Senior Two Day Final

Celtic Lam(ing)bast Timaru

The Celtic cricket juggernaut overwhelmed Timaru in the Tweedy Cup final at the weekend thanks to an outstanding performance from the Laming brothers.

(Back row, from left) Luke Taylor, Will Scott, Grant Watt, James Laming, Ants de Joux, Craig Davies, Paddy Farr; (front row, from left) Matt Mealings, Andy Scott, Dan Laming and Mark Tutton.

Celtic notched up an impressive 377 in a St Patrick's Day blitz and then destroyed Timaru at the Aorangi Oval yesterday morning, dismissing them for 92 on a batsman-friendly pitch. The first innings win was enough for Celtic to claim their seventh title in eight years.

Captain Dan Laming was in superb touch with both bat and ball, scoring 80 runs and then ripping the heart out of the Timaru top order, taking five for 43 off 20 overs with his medium pace swing bowling. For Laming it was a sweet return to the bowling crease after struggling with injuries for most of the season His brother James also chipped in with the bat scoring 40 and cleaning up the Timaru tail with the outstanding figures of four for seven off 10 overs as Timaru crumbled.

That meant the Lamings had contributed 120 runs and taken nine of the 10 wickets to fall.

However it was more than a two-man show for Celtic. It was again a superb team effort with the top three batsmen all scoring in the thirties, with the first man out at 67.

However, it was wicketkeeper Luke Taylor's sterling efforts that put a sting in the Celtic tail. Taylor was equal top score with 80 but more importantly he saw the Celtic score through to 377 from 262 for six, before being the last man out.Taylor peppered the boundary with 12 fours and two sixes in his cameo innings.

Timaru probably knew it was not going to be their day after Craig Davies was dropped three times on his way to 38 and they put down four catches before lunch. A superb Hayden Leonard delivery trapped Mark Tutton leg before wicket with a score on 129 and Timaru had a sniff until the Laming brothers put their heads together. All the Timaru bowlers toiled well with the wickets shared among five of them, with Mohamed Aleem returning the best figures of three for 48 off 20 overs.

Timaru, playing in their first final since they were introduced 19 years ago, would have been disappointed with their efforts on a friendly batting pitch. Poor shot selection at the top of the order was costly. Captain Grant Brookland paid the price, out leg before wicket not playing a shot with his score on 17, and Timaru were in all sorts of trouble. They were five down with only 66 on the board and this time there were no heroics from the in-form Tim Mackle, out for one flicking at ball down leg side. For Timaru only four players made double figures, with Hitesh Angrish and Kris Howes top scoring with 19 apiece.

Yesterday's hail arrived too late to save Timaru and Celtic were 18 without loss in their second innings when the captains agreed to call the match off after the outfield was saturated.

Laming said he was "bloody ecstatic" with the win. "Everyone contributed brilliantly, at one stage we looked like only getting 250 so to finish the day at 370 was great. "Also to only have to use three bowlers on a pitch like that was a pretty good effort."

Mark Tutton, who took six wickets against Timaru the week before, was not even required to take his jersey off. Also for four of the Celtic side – Paddy Farr, Matt Mealings, Andy Scott and Willy Scott – it was a special moment as it was the first time they had been in a Tweedy Cup-winning side

Timaru captain Brookland said he was disappointed his side failed to fire with the bat. "The Celtic tail got away a bit on us but we had plenty of time but it wasn't our day."

Senior One Day Final

Howes that for Timaru!

A powerhouse century from Kris Howes lifted Timaru to a dramatic second successive one-day cricket title at the Aorangi Cricket Bowl yesterday.

Timaru were well behind the required run rate in deteriorating light with 12 overs to go when Howes took command. The tall fast bowler, given a life when dropped off an easy chance on 49, almost single-handedly took the game away from Celtic. There were six huge sixes in his 101, the first century of his career and one that could not have come at a better time.

"This has been my best season with the bat," he said. "Until now I haven't been rated as a batsman."

Howes was unlucky to be dismissed for 92 playing for South Canterbury but was happy to have his first century posted in a championship-winning match. "Once it got down to a run a ball I thought we would get there," he said. "I had areas targeted where I could get boundaries and was able to strike them there."

He said the run chase took its toll physically, especially running quick singes and twos. "I told the guys at the other end to play their own games, pick up singles and if the ball was there to hit, then hit it," he said. `

Craig Davies. Celtic won the toss and after deciding to bat were away to an outstanding start when Andy Scott 82 and Craig Davies 28 added 114 for the first wicket.

They were poised to post a big score at 119 inside 20 overs. The introduction of off-spinner Hitesh Angrish and left-arm orthodox spinner Mohammed Aleem slowed the run rate and grabbed two vital wickets.

The Celtic run rate slowed, not dramatically but enough to reduce the total from about 270 to 246 at the end of their 45 overs. Aleem finished with 2-26 from his nine overs, Angrish 0-35.

Scott enjoyed some good fortune early on but played some nice shots. There was a century there for the taking when he played his first ill-disciplined shot and was bowled by Aleem.

Davies was solid and Mark Tutton was looking good until he was also bowled, the ball clipping the top of off stump. Dan Laming looked good but was out pushing the run rate while Ants De Joux promoted as a pinch hitter didn't quite get going but still scored 24.

Timaru made a solid start in the chase to get 247 to win with Angrish and Robbie Rankin adding 49. Angrish fell caught behind to Dan Laming ,who was of fairly sharp pace and getting some movement. Rankin lost his off stump to James Laming and when two more wickets fell cheaply Timaru's chase was on the slide.

Howes and Tim Mackle put the ship back on course with a 58-run partnership by which time Howes was getting into stride. With his ability to get the ball over the fence he gradually brought Timaru back into the game. When he was out the situation was still tense but Scott Johnston, given a life from another easy chance, pulled the ball to the backward square fence to win the game.

Timaru captain Grant Brookland considered that in spite of an indifferent fielding performance 246 was not insurmountable. "Considering the early run rate we didn't think 246 was a winning total," he said. "They had luck and momentum early but the spinners pulled the run rate back." He was disappointed with the fielding but that would be lost in the euphoria of the win. "We don't get enough games playing with this sort of intensity and clubs don't get enough fielding practice," he said. "We got a good start with the bat, 50 off 10 but Kris pulled us through with some fantastic striking." He said this win would add spice to the remainder of the season with Celtic determined to fight back.

This was the first glued pitch used at Aorangi. Conditions dictated that Brian Hyslop take this step to prevent the pitch breaking up. "It had dried out on Thursday so I decided to glue the whole pitch," he said. "It held together well."

Hyslop said it was a technique he learned at the winter forum.