The final is played under Hawke Cup rules and conditions and a first innings win is enough to secure the trophy, and after winning the toss Celtic had no hesitation in batting first on the Saturday morning. The plans did not begin well when prolific run scorer Craig Davies was dismissed second ball for a duck, but promoted opener Glenn Matthews and Ryan De Joux soon settled into their job with Matthews scoring at better than a run a ball on his way to 62. De Joux was his usual aggressive self making 38 before the second wicket fell at 55, and Jeremy Liddy helped in another 61 run partnership before both he and Matthews were both back in the pavilion with the score 123-4 and Temuka feeling quite happy with their progress so far.

Dan Laming was joined by his brother James and they slowly but surely set about building a partnership. By the time they went to lunch they had moved the score through to 205 and it began to look like Temuka may spend a long time in the field.

James lost his wicket soon after lunch for 39, but by now Dan was well into his work as he put his worst ever season with the bat behind him and brought up his century. Once he passed the 100 mark, he relaxed further and began to play even more of the shots we are used to seeing and it wasn’t long until he had brought up his 150. Matt Mealings with 27 was a solid partner in another century partnership, but eventually Laming played a tired shot and was caught behind for 174 just as the spectators eagerly anticipated a double century, but importantly, Celtic had now moved to 399-7. Laming played a classic innings with most shots along the ground included 32 fours and two sixes and left the ground amidst hearty applause from the spectators and team mates alike.

Temuka may have been hoping for a declaration after a long day in the field, but Celtic were making sure of this outcome (unless it rained) and continued on with Andy Scott continuing the barrage as he added a quick fire 62 and Sam Carlaw chimed in with an unbeaten 38, until eventually Celtic were all out for 486.

For Temuka the star was Kevin Teahen who put in a herculean effort with the ball, battling cramp and fatigue as he sent down 33 overs and was justifiably rewarded with 7 wickets. Temuka bowled 96 overs and all their bowlers suffered as Celtic scored at more than five an over, with Rory Lorimer the most economic conceding just 29 runs from his ten overs.

Temuka had it all ahead of them and knew their first job was to bat through to stumps for little or no loss of wicket. They began well with Simon Attridge and Adrian Cunningham growing in confidence as they got in and didn’t look troubled. Unfortunately with half an hour until stumps Cunningham received a bouncer from Willie Scott that he tried to hook but as he played the shot continued through to hit his stumps and was given out hit wicket for 28. Willie Stone joined Attridge with the sole purpose of getting through to stumps which they did successfully and would have left the ground reasonably happy at 59-1 overnight.

Dan Laming had Stone caught and bowled early on the second morning and then a terrible mix up as the batsmen looked for three saw Attridge out for 25. This brought the mainstays of the Temuka lineup together as Captain Ritchie Preston joined Johnny Geddis.

They took the score through to 100 when Preston was given out lbw before he had got going and Temuka’s chances looked slim as they still needed to bat out the day to achieve a draw and share the cup.

Geddis then showed his class as he first brought up his fifty and then put the accelerator down as he drove down the ground or pulled or cut and before long he had brought up his 100 off only 114 balls before lunch. He kept Temuka well in the hunt, but needed some support from the other end.

Returning from lunch with a new ball available meant a change of end for James Laming, a decision which would prove crucial as he had Geddis caught in the deep for a brilliant 126 including 88 runs in boundaries. The loss of Geddis when the total was 231 brought about a quick end to the innings as Dan Laming and Glenn Matthews mopped up the tail and Temuka were all out for 239.

The match could have finished then if both captains agree, but Celtic decided to bat a second time to give Davies a chance to set a new Celtic batting record for the season as he only need 28 runs to pass Andrew Buckingham’s 806, but Temuka were determined to deny him, and he was out for 11. Celtic continued on, losing wickets regularly, but eventually sense prevailed and the captains agreed to finish the match with Celtic 109-5. Ritchie Preston took 3-21 and James Laming capped off a useful double to be 30 not out as did Matthews with 23 not out.

The outcome went as predicted with the strong Celtic side backing up their depth on paper with the performance on the park, and coach Bruce Carlaw can take a lot of credit for that, but Temuka also capped off a good year making two finals and certainly fought gamely as they tried to cause an upset. Both teams ground fielding was outstanding, although Temuka will rue a few dropped chances, but the match was played in a good spirit and certainly showed what can be done on a good pitch.

Scoreboard

Geraldine’s first innings lead put Temuka in a position of having to win outright to gain enough points to keep Star from pushing them back into third place, but with relations between the teams this season in the local derby strained at best, Geraldine were certainly not going to do Temuka any favours.

