Celtic and Waimate are all but assured of meeting in the South Canterbury senior one-day competition final, after convincing wins in the penultimate round.
Celtic dismantled Timaru by 122 runs on the back of captain Craig Davies’ 144 not out, while Waimate’s captain Jason Sew Hoy notched-up his first senior grade ton, as his side beat Temuka by 51 runs.
Star outclassed Roncalli by seven wickets, and in a game where pride was the only thing at stake, Timaru had a tough day chasing leather against Celtic.
They did not help themselves, though, as they dropped five catches as the defending champions went on a run-scoring rampage.
Timaru did well to have them 87 for 3, but it brought Davies to the crease, and he made 144 not out.
He was supported by his middle-order. Glenn Matthews blazed 41, while Matt Mealings made 40, and Willie Wright showed his promise with the bat, making 49 not out.
Mealings and Wright combined with Davies for successive 100-run partnerships as Celtic amassed 342 in the 45 overs.
Timaru were never likely to threaten the target, but most of their top-order got starts.
Openers Dan Murari and Gerald Piddock made 27 and 32 respectively, while Grant Brookland looked solid on his way to 47.
The trio of spin from Davies, Ants de Joux and Sam Carlaw silenced the Timaru middle-order, and ensured Celtic would make another one-day final, bowling Timaru out for 220.
Timaru captain Hayden Butler described his side’s fielding effort as “abysmal”
“You can’t drop five catches against Celtic and expect to win.
“Davies was top class, one of the best [innings] you will see.
“I asked the batsmen to take responsibility for their fielding effort, and to a point, they did.
“We knew, near the end, we weren’t going to win, so we thought we’d use the time to practise.”
Waimate booked their spot on February 27, with a hard-fought win over Temuka.
Jason Sew Hoy walked to the crease with his Waimate side at three for three and proceeded to haul his team out of trouble, on his way to his first senior hundred.
Sew Hoy found good support from up-and-coming batsman Theo Davidson.
The pair put on 155 for the fifth wicket, as Davidson scored 67, and Sew Hoy made 109 not out.
Kevin Teahen, Tom McKnight and Chay Latta took two wickets for Temuka.
The home team made a quick start in pursuit of 234, but soon lost wickets.
They could not find a batsman to hold the innings together.
Hayden Broker top-scored with 41, while Adrian Cunningham managed 31, but they had no answer to the off-spin of Glen Drake and pace of Matthew Sew Hoy.
Matthew Sew Hoy was held back in bowling, but managed three for 35 with an older ball, while Drake opened the bowling and took two for 21 from his nine overs, to help see off a determined Temuka outfit, who were bowled out 51 runs short of Waimate’s total.
Jason Sew Hoy said he was delighted to earn his first senior grade century.
He said he just wanted to bat like he did last week, where he struck a quick-fire half century, and the move paid dividends.
Star beat a Roncalli side who looked like they did not want to be there.
Roncalli captain Jacob Naylor quickly chose to bat, but when his side slumped to four for four, he was made to look foolish.
Alex McKenzie opened the bowling with Craig Hinton, and the two South Canterbury representatives caused havoc, McKenzie picked up three quick wickets, while Hinton beat the bat half a dozen times in his first five overs, conceding just one run and taking a wicket.
Naylor tried to stick around to bat his team out of trouble, but when Jeremy Lane bowled him for 16, Roncalli were in danger of being skittled for less than 50.
Brad Gilbert made a quick 16, while Andrew Brooks was not out 15, but Roncalli were humbled for just 85, in the 35th over.
Hinton and McKenzie took three wickets each, while Jeremy Lane nabbed two.
Hard-hitting Star batsman Todd Elliotte wasted little time in knocking-off the runs.
As his side brought up their 50 inside 10 overs, the former South Canterbury captain had 40 of them.
He brought up his fifty, and looked likely to carry his bat.
However, he was ultimately out-thought by fast bowler Daniel Dorgan, who hit him on the grill of the helmet with a bouncer, and followed it up with a yorker which had him trapped leg-before-wicket for 52.
Star cruised to the target three wickets down, after 12 overs.
Star captain Phil McGregor said the easy win gave his team a chance to utilise some of their more powerful hitters ahead of the Twenty20 competition next weekend.
“We’ve got one or two away for that, but we’ll look to promote a couple of guys from within the club, who like to get on with the job.”
The South Canterbury senior cricket players will play a two-day Waitangi Weekend Twenty20 competition at Mountainview High School and Aorangi Oval, next weekend.