One century and eight half centuries were scored in senior cricket on Saturday, but it was Hamish Drennan who was the toast of Geraldine at Aorangi Oval after he removed the first four Timaru batsmen and then compiled an important 39 with the bat to keep Geraldine’s final hopes alive with one round to play. All this despite his team mates’ best efforts to undo his good work by dropping Kris Howes early (he went on to make 91), being penalized for slow over rates, and having an opening batsman unable to come in until No 5 due to being off the field for too long.In the other matches Celtic held their position on top after making amends for their first round loss to Waimate, opener Craig Davies finally getting things to go his way this season with a century, while Star stayed with them in top spot after winning against Temuka in a match where more than 500 runs were scored on a lightning outfield at Mountainview High School.

As happened in most matches after winning the toss, Timaru batted first in the heat, hoping to set an imposing target and drain the enthusiasm of the opposition and then get the chance to bowl later in the day with a breeze or some cloud cover. After the bad start to be 49-4, Captain Hayden Leonard and Kris Howes set about posting a good total. Geraldine is not the first team to regret dropping Howes and the pair added more than fifty runs before Leonard was out for 16. Unfortunately, Leonard’s 16 runs turned out to be Timaru’s second best score and Howes had little other support as they eventually succumbed for 206.

Drennan led the Geraldine bowlers with his 4-32 but Tom McKnight bowled tightly to only concede 18 from his overs and Phil Chapman tidied up the tail with consecutive caught and bowled dismissals, one of which was a very good catch.

Geraldine started poorly and tight bowling by Howes and Leonard had players making bad decisions as they tried to pick up the almost stagnant run rate. It wasn’t until Stephen Pagan joined Guy Metcalf at 43-3 that things changed, adding 60 runs together. Metcalf went on to make 51 before losing his stumps and at 125-5 Geraldine still had a bit of work to do to beat Timaru for the second time this season.

Up stepped Drennan and in partnership with Reagan Tate they added a further 59 runs before Drennan was out, but the damage had been done as Chris Esh and Tate (34 not out) were able to chase down the remaining runs with 3 overs to spare.

I am unsure if the Star vs Temuka game was transferred to MVHS as a reward for their batsmen or a punishment for their bowlers, but a very strong Star lineup turned up to play, while Temuka were without stalwarts Kevin Teahen and Hayden Broker.

Phil McGregor relished the batting conditions on his way to 74 as his new year form continues (following scores of 50 and 49*), and he added 127 runs for the first wicket with new South Canterbury Cricket Chairman Andrew McRae who scored 44.

A double breakthrough and it was Paul Arkinstall and Chris Anders who got the chance to improve their averages adding 102 for the third wicket before Arkinstall was out for 62. Anders went on to score 57 not out as Star set Temuka 283 runs for victory.

Interpreting the Temuka body language, especially after a sloppy fielding display and having used nine bowlers in an effort to stem the flow of runs, one would have thought this game was all over bar formalities, but the shade of the tent soon revitalized Temuka and they came out fighting.
The first partnership was 55, the third 75 and all the batsmen got starts with Michael Geddis scoring 45, Julian Danby getting off his run of ‘goldies’ to score 43, after earlier keeping wicket and bowling a spell, while Ritchie Preston was in great touch making 59. Johnston added 40 to keep the chase alive but as the run rate climbed, wickets fell and despite 30 not out by Tom Walsh, Temuka fell 29 runs short after scoring a meritorious 253.

Davies (100) and Ryan de Joux (79) set the match up for Celtic in a huge opening partnership before Alan Reid was able to put some breaks on taking 4-28. The rest of the Celtic batsmen tried to score quickly without much luck, but still posted a challenging 272.

Waimate started positively and were 68-2 off 15 overs, but in the end was all out in the 33rd over for 150, more than 100 runs short despite Jason Sew Hoy with 51 again trying to pull them out of the fire. James Laming toiled hard and was rewarded with 4-16 off his nine overs but no doubt had mixed feelings of delight and exasperation as Sam Carlaw came on and took 4-4 off 2.2 overs to finish the match.

The final round of the One Day competition next weekend still has 5 teams able to make the final and will lead to some interesting scenarios, especially if more than one team ends up on the same points, when finalists are decided on the results in the round-robin matches, or if still tied then on net run rates.

Score Boards

A century to Hayden Butler helped Timaru’s season resurgence as they travelled to and defeated Waimate, while Star made more of their opportunities when they beat Celtic at CSG1 despite both teams missing players due to representative duty and now re-join Waimate, Timaru and Celtic in a four way tie at the top of the table with two rounds left in the Daily Freightways One Day competition.

It seemed that everything went Timaru’s way after Waimate won the toss and asked them to bat first at Knottingley Park. After losing two wickets for 26 Waimate then dropped Hayden Butler twice before he scored, crucial mistakes in the context of the game as he went on to make his first senior century by scoring 107. He had good help adding 76 in partnership with Zane Sanders and 72 with Hayden Leonard as Timaru scored 207-7 from their overs.

When rain fell between innings, Timaru’s good fortunes continued as they got to bowl on a freshened pitch and soon made the most of it to have Waimate reeling at 33-5 before Craig Booth and Jason Sew Hoy began the fightback with a 50 run partnership.

However, when Booth was run out, Sew Hoy could not complete the fairytale of previous weeks and although Matt Devlin certainly tried with a cameo innings of 47 not out, Waimate were too far behind the required run rate to threaten Timaru’s score and finished 174-9 off their 45 overs.