The rainfall during the week meant that preparation of the pitch had been limited and it wasn’t long until the ball was going through the top, but Geraldine began reasonably well to be 60-2 at one stage before a batting collapse saw them dismissed for 104 after Kevin Teahen picked up his best return of the season with the ball taking 7-43 and leaving Temuka requiring 143 for victory.

Not an unsurmountable task, but with the pitch favouring the bowlers, this match eventually went to the wire. At one stage Temuka were 80-6 despite innings of 31 from Adrian Cunningham and 21 from Johnny Geddis and their chances looked grim, but a good 8th wicket partnership between Simon Attridge with 36 not out and Willie Stone (8) kept Temuka in the game, as Attridge continued his good form from the previous weekend in his new lower order batting position.

However the tension was not abated when Stone was dismissed and No 11 Nathan McNicol joined Attridge in the middle with four runs still required. McNicol didn’t let the team down holding up his end and a jubilant Temuka side no doubt enjoyed their trip home with Simon Attridge and Kevin Teahen justifiably holding court.

Timaru put up a much better fight in their second innings against Star, despite battling the bowlers and the pitch, which while losing a lot of its pop from the previous week, managed to bring the downfall of a number of batsmen this time ‘lbw via a wormburner’. Jeremy Lane took the most advantage of the conditions finishing with 5-52, his best haul this season while Craig Hinton picked up 4-60.

Hayden Butler, the Timaru Captain lead the fightback playing a really fine knock for 79, an innings that would have easily been worth a hundred on a good deck, but in the end he got himself out caught inside the long-off boundary. Josh Smallridge chimed in towards the end with 20 and Timaru with 150 had at least made Star bat a second time.

Needing only four runs to win, the Star batsmen made hard work of it taking four overs and losing a wicket along the way, but they did finish their final match with Ashbury Park as their home ground with an outright win, and will be hoping their new grounds next season at Mountainview High School bring about equally rewarding results. This means that despite Star’s efforts with an outright win over Timaru, they remain in third and will not get the chance to improve on last season’s runners-up tag.

In the Waimate versus Celtic match, Waimate could be forgiven for thinking the trip to Timaru was a waste of time after they declared immediately after gaining first innings points in the hope that Celtic may at least make a game of it, since Celtic were in a position to manipulate who would be their final opponent.

Waimate had an outside chance of making the final if they could somehow dismiss Celtic a second time, or if Celtic made a sporting declaration and Waimate chased down the required runs, but Celtic set about batting for the rest of the day and the captains then agreed to call the match off early. In hindsight, if Celtic were not interested in making a match of it, an agreement to let Waimate bat on the previous weekend and secure the seven runs required for first innings points may have saved both teams from wasting a day.

Next weekend finals in all grades will be played over the Saturday and Sunday as another season draws to a close, and the senior final at Aorangi will be well worth a visit.

Honours Board:
K Teahen 7-43
J Lane 5-52
H Butler 79
J Sew Hoy 62*

Scoresheets

The battle started right from the first over when a shorter delivery from Glenn Matthews rapped Temuka opening batsman Michael Geddis on the helmet. Three balls later he was gone, and Matthews followed this up removing Les Humphris for 1 and Johnny Geddis for 2 as Temuka slumped to 16-3, and even some of their most ardent followers had a look of gloom about them, but Captain Ritchie Preston soon lifted their spirits.

Preston battled on doggedly and while his partners came and went, they all contributed some time in the middle as Preston worked the ball around or off his pads to keep the score building. Runs were always at a premium especially during the middle stages as Jeremy Liddy and James Laming both bowled good lines, keeping the ball up and utilizing the swing they were able to get. Liddy took 3-23 from his 9 overs while Laming was even more miserly taking 1-16.

Celtic used 9 bowlers showing the depth in their team, but when Simon Attridge joined Preston with the score 92-7 things still looked grim. Together they added 51 runs during which time Preston brought up his half century, then when Attridge was out for 9, Paul Coles came in and played a great little cameo of 22 as the score progressed to 177 before Matthews claimed his fourth victim in a great display of fast bowling. Dillon Lees threw the bat at everything and scored another 10 from the final over and Temuka ended with a competitive total of 187 on the back of the 74 not out by Preston.

Kevin Teahen removed Ryan De Joux without scoring in the first over and suddenly the Temuka fielders were looking really inspired as the team chatter and enthusiasm was plain to see. Paul Coles was bowling well from the other end, but Davies and Liddy now settled down taking the time to get in. Liddy made use of the fielding restrictions with a couple of aerial drives and was looking quite settled when dismissed lbw by Coles for 16. Dan Laming’s season continued with no luck as he was given out caught behind soon after.

