South Canterbury Cricket News Section

Phil McGregor plays a ball behind point on his way to a half century for Star vs Timaru.

A last-ball finish was a fitting way to end an entertaining South Canterbury senior club one day cricket match between Star and Timaru at Mountainview High School on Saturday.

Celtic breathed life back into their campaign with a 133-run thrashing of the previously unbeaten Temuka, Timaru snuck home, and Pleasant Point recorded their first ever win at senior level with a good win over Waimate.

In the main game, Star lost the toss and were asked to bat.

After losing Adam Fahey with the score at 23, Phil McGregor and Paul Arkinstall steadied the ship for Star with a 68-run partnership.

McGregor knuckled down and continued to dig in, while Arkinstall started scoring freely when he became used to the pitch conditions.

With Arkinstall lbw for 27, Danny Campbell joined the left-handed McGregor at the crease scoring freely from ball one.

Former Sri Lankan age group representative Supeshala Jayathilake showed his class by halting Star’s momentum with a couple of key wickets, while leg spinner Alexander Lankeshwar removed the dangerous Campbell for 27.

McGregor made it through to 52 but was undone soon after by off spinner Prabodha Arthavidu.

The home side then struggled for impetus late in their innings falling about 20 runs shorts of their original target, with Jacques Marias striking a fighting 41.

Jayathilake finished with 3-43 and Brad Leonard took 2-29 as Star finished their innings on 187-9.

Susinda Nanayakkara (29) and Alex Lankeshwar (20) started positively for Timaru in their runchase getting the score through to 53 before the former became the first of two wickets for Marias.

With the platform set Arthavidu promoted himself to three and look set to bat deep into the innings before pulling a hamstring after attempting a quick single.

This bought Star back in the game and the removal of Josh Smallridge who was run out by a fantastic bit of work from Campbell gave them momentum.

A fighting 27 from Jayathilake and support from Hayden Leonard (24) got them within striking distance.

With one run required off the final over Star leg spinner Dale Warwood did a sterling job to take the match to the final ball, while Timaru did all they could to draw  another game, they snuck home for a single off the final ball to reach claim the victory.

Warwood produced a quality spell to finish with 2-24 off nine overs.

In the match between Temuka and Celtic it did not take Kevin Teahen long to join an exclusive club.

He took just six balls to claim his 400th club wicket as he dismissed Willy Wright for 0.

Celtic managed to set a competitive total scoring 175 all out with Dan Laming (50) and Sam Carlaw (40) leading the way.

Teahen ended with 2 wickets but unfortunately for him Temuka were unable to manage a victory.

It was the Grant Watt show in the Temuka innings as the veteran right-arm seamer ripped through the home sides batting order to take 6-14.

Temuka could only muster 42, with Nick Horsley the only batsman to reach double figures top scoring with 27, while six of his team-mates failed to score.

In the final match at Aorangi Oval Pleasant Point claimed their first ever senior victory with a 23 run victory over Waimate.

Point scored 149 thanks mainly to contributions from Brad Tegellaars (45) and Grant Macfarlane (41). Glen Drake claimed 3-40 and George Morgan 3-32.

In reply, Waimate managed 126 with George Morgan top scored with 28.

Point captain Cameron Lundie said the win was satisfying.

“We played much better this week and took our catches. I think after that win we can finally say we belong at senior level.”

Full Scoreboards  ::  Honours Boards

Nick Horsley’s 157 led Temuka to victory

Nick Horsley has done it again. The former Northern Districts first-class batsman produced the individual highlight of senior club cricket which threw up some one-sided results on Saturday.

After scoring back-to-back half-centuries to get his summer under way, Horsley’s classy 157 led Temuka to a massive 192-run win over Pleasant Point, Star recorded a comfortable victory on the road against Waimate and Timaru and Celtic tied.

The match of the round between Timaru and Celtic at Ashbury Park produced a tie, a rare outcome in cricket.

The last tie was recorded in the one-day competition between Timaru and Celtic eight years ago, while in the 2013-2014 season there was a tie in a two-day match between Timaru and Roncalli/Celtic.

Timaru batted first and snuck through to 168-9 off their 45 overs thanks to some handy contributions from Tim Mackle (34 no), Supeshala Jayathilake (24) and Josh Dick (21).

A good spell of bowling from Tom Pavletich saw him dismiss Timaru’s Sri Lankan trio of Jayathilake, Prabodha Arthavidu and Sasindu Nanayakkara as he picked up 3-33, while Dan and Jimmy Laming picked up two wickets apiece.

In reply, Celtic started well, coasting to 39 without loss before Adam Beck (12) was the first of Jayathilake’s two victims.

Dan Laming made 55, with Jimmy contributing a handy 28 and Willie Wright, batting at No 6 made 27.

With 14 required off the final over, Celtic could only manage 13 and had to settle for a tie.

Timaru captain Arthavidu said it was a frustrating result. “We let the game slip. We had it in the bag and did not finish it off. The two wides in the last over were costly,” he said.

“Beating Celtic is great but we didn’t quite manage it. We will take the three points and look ahead to next week.”