The Celtic and Star teams both wanted to win, but for different reasons as a win would have put Celtic out in front on their own, while a win to Star would help them to get rid of the “chokers” tag they have been building on this season and get them back to the top of the table for the run home with games against Temuka and Timaru to come.

Star inserted Celtic and was rewarded by regular wickets as Celtic battled to 68-4. Andy Craig who top scored with 35 and Nigel Caple (24) then put together a decent partnership adding 56 runs for the fifth wicket.

Unfortunately for Celtic the rest of the batsmen then capitulated and were all out for the addition of only 20 runs as Phil Henshaw confused them with the ball that never arrives taking 4 wickets and showing his fellow bowlers how the slower ball works, taking two of the four caught and bowled dismissals Star created.

Young off spinner Blair Brown ended up with 3 wickets on debut, but may be advised to let his bowling do most of the talking in the future and thus always get the last laugh, while Chris Hyde again bowled well to pick up 2 wickets.

In reply, other than from the threat of thunder and rain, Star were never in any danger of losing despite the loss of two cheap wickets. Phil McGregor and Paul Arkinstall took the score into the nineties before a brilliant diving overhead catch by Andy Scott (almost Duminy-like) removed Arkinstall for 36. But the damage was done and McGregor almost scored his second fifty in a row but was thwarted when Nathan Tubb hit a boundary to give Star victory and leave his captain unbeaten on 49. Willie Scott was the only successful bowler for Celtic, and possibly under-bowled but in the end Celtic didn’t put up a defendable score and will be relishing the return of their rep players for the rest of the season.

In Temuka the weather intervened causing the match to be abandoned in the local derby with Geraldine before NZ Hockey player Hayden Shaw could wreak any havoc with the ball.

Temuka batted first and got off to a great start with the Geddis brothers adding 59 in 11 overs, and at 100 for 2 looked like posting a really good total, but then Ben Millar, who has started to become a ‘golden arm’ when called on to break partnerships, took 3-20 and with Chris Esh only conceding 10 runs from his nine overs, Geraldine were able to turn the game back in their favour.

Adrian Cunningham with 31 not out continued his new found form and alongside Vaughan Tarrant who has returned helped the Temuka side put 178-8 on the board. Unfortunately the thunder and rain which skirted games throughout the province was at its worst in Temuka and the game was abandoned after only 3 overs of the Geraldine chase.

Scoreboards

In the feature club game at Aorangi Oval in the latest round of the Daily Freightways One Day Competition, Waimate managed to chase down the target set by Star with two balls to spare and retain their position at the top of the table despite losing two overs because of a slow over rate. In Geraldine, Celtic also won to remain equal first while a sometimes heated match between Timaru and Temuka saw Timaru win to move into second equal place.

Waimate won the toss and asked Star to bat and after an early breakthrough, the Star batsmen with the backbone provided by Captain Phil McGregor with a patient 50 began to build solid partnerships. Paul Arkinstall scored 48 before holing out trying to loft the ball into the wind as they added 66 runs for the second wicket. Chris Anders helped add another 61 in the next partnership, before the innings faltered somewhat. At 180-8 the score was looking a bit light on the Aorangi pitch, but Julian Blanchard then played a cameo innings of 25 including two huge sixes to help set Waimate a target of 210 for victory.

In reply Waimate was soon in trouble at 20-3 with Chris Hyde making the most of his chances in senior ranks as he bowled through to take 2-26.

However, Craig Booth with 30 and Hayden Matthews put their heads down as they got things back on track adding 65 runs. Rafferty Fox gained a quick but largely unproductive promotion after Jason Sewhoy went missing in the toilet, and with the score on 100 Waimate still needed a further 110 runs off 90 balls.

Matthews and Sewhoy added 45 in good time before Matthews was out for 46 trying to feed Sewhoy the strike. Matt Devlin joined Sewhoy and continued in the same role as Star set the field far and wide to try and restrict Waimate to less than the 9 an over required.

In the end it wasn’t the fielders who needed to worry, rather the neighbouring houses as Sewhoy launched his assault. Blanchard took a great catch only to realize he was over the boundary and that was the closest to a chance Sewhoy gave on his way to 72 not out off only 50 balls to see Waimate to victory.

Weakened Timaru and Temuka teams also fought out an interesting tussle at Ashbury Park where all the Temuka batsmen scored runs as they also set Timaru 210 to win. Leading the way was Adrian Cunningham, but just as he neared his 50 and the team mates were discussing what vintage ‘red’ he would get out this time, it seemed as though he was thinking the same as he appeared to change mode and then had the misfortune to be out lbw for 49. It probably hurt more that it was to part-time bowler Robbie Rankin who also picked up the other top scorer Richard Opie for 40.

In reply, and no doubt buoyed on by his bowling, Rankin and Gerald Piddock added 55 for the first wicket before a mini collapse had Timaru struggling at 68-4. Temuka’s nemesis and former player Tim Mackle then resurrected the chase on his way to 59 as he continued a fine season with the bat, and then Kane Whiteley added an unbeaten 34 as tailenders Chris Leonard and Avon Proctor hung around to see Timaru get home nine wickets down with 3 overs to spare.

Unfortunately (perhaps because of the cold southerly?), this match was not played in the best of spirit, and what should have been an intriguing and absorbing match for spectators and players alike turned into a farcical and often verbal indictment of the fine old game of cricket.

Despite a century to English professional Matt Barnes, Geraldine were unable to capitalize on a strong batting effort as Celtic chased down the 206 runs needed for victory at the Geraldine Domain.

This means that with three rounds still to play, final positions are still very much up in the air with five teams still within a win of each other, and with players still on representative duty next weekend; no results can be easily predicted.

Score sheets