Some tremors could be seen in the Celtic lineup as the pressure came on, and were further heightened after James Laming also became an lbw victim and then when Coles bowled Matthews without scoring, Celtic still had plenty to do at 92-5.

Throughout all this Davies had batted patiently at the other end, only playing at deliveries he had to, and waiting for the bad ball which he more often than not sent to the boundary. While he was in Temuka were always going to struggle to win, but Davies main problem was to find a partner who would also hang around.

He found this partner in Matt Mealings. Mealings played some nice shots as well as a couple of streaky shots, but generally he was sound on his way to 36 not out, and in the end it became a question of whether Davies would reach his century before the winning target was reached.

Celtic supporters roared at Mealings to not score any more, so he promptly rocketed another ball to the boundary, and finally it came down to Celtic needing two runs to win and Davies four for his ton, meaning he had to score a boundary. Preston brought himself on for the ‘Coup de Gras’ and his first delivery was called wide, but Davies got onto the next ball flicking it to leg for his 16th boundary and bringing up a deserved century, and he was soon swamped by jubilant team mates, as Celtic picked up the second leg of the treble of trophies they are chasing this season.

Scoreboard

Star also need other results go in their favour too, and will be happy with Geraldine who have followed the script by picking up a first innings lead over Temuka and so far denying Temuka any further points, but with a full day’s play left in all the matches, a lot can still happen.

Arkinstall’s first senior century in South Canterbury was a typical mix of aggression and defense and included 13 fours and three sixes. The mainstay of the Star innings, his best support came from Andrew McRae (43) in an 87 run partnership for the fourth wicket, but after their wickets fell, Star did not offer much more resistance and were all out in the 50th over for 230.

Craig Hinton and Jeremy Lane were straight into their work on a pitch that had showed some variable bounce, and supported by some good fielding soon had Timaru in deep trouble, and at 52-9 may have been envisaging a day off next weekend, but No’s 10 and 11 for Timaru had other ideas as they showed their batsmen how it was done adding 31 runs before Timaru were all out for 83. Star only used the two bowlers and good spells rewarded Hinton with 5-39 and Lane 4-41.

Star now faced the dilemma of batting again and earning some batting bonus points, or enforcing the follow-on and hoping that other results would pan out for them. They decided to play the match as they would normally and leave things they couldn’t control to fate and put Timaru back in. Timaru reversed the order hoping the form shown by Mike Turner and Sam Wilson would help them to a better start, and while Turner scored 12 to go with his 21 earlier, Wilson was out first ball, and when bad light stopped play Timaru at 38-3 have a lot of work to do next week to save the game.

A fine innings of 96 by Guy Metcalf batting at No 6 helped Geraldine to first innings points over Temuka but with a lead of only 37 runs this match has a long way to go, especially if Kevin Teahen is on song for Temuka again after taking 6-51 in the first innings.

To further complicate matters, Waimate look like gaining a first innings lead over Celtic despite James Laming notching up his second senior century (104*) after Celtic had been 37-5 at one stage before making 220-6 when the declaration came.

In reply Waimate’s Nathan Sew Hoy was on target to score his first senior ton too, before being dismissed for 86, and at stumps Waimate had moved to 217-6 with Jason Sew Hoy unbeaten on 48 and five overs left before the compulsory declaration. Despite this good showing, it is hard to imagine Waimate knocking Celtic over a second time and leaving themselves enough time to score the required runs, but cricket is a funny game?

Score Sheets

Honours Board:
J Laming 104*
P Arkinstall 104
G Metcalf 96
N Sew Hoy 86
K Teahen 6-51
C Hinton 5-39
J Liddy 51

Another final spot would cap off a great season for the Temuka club who only last season were really battling to put 11 players on the park, but this season in their 125th Jubilee year have made a prominent return and their new Second Grade team is also in the hunt for a final spot having only lost one match all year.

Temuka began the day still needing 53 runs from eight overs to gain first innings points and Richard Opie continued his form from the previous week taking his score from 47 not out through to 79. Temuka managed to obtain first innings points with a ball to spare before the compulsory declaration after 50 overs.

On a high from their batting, Temuka soon had Waimate in deep trouble three down with no runs on the board. Waimate were without their captain, but replacement Hadley Johns, just back from India filled his shoes admirably scoring 61 and helping Waimate add some respectability to the score, eventually succumbing for 159.

Temuka made no race of it as they scored the 156 runs needed for the loss of only two wickets with Johnny Geddis again leading the way for his team with an unbeaten 70 while Ritchie Preston added 43 not out to his 4-38 earlier with the ball.

