

This job befell the captain, Hitesh Angrish as he spread the field wide and brought himself into the attack. He bowled Barry for 33, and as so often happens not much longer the other ‘in’ batman (Stone) was run out for 41.

At the other end the ‘Man of the Match’ McLachlan also helped restrict the run rate, but with such a good start the other batsmen were still able to keep the run rate required at a manageable level as they continued the chase into the gloom as the clouds came back and the light became visibly darker.

Preston (16) was caught by Robbie Rankin on the boundary just as he started to get going, and then the pressures of keeping up a high run rate told as Temuka lost two more batsmen to run outs.

With a complete role reversal from the start of the day, Timaru were wishing for more rain and Temuka for more light, but at 6.38pm the umpires called halt to play due to the rain and dark and Temuka’s chase fell short with their score at 156-6 with Paul Coles capping off a fine match being again unbeaten this time with 19 to his name to go with his six wicket bag.

Timaru take the Tweedy Cup, Temuka leave with their pride intact, and cricket manages to throw up many of the reasons we watch and play the game.

See the full scoreboard here

In other finals matches also played over the weekend

• Celtic convincingly won the Senior Reserve grade by more than 150 runs over Timaru

• Waimate justified their top qualifier position in Second Grade by dismissing Celtic for 134 and then scoring the winning runs for the loss of only one wicket

• While in the Women’s Grade final, Amber Boyce is the toast of the victorious Roncalli side as she scored 87 not out and then took 5 wickets for only 8 runs as they beat Craighead.

Don’t forget that the prize giving is to be held on April 9th where Justin Vaughan the NZ Cricket CEO is the guest speaker.

Celtic hold their nerve for title

© The Timaru Herald | Thursday, 07 February 2008

A solid Celtic middle order overcame finals nerves and a fired-up Timaru bowling attack to win the One-Day Trophy final at the Aorangi Cricket Bowl yesterday.

A blue sky and a steady breeze did not contribute to the expected high-scoring match as the ball swung more than has been seen in a very long time at Aorangi, and 11 of the 15 wickets to fall went to catches behind the stumps.

CELTIC CELEBRATION: Celtic players celebrate as Grant Brookland, playing for Timaru, is caught in slip by Dan Laming and bowled out by Paddy Farr.

Timaru won the toss and batted first but were soon in trouble as Paddy Farr removed both openers with only 17 on the board on his way to 4-35, one of his best spells this season.

Hitesh Angrish then played a patient innings for 25, but with the batsmen struggling with which balls to play and which to leave, wickets continued to tumble and for Celtic Luke Taylor (wicketkeeper) and Dan Laming both picked up three catches.

No matter who Laming turned to in the bowling department, they all did their job, with Jeremy Liddy and James Laming both grabbing two wickets and Grant Watt conceding only 23 runs from his spell.

At 82-7 it was looking doubtful if Timaru would bat out their overs, a cardinal sin in the one-day game. However the tail enders had different ideas as they looked to get themselves in first, take the singles on offer and only play the big shots to bad balls. Partnerships of 40, 17 and 21 for the last three wickets to get Timaru through to 160 at least gave them a score to defend, but it was always far too few, or so it seemed to onlookers.

Needing fewer than four runs an over to win, Celtic were soon on the back foot as they lost the first three wickets with only 20 runs on the board and Andy Scott, Mark Tutton and Dan Laming were all back in the pavilion. Craig Davies, a century maker for the last three weeks, had been dropped on zero, and now with Timaru on top, they were hoping they wouldn't rue this relatively simple chance.

James Laming steadied the Celtic ship while still scoring at an acceptable rate, but when he lost partner Davies with still over 100 runs required, the Celtic batting order looked a little shaky, or at least as though it would be tested in a pressure situation, something they haven't always dealt with well in previous finals.

Hayden Leonard had ripped through the top order, and lively spells from Jordy Morrow, Kris Howes and Zane Sanders kept scoring at a premium, but the arrival of Jeremy 'Lethal' Liddy to the middle also brought about some steadiness and good decision-making to the batting.

The Liddy /Laming partnership grew, with Laming regularly finding the boundary before he played an expansive shot to Hitesh Angrish and was well caught by keeper Tim Mackle for 42, the day's high score.

Celtic were 82-5 and once again on the back foot as the game ebbed and flowed with both sides holding the upper hand at different times. On the field you could see the Timaru heads lift as they realised they were still definitely in this final and the fielders did their best to support the bowlers, but Matt Mealings had other ideas.

While Liddy held up one end, and was reminded by team-mates whenever he looked like going aerial, Mealings played some strong attacking shots on his way to 38 before the reintroduction of Leonard to the bowling crease removed him with his first ball. Leonard bowled well to take 3-20, and in retrospect, as the most dangerous bowler should possibly have returned earlier.

If No 8 Luke Taylor was nervous when he strode to the wicket with the score at 147, his first shot, a glorious cover drive for four soon dispelled any worries for the Celtic supporters, and he and 'Lethal' quickly finished the match off with five overs to spare.

Although it was a low-scoring final, a large spectator gallery was kept enthralled, while vocal support was never amiss for the cricketers in the middle. The umpires both had good matches, but Celtic were the deserving winners after bowling and fielding well, taking the chances they created and making better batting decisions against the swinging deliveries.

Scoreboard:-

Timaru

R Rankin b P Farr.........................0
Srinivas KS ct D Laming b P Farr............ 7
H Angrish ct Taylor b J Liddy .................. 25
A McLachlan ct De Joux b P Farr ........... 5
K Howes ct D Laming b J Laming............ 7
G Brookland ct D Laming b P Farr .......... 8
T Mackle ct Taylor b J Liddy.................... 12
S Johnston b J Laming ........................... 18
Z Sanders ct Taylor b C Davies .............. 24
H Leonard run out Tutton ........................ 9
J Morrow not out ..................................... 16
Extras (LB7, W13, NB12)......................... 32
Total......................................................... 160

Fall: 2, 17, 35, 51, 60, 80, 82, 122, 139, 160

Bowling: G Watt 8 1 23 0, P Farr 9 0 35 4, J Liddy 8 2 25 2, J Laming 9 0 31 2, C Davies 6 0 30 1, A De Joux 3 0 9 0.

Celtic

C Davies ct Howes b Z Sanders ............. 10
A Scott ct Mackle b H Leonard................0
M Tutton ct Howes b H Leonard ............. 6
D Laming b J Morrow .............................. 3
J Laming ct Mackle b H Angrish.............. 42
J Liddy not out ......................................... 34
M Mealings b H Leonard ......................... 38
L Taylor not out ....................................... 10
Extras( (LB 4 W12 NB2)........................... 18
Total (5wkts) ............................................ 161

Fall: 3, 11, 20, 57, 82, 147.

Bowling: H Leonard 7 1 20 3, J Morrow 7 1 31 1, Z Sanders 5 0 19 1, K Howes 5 1 21 0, A McLachlan 6 1 16 0, H Angrish 8.1 0 36 1, Srinivas KS 2 0 14 0.