Wairau Valley held on for an exciting 4 run win at Kaikoura to keep their SBS Bank 2nd grade 40 over final hopes on track. Thomas Bolton was left stranded on 52no from 29 balls for Kaikoura as Blair Speedy (5-38) took the final two wickets in successive balls. Earlier Tom Leonard top scored with 47 for Valley. Wairau were comfortable 7 wicket winners over Celtic Green thanks to 52 from Cooper Roberts and an unbeaten 72 from Fraser MacIntosh. Caleb Young top scored with 52 for Celtic.
Renwick leads the standings by 4 points from Valley and Wairau following their 25 run win over Celtic Gold with strong all round performances from Todd Nicholas (26 & 3-29), Ed Gilhooly (33 & 3-34) and Wade Cornelius (21 & 2-34). Celtic Green and Kaikoura remain a chance of making the final but must win their final two games.
There were some more outstanding performances in WK 4th grade games last weekend including Dan du Plessis (46), Charlie Robinson (40), Harrison Fishburn (4-12), Blake Nation (39 & 4-34), Lachie Cooney (30), Charlie White (3-23), Jemimah Nation (35), Fenella Cooney (25), Alex Neal (4-22), Sinclair Hill (50), Fionn Heagney (46), Charlie Booker (28 & 2-9) and Rupert Hammond (33). In 5th grade Adam Van Greunen (3-7), Hamish Newman (4-7), Eddie Russell (34), Aiden Batty (26), Maisie Cornelius (28), Zoraya Wilson (20), Tyler O’Donnell (22 & 3-12), and Fenella Cooney (3-12).
In 3rd grade Celtic confirmed their place in the T20 final following an 8 wicket win over Renwick, Ben Armstrong taking 4-9 before Ryan Clark (36no) and Ollie Kennedy (35) guided them to a comfortable win. Benji Nation top scored with 30 for Renwick. The result from the Wairau v Wairau Valley game had not been received at the time of writing.
This Sunday the Marlborough Men’s rep team head take on Nelson at Saxton Oval in a Newman Shield Challenge game, hoping to end their season on a high. Also this Sunday the Marlborough Women’s team play their Nelson counterparts at the Botanics ground in Nelson. Both games start at 11am and scores can be followed on CricHQ via the match centre on our website. Best wishes also to the MBC 1st XI who take on Nelson College in the regional Secondary schools Gillette Cup final next Thursday at Horton Park.
Our Women’s Social cricket mid-week competition draws to a close next Wednesday and it has been great to see this continue to grow this summer with teams clearly enjoying themselves. This is an important part of our pathway for girls and women’s cricket and a special thanks to Churchill Private Hospital trust for their support once again this year.