Timaru made a much better effort on day two in their match against a Celtic side that was still not at full strength as three young players were blooded, but their effort was thwarted by Craig Davies as he continued to add to his already fine season. He scored 64 runs, more than double his next best team mates including a partnership of 82 with Jeremy Liddy, and newcomer Jacob Naylor had a good debut scoring a cultured 26.

Celtic were eventually all out for 224 with Josh Smallridge picking up 4-40 to go with his three wickets in the first innings, but with a target of 271 Timaru were always going to battle.

They began well with openers Robbie Rankin and Gerald Piddock both scoring 37 in an opening stand of 73, but by now Davies was bowling and it didn’t take him long to find his length, and along with good flight and spin soon had all the Timaru batsmen in trouble. Supported by good fielding and three lbw decisions in his favour he bowled unchanged for 16 overs and took 7-76, his best senior performance and the best bowling performance by anyone in senior cricket this season, and although Pete Grady (26), Grant Bishop (32) and Richard Booth (26*) kept Timaru in the hunt for a long time, they were eventually dismissed for 195, 76 runs short with 12 overs play still available.

In the third match Star needed an outright over Geraldine to keep in touch on the points table, while two outrights in the remaining rounds would give Geraldine a real chance of making the final two years running.

The return of Richard Bruce and Matt Barnes helped Geraldine to secure first innings points and they promptly declared, hoping to either dismiss Star cheaply or more realistically to be set a reasonable run chase giving both teams a chance to gain valuable points.

Star batted well in their second innings with Phil McGregor contributing 54 to an 82 run opening partnership with Chris Anders. Paul Arkinstall added a further 29 before Todd Elliotte got in on the act too with 57 and when the declaration came, Geraldine needed to score 219 off 36 overs at just over 6 an over.

Geraldine openers Michael King and Barnes were on target when a brilliant catch by Arkinstall removed Barnes with the total 52 in the eight over. Richard Bruce continued the chase on his way to 58 but it was the “stumped Anders bowled Elliotte” combination which took three wickets in the middle to slow the run chase and eventually Geraldine finished 179-6, still 40 runs short in a difficult chase and the match was drawn.

Honours Board:
C Davies 7-76 & 64
R Opie 79
J Geddis 70*
H Johns 61
R Bruce 58
T Elliotte 57
P McGregor 54

Score Boards

Leading the way was Grant Watt with two ‘firsts’. Known as an opening bowler, it would have been a surprise to the Timaru team when he strode to the wicket alongside Ryan De Joux to open the batting for Celtic, something he certainly has never done before. Perhaps he made the wrong career choice as a youngster, because Watt went on to chalk up another first by scoring a senior fifty and being the main contributor in an opening partnership of 94 on a difficult track.

Timaru were short of regular bowlers and when captain Hayden Butler broke down in his fourth over, their situation was marginalized even further, but aided by a ‘bowlers pitch’ with variable bounce and popping from one end it was still always difficult to bat and much more enjoyable to bowl on.

Robbie Rankin stood up for his team and was rewarded with his first senior 5 wicket bag after bowling steadily for 15 overs, while Josh Smallridge also bowled well to take 3-23 and they were well supported by 154 gullies (the combined age of the three fielders fielding there) in the field.

At one stage Celtic lost seven wickets for 24 runs before Jarrod Wooffindin and Willie Scott with a 56 run partnership got some respectability back to the score with Scott also achieving his highest senior score (27) along the way and eventually Celtic ended with a very respectable 182.

Timaru’s chase for first innings points was soon in disarray as they slumped to 53-6, and options such as declaring as soon as they had passed the follow on were discussed. The main reasoning behind this idea was to be able to get well into the Celtic batting lineup on this difficult pitch before the return of the Celtic rep players next week, negating the chance for some to bat.

However some lusty blows by Grant Bishop who finished 44 not out meant that Timaru batted through to the end of their innings and with 136, were only 46 runs behind. Batting a second time, Celtic had to take care over their batting order as they tried to protect returning players, but when stumps was called they had lost both Ryan and Ants De Joux but at 67-2 have already established a 113 run lead and would look favourites to add another outright win to their season.

In Geraldine, Star are pressing hard for first innings points after half centuries to Paul Arkinstall and Chris Anders helped them to 193-7 when the declaration came. In reply Geraldine led by Michael King with 56 are 141-6 with another 10 overs left before they have to declare, so it would seem likely that Star will get first innings points, but may struggle to have time to achieve an outright result to keep them in contention for the final, especially when there is no real incentive for Geraldine to declare behind.