Horsley showed his class once again in a lopsided fixture in Temuka. After being dropped early, he made the visitors pay and went on to post the first century of the senior club season.

He walked to the crease in the third over and batted until the 43rd over, with his 157  featuring 13 fours and six sixes as the home side posted 280 off their 45 overs.

Dillon Lees was the next highest scorer for Temuka with 29, while the extras column contributed 28. Captain Cam Lundie was the best of the Point bowlers with 3-58.

Pleasant Point never threatened as they were dismissed for just 88, with Brad Tegellaars top scoring for the third week in a row with 18, while Blair Brown scored 17.

Nick Maguire and Lees were the best bowlers for Temuka, taking 3-21 and 3-28 respectively, while only three Pleasant Point batsmen made it past 10.

In the final match, Star scored a comprehensive eight-wicket win over the winless Waimate, who posted 116 at Knottingley Park.

Waimate started well with a 71-run opening stand between George Morgan and Ruha Davis, with the former stroking down the ground, scoring seven boundaries in his neat 50 before he was athletically caught and bowled by Star medium pacer Hamish Dickson, who finished with 3-17.

Davis went for 13 and Waimate captain Glen Drake was out cheaply soon after, chopping on a full delivery from Dickson. The rest of the Waimate order did not stick around, with Jacques Marais taking 4-17 and Blair Gunn 3-36.

Star set out in a positive fashion to knock off the 117 required with Adam Fahey and Phil McGregor producing a fine opening stand of 94 to place the visitors in a strong position. Fahey unleashed a number of cracking shots during a fine innings of 68 before guiding one to gully off left-arm spinner Drake.

McGregor batted through the innings to finish 20 not out.

View Full Scoreboards       ::         Honours Boards

Sam Robinson’s 81* for Timaru was in vain.

Star, Celtic and Temuka all recorded victories in the opening round of the senior club competition on Saturday.

Three entertaining matches were played with all six teams in the competition showing signs of positivity throughout the games.

Pleasant Point showed their decision to make the step up to senior level was the right one with a spirited showing in their opening round fixture against Star at Mountainview High School.

Despite suffering a six-wicket loss in what was their first match at senior level, there’s certainly plenty of positives the side can take from it.

Opening the batting, Tim Bell made a brisk 35, which included opening his shoulders and sending the ball over the boundary on a couple of occasions.

Fellow top order batsman Richard Stowell and Latham Gibb fell cheaply before Tim Leonard restored some pride into the innings.

With the team 56-4, a quick finish looked on the cards, but a fighting 32 from Leonard helped get the side  through to 97 before he departed.

Brad Tegellaars, batting at No 7 rescued the innings somewhat for the visiting side as he scored 39 and with the help of Bailey Dryden (19) they put on 60 runs for the sixth wicket before the former was dismissed by Star left-armer Chris Hyde.

As the innings looked like it could sneak away from Star and they could be chasing more than 200, captain Craig Hinton reintroduced himself into the attack and picked up the final three wickets to finish with outstanding figures of 4 – 8 off 7.5 overs.

Star then set about their chase in positive fashion with Phil McGregor hitting an early four and fellow opener Adam Fahey showing plenty of positives early on before deciding to leave a ball that pitched in line and crashed into middle and off stump.

Another couple of quick wickets from the Point bowlers had Star teetering at 47-3 before McGregor and South African allrounder Jacques Marais put on a 69-run partnership to effectively win the game for Star.

McGregor was dismissed for 32 with the score at 116, but Hamish Dickson joined Marais as the pair put on a 50-run partnership in quick time to see the side home with Marais unbeaten on 68.

Pleasant Point captain Cameron Lundie said it was a good first-up showing by his team. “We did well, but we need to be more patient when we are batting” he said. “I felt we were 40 runs short of a good score and we will focus in the coming weeks on batting out our overs.”

He said it was good for his players to see how to construct an innings.

“We just need guys to knuckle down and value their wicket more, over time we will improve, but yesterday was a good start.”

Meanwhile, the match at Celtic saw the home side defeat Waimate by 45 runs thanks to 72 from James Laming, an elegant 53 from Andy Scott and 26 from Dan Laming in their 215 all out.

Waimate’s Alan Reid was the star with the ball, claiming 4 – 27 off his nine overs.

In reply, Waimate mustered only 169, with George Morgan top-scoring with 35.

Sam Carlaw had the ball on a string, claiming 5 – 16 off nine overs with his left-arm orthodox spin and Tom Pavletich took 3 – 31.

Dan Lamig was tight, conceding just 12 runs off his nine overs. He bowled six consecutive maidens and gave up his first run on his 37th delivery.

Waimate captain Glen Drake said a couple of dropped chances proved crucial in the outcome.

Temuka defeated Timaru in a high scoring match at Ashbury Park.

Temuka made 251 – 8 off their 45 overs with Nick Horsley (66), Dillon Lees (58) and Phil Lill (54) among the runs. Alex Lankeshwar was Timaru’s best bowler with two wickets.

Timaru were bundled out for 190 with Sam Robinson’s 81 not out in vain. Prabodha Arthavidu scored 36.

Honours Board      Full Scoresheets