Wairau are the SBS Bank Senior Grade T20 champions following a thrilling final on Friday evening played in front of an appreciative crowd at Horton Park. Batting first the Wairau batters struggled to 73 for 4 after 15 overs in the face of impressive Celtic bowling led by Liam Young (3-15). From there man of the match Harrison Boyce exploded into action as 74 runs came from the final 5 overs with Boyce finishing unbeaten on 77 from 52 balls including 4 sixes and 6 fours. Greg Knowles (41) and Ben Blackman (47) kept Celtic in the chase before falling 11 runs short with 4 wickets to Zariab Karkaria, while Andrew McCaa went for only 14 runs from his 4 overs.
It was a good weekend for the Wairau club as they defeated Celtic again on Saturday in the 3rd grade T20 final. Billy Hurren (53) and Fionn Heagney (41) were the main scorers in Wairau’s 158 which proved too many for Celtic who finished on 115 with Hurren completing a man of the match performance taking 2-23.
T20 action continues this Thursday evening with the 2nd grade competition finals. UCVC take on Celtic Green in the Section A final despite a comprehensive 9 wicket loss to Renwick in final round robin games. Duncan Grigg made 35 in UCVC’s 115 (Fred Sululoto 3-13) before Tom Marshall (51no) and Andrew Marshall (34) made light work of the chase. Valley Yellow were 15 run winners over Valley Blue thanks to 49 from Matthew Stretch and 3-28 from James Bell.
The Section B final will be an all Wairau affair after wins to the Warriors and Awatere sides confirmed their top places. For Warriors Jason Kennedy top scored with 43 while Ben Hunter took 3-1 as they crushed the Boundary Breakers by 152 runs. Awatere’s win over Renwick Roughies was a closer affair with Sam Westenra again in form with an unbeaten 62 to guide his team home. Celtic Gold were the other winners thanks to 35 from Blair Bavin while Wade Cornelius top scored with 37 for the Renwick Veterans.
There were more top performances on Saturday morning as WK 4th grade continued. These included; Oscar Duncan (32), Max Campbell (35 & 2-8), George Laugesen (52), Charlie Clarke (2-26), Harry Johnson (3-6), Ned Bell (4-3), Zora Suleiman (1-17), Archer May (45), Jock Murphy (4-18), Josh Abrahams (33), Flynn Preece (4-17) and Joseph Gilhooly (41 & 3-5).
This Saturday both 2nd and 3rd grades return to the 40 over competitions. On Friday Marlborough Boys College 1st XI take on Waimea College in a NZ Cricket Secondary schools elimination game at Horton Park starting at 10.30am. And remember to come on down to Horton Park on Thursday evening to enjoy the 2nd grade T20 finals from 5.15pm!