In probably the game of the round Waimate and Temuka squared off in Temuka and an outright to either team would move them to outright second.

Waimate batted first and scored 172 with three batsmen scoring in the thirties, while Temuka’s Paul Coles with three wickets was well supported by Dillion Lees, Michael Geddis and Ritchie Preston with two apiece.

In reply Temuka have wickets in hand as they chase first innings points, but their scoring has been slow and with the score 119-5 with only eight overs to bat before the compulsory declaration, may also look at declaring behind, but not before Richard Opie currently 47 not out has a chance to score a fifty.

Next weekend will be very interesting as teams position themselves for results, but it seems likely that the second finalist will not be known until the end of the last round.

Honours Board:
R Rankin 5-41
M King 56
C Anders 54*
G Watt 52
P Arkinstall 52

Score sheets

Weather that gave the finals ‘four seasons in one day’ made every match different. In the earlier playoff matches, the Timaru vs Geraldine match was probably the most exciting for the spectators with the outcome and 3rd place for Timaru only decided on the last ball, while the playoff to avoid last spot between Waimate and Temuka had the best time of day to play in glorious sunshine and this was reflected in the scores as Waimate scored 175, the highest team score of the day, and kept Temuka to 156.

The final match did not get under way until 5.00pm after scheduling hiccups meant games had gone well over time. Celtic won the toss and immediately followed what had already proved to be a winning formula for the day by batting first.

The much anticipated showing of Ryan De Joux and his ‘rhino bat’ came to little after the Star tactics of opening the innings with Todd Elliotte’s off-spin and the medium pace of Mark Evans worked well as Celtic slumped to 13-2. Elliotte bowled out and ended with very good figures of 1-18 off his four overs.

Unfortunately for Star this brought Craig Davies to the middle to join his captain Andy Scott and they quickly set about resurrecting the innings as Davies got the scoreboard ticking over on his way to 52 and the pair added 82 runs before Davies was well caught on the boundary by Phil McGregor. Scott continued on to make a solid 36 before Michael King made up for an error and took the second chance offered.

Star made another breakthrough shortly after when McGregor again took a catch on the deep mid wicket boundary, but this only brought the Laming brothers together. The nemesis of many opposing teams over the years, today was no different as they added 47 runs in better than even time to allow Celtic to post 162, a very good target as the overcast conditions meant light at best was now poor, with the scorer’s light showing out like a beacon.

Star’s chase began well with young openers Simon Ward and Alexander McKenzie beginning confidently. However just as McKenzie looked to be going well he was bowled trying to make room for himself by Sam Carlaw and the first wicket fell at 28. In the final wash-up this turned out to be the best Star partnership as the team struggled to break the tightening Celtic stranglehold on the match.

Todd Elliotte was striking the ball well when the first of many brilliant catches was taken by James Laming diving full length forwards to catch a ball at square leg that if he had missed would most likely have meant a visit to the dentist to save his teeth. Craig Davies then joined the act to remove top scorer Ward for 22 with a caught and bowled and Star were suddenly 72-4.

Not wanting to let Star off the hook, Andy Scott made what turned out to be an ‘inspired’ change of bowler bringing Ants De Joux on to bowl what would become a devastating spell as he took 4 wickets for 4 runs off one and a half overs. He will argue it was his bowling prowess, but he would not begrudge the support of his fielders. First it was Dan Laming who decided he wouldn’t be outdone by his brother as he hurled himself parallel to the ground to take a great catch in his left hand and Andrew McRae was on his way back to the pavilion for 21.

James responded to his brother’s challenge by taking two more great catches on the boundary. That he could pick the ball up in flight, let alone catch it in the damp and dark conditions amazed the onlookers who by now only knew it had gone in his direction because he had dived, and then miraculously arose arms aloft to claim another scalp. Star was dismissed for 97 and a jubilant Celtic was soon celebrating their dominance after winning by 65 runs.

The play-off for 3rd place was played when the bitingly cold southerly wind was at its worst and Timaru batted first. Grant Brookland’s good season continued as he scored 30, but Kris Howes’ love for final’s cricket at Aorangi was again evident as he was the dominant batsman scoring an unbeaten 75 and helped his team to 160-7. For Geraldine Andrew Coombes returned his best senior bowling taking 2-19 off his four overs.

English pro Matt Barnes took the responsibility for the chase on and opened the batting for Geraldine. He lost his partner with 1 on the board but when the score was 45-3 he was joined by Michael King and together they got Geraldine into a position to challenge. The 93 run partnership was broken when Barnes was out for 75 but King continued on. Gary Muff came and went in the last over when the score had reached 156 and 5 further runs were still needed.

The experience of Howes (1-16) who bowled the final over was shown as King was generally kept off strike and although he brought up his 50 (like Barnes off only 35 balls) when the final ball came Geraldine still needed 3 runs to win, or 2 to enforce a bowl off, but unfortunately for them, the 1 run they scored meant they lost by 1 run.

Temuka asked Waimate to bat in the first game of the day and were 24-2 before Todd Bailey (37) and Glen Drake (26) got the score going. At 102-7 Waimate looked like posting a small total but then Jason Sew Hoy struck the fastest 50 of the day off only 22 balls and a 63 run partnership with Matt Devlin (30 not out) during the final six overs meant Waimate set 176 for Temuka to win.

Temuka began similarly to Waimate and were 74-2 at the 10 over mark similar to Waimate’s 68-2 at the same stage. Chris Opie (run out for 63) and Ritchie Preston (43) added 64 for the 3rd wicket, but when Preston was out after a 41 run partnership with Paul Coles the Temuka challenge wilted and gave Waimate the win.

Honours Board:
K Howes 75*
M Barnes 75
C Opie 63
J Sew Hoy 57
C Davies 52
M King 51*

Scoresheets

Celtic head into the Twenty20 final against Star at the Aorangi Bowl as red-hot favourites.

As the traditional heavyweights of senior cricket over the past decade, Celtic have also booked a place in the 50-over against Temuka.

They look likely to contest the two-day Tweedy Cup final as well.

The free-scoring Twenty20 competition is a new one and no doubt Celtic will be keen to get their hands on the silverware.

Much could depend on in-form opener Ryan de Joux.

The hard-hitting batsman has torn apart attacks in the shortest form of the game, last week smashing 73 off only 27 balls.

The 35-year-old is averaging over 50 and loves the format of the game.

“It suits me down to the ground, it’s quick and I don’t get puffed,” he said.

“Seriously though, I believe it has helped others improve their game as it forces them to play off the block because they have to.”

Something of a character in the local club scene, de Joux has branded his own bat with his nickname: “Rhino”.

A cartoon on the bat has been dubbed “Demolition Rhino”.

He hopes it stays true on Saturday or admits he may get some stick.

Never afraid to have a word, de Joux has been on his best behaviour this season and has not fronted the judiciary, who he admits he is “on a first-name basis with”.

He will open the innings with wicketkeeper batsman Andy Scott in a strong top-order line-up, with youngster Sam Carlaw likely to bat at three.

Carlaw can get on with the job, as can Craig Davies, one of the province’s most prolific run scorers.

The side also have a handy bowling attack, with veteran Grant Watt and Willy Scott along with spinners Davies and Carlaw.

Also in the mix is medium-pacer Glenn Mathews, who has proved a valuable member of the side since moving down from Marlborough.

Davies is better known as an opening batsman in the longer form of the game but has proved a more-than-capable bowler, having polished his skills in England over the winter.

Star came from nowhere, having been bottom equal on the table to tie for second and go through by virtue of beating Timaru last weekend.

For the underdogs the form of opener Alexander McKenzie could prove pivotal.

Like de Joux he is a potential match winner.

McKenzie will open the batting with former Timaru Boys’ High School player Simon Ward, who has looked comfortable playing senior cricket.

The middle order has the experienced Andrew McRae, who chairs the South Canterbury Cricket board.

The slimmed-down Julian Blanchard has also proved handy with the bat.

The bowling attack relies heavily on Craig Hinton, but captain Phil McGregor has turned himself into a specialist Twenty20 bowler with quite an effect.

Tim Butler is also likely to get among the wickets if the game goes Star’s way.

There are two wild cards who could also turn the match if available.

Celtic’s Dan Laming has been out injured, but could make a welcome return, while Star can call upon South Canterbury captain Todd Elliotte.

Laming can be a devastating batsman while Elliotte can be equally effective with his offspin bowling and is also handy with the bat.

The final is set to start at 4pm, with Temuka playing Waimate at 11am, followed by Timaru and Geraldine, ensuring an action-packed day at the Oval.

Timaru were late getting back to Ashbury Park after their match in Temuka had run over time, and play never got under way until after 4.00pm, so the players and numerous spectators would have been pleased that it was the best day weather-wise this season.

Star won the toss and batted with openers Simon Ward and Alexander McKenzie continuing their form from the first game adding 42 for the first wicket. When McKenzie was second out for 36, the score was 60 but Star fell into the trap of not getting bat on ball to keep the scoreboard ticking over. They lost a couple of quick wickets before Andrew McRae was joined by Julian Blanchard and the run rate was soon picked up as the pair put pressure on the fielders and ran at every opportunity. McRae was eventually out caught for 26 and Blanchard left unbeaten on 14, but importantly they had helped Star through to a more competitive total of 132-7.

Timaru’s chase began steadily, but the loss of Grant Brookland early on slowed the accumulation of runs as the batsmen struggled to connect. Gerald Piddock answered his sideline critics who were hoping he would run himself out by eventually getting the pace of the pitch and putting bat on ball and capped off a good double for the day by top-scoring with 39.

Peter Grady, Tim Mackle and Kris Howes all made double figures, but Timaru continued to slip behind a comfortable run rate to chase. Craig Hinton (2-19) made it difficult for the batsmen at one end, while captain and Twenty20 bowling specialist Phil McGregor was the thorn in the Timaru side taking 3-21 from his 4 overs at the other end, and when McGregor began the final over, Timaru still needed nine runs to win. A couple of dot balls, a couple of runs, a wicket and suddenly the equation became 6 runs off 3 balls. McGregor then helped keep everyone on edge by bowling a wide. Finally it came to the last ball and No 10 Josh Smallridge facing his first ball had to hit a boundary to force a tie and bowl-off, or hit a six to give victory to Timaru. He swung hard, he connected, but although the ball dribbled to mid wicket it was never going over the boundary and Star took the honours after two wins on the day elevated them from bottom equal to second equal on points with Timaru and they get to go through to the final because they won this round robin match.

In the other matches played on the day, Celtic beat Waimate in a match where players were more worried about their safety than the opposition bowlers after they had to play on an inadequately prepared pitch apparently due to confusion over the draw. Nevertheless, in a format of the game that is meant to encourage free scoring, this was the second time that the pitch had been sub standard, particularly affecting the Waimate team who played on it both times and who would not be pleased after having to travel for every match in the Twenty20 to be playing cricket in unpleasant and dangerous environments.

Celtic came away victors after scoring 103-6 in reply to Waimates’s 101-7 but had looked in trouble at 76-6 before Glenn Matthews saw them safely home with 24 not out. Perhaps the only other people who enjoyed the pitch were Sam Carlaw who took 5-18 and the wicketkeepers with two stumpings each.

Star’s early match was against Geraldine. Geraldine batted first and soon it became the Phil Lill day as he opened the batting and tore into the opposition bowlers. The first wicket fell in the 11th over when Michael King was out for 11, but Lill continued on, clearing the front leg and playing mainly in an arc from mid wicket to long on before being run out for 67. Ben Millar added an unbeaten 27 to help Geraldine post a seemingly good total of 139-6, leaving Star a run chase of 7 an over.

Simon Ward and Alexander McKenzie opened the batting and almost did the job on their own as Ward scored his first senior fifty before being run out for 57. McKenzie scored his first fifty this season and went on to be 63 not out when Star won in the final over.

Geraldine’s match against Celtic began well with Lill again in great form and they may have been hoping to set Celtic a large chase after being 41-0 after three overs, but when Lill departed for 42, again it was only Ben Millar with 31 who scored many runs and Geraldine were all out for 118. Spin again proved to be the Celtic strong point and this time it was Craig Davies with 4-15 who did the damage and Andy Scott added three more stumpings to his haul to give him 5 for the day.

While Geraldine appeared to be enjoying their day out, their bowlers would have had heads hung low on the trip home after not getting a wicket in two matches, as the only opposition dismissals were two run outs.

The other two matches were played in Temuka and the home team started the day needing two wins for a chance to make the final. In the first game Timaru batted first and went on to score a good total of 154-6 with Piddock 35, Zane Sanders 32 and Robbie Rankin 22 not out leading the way. Michael Geddis was the best Temuka bowler with 3-21.

Despite losing two quick wickets in reply, opener Les Humphris continued his fine T20 form with another half century (60) and in the tail Dillon Lees with 33 not out helped get Temuka very close, but in the end they were 8 runs short after scoring 146-8. Ranking and Kris Howes with three wickets each led the Timaru attack.

Temuka played Waimate in their second match in what was probably a precursor to the finals playoff for 5th and 6th next weekend and Temuka have the early bragging rights after winning. Next weekend the three finals will be played consecutively at Aorangi Oval, beginning mid Saturday morning and finishing with the Celtic vs Star final mid afternoon.

Honours Board:
R de Joux 73
P Lill 67
A McKenzie 63*
L Humphris 60
S Ward 57
S Carlaw 5-18

Score Boards

Celtic batted first at home on ‘The Rock’ against Timaru and were quickly looking to run singles at every opportunity, but this soon led to the demise of an almost ‘gazelle-like’ Ryan De Joux when a direct hit from Jordy Morrow spoiled his day. Andy Scott batted well for his 34 but like many of the batsmen who followed, found it hard to get his timing right. Double figure contributions from James Laming, Bruce Carlaw and Jeremy Anderson kept the score ticking over, but Celtic would have been disappointed to only score 117 after being 99-6 at one stage with Grant Watt (11) the only real contributor from a long tail.

For Timaru Robbie Rankin was the most successful bowler leading the way by taking 3 wickets for only 4 runs at a crucial time which certainly slowed any momentum Celtic had been building. Hayden Butler also took three wickets and Morrow two.

However, it wasn’t just the bowling performance that kept Timaru in contention, it was their fielding which was certainly better than has been witnessed most of the season as the players took all their catches as well as backing up and supporting the throwers, and they would have been hoping to carry this enthusiasm into their batting as they faced a weakened Celtic bowling attack with six players away on rep duty.

Timaru started slowly, although a chase of under six an over is not considered tough, but Willie Scott soon had removed both openers with the score only 16 and already it seemed like being a close run thing. When the evergreen Grant Watt bowled Kris Howes for 7 the advantage was probably swinging Celtic’s way, but Timaru’s new recruit via President’s Grade and Australia Peter Grady had different ideas as he settled in. Grady picked the ball to punish and kept Timaru in the game before trying to go aerial into the wind and was well caught on the long off boundary for 44.

By this stage Grady had put Timaru in a position where they just needed to play normal cricket and push the singles to obtain victory, but as often happens, comments made in mid wicket talks are disregarded when back facing the bowler as more batsmen holed out into the wind. James Laming then took a brilliant caught and bowled to dismiss a comfortable looking Zane Sanders for 12 and the momentum began to shift yet again as Timaru teetered at 98-7.

Celtic now ran into a problem with who was to be the fifth bowler, and this job ended up being shared by Tim Leonard and Andy Scott with Scott taking on the job of bowling the vital last over. Leonard bowled a good 19th over dismissing Morrow and when the last over began Timaru still needed 4 runs but only had two wickets in hand. The rule books came out as a tied match was considered and whether a bowl off would be needed and the players became even more nervous when Scott had Rankin trapped lbw early in the over. The pressure grew further as 3 runs were still required with 3 balls remaining but then off the second last ball Josh Smallridge drove down to long off for an easy two runs and victory with a ball to spare and Timaru became the only team to have beaten Celtic in any form of cricket this season.

At Mountainview, Star will be wondering about their future home ground after only scoring 113 from their 20 overs against a Temuka side without Kevin Teahen. Chris Anders with 31 was the only Star batsman to show much form while Les Humphris was back to his best taking 3-12 with the ball and he had good support from Dillon Lees and Rory Lorimer with two wickets apiece.

Temuka decided to stick with the in-form bowlers and Lees and Humphris opened the batting too, and Humphris capped off a great day to finish unbeaten on 52 when Temuka passed the Star total in the 17th over for the loss of only the one wicket (Lees for 16). He had a steady partner in Richard Opie who finished not out 31 as Temuka got themselves back into the competition with two rounds to play.

Waimate travelled to Geraldine and were looking to change the outcomes after two narrow losses in the previous rounds and despite losing the toss were asked to bat first. Nathan Sew Hoy with 31 got things going, and Glenn Drake with 17 also contributed, but it was captain Jason Sew Hoy with 52 batting at No 5 who really helped Waimate push the score along. Alan Reid and Craig Booth kept the score ticking over and Matt Devlin hit 18 not out at the end to allow Waimate to score an imposing 154-8.

Geraldine’s reply was in trouble when they lost George Harper for 7 but Michael King (16) and Gary Muff who top-scored with 20 put together a 42 run partnership, but this was to be the last partnership of any significance as the introduction of Drake to the bowling crease spun Geraldine into turmoil as he took 5-22 in his four over spell, a rare feat in Twenty20 cricket. At 91-9 it was almost over and 14 year old senior debutant Jacob Wilson took his first senior wicket and Geraldine were dismissed for 99.

With the final two rounds to be played next weekend before the finals, the competition is still wide open with Celtic, Timaru and Geraldine on 8 points and Waimate, Temuka and Star on 4 points. There are numerous scenarios and it is likely that the final positions will not be known until after the final game and players will be keeping a close eye on possible outcomes throughout the day.

Honours Board:
G Drake 5-22
L Humphris 52*
J Sew Hoy 52

Scoreboards