Celtic, Wairau to meet in 40-over final

Celtic consolidated their position at the top of the Marlborough 40-over cricket table and confirmed their favouritism for next week’s final after notching their third win from as many games yesterday.

The men in green and gold, who are defending Marlborough one-day competition champs, accounted for Renwick by 69 runs on Horton Park one.

Celtic batted first and racked up 218 for the loss of nine wickets from their 40-over allocation.

An early onslaught from former rep allrounder Greg Knowles set them up. Knowles, who blasted 78, including eight fours and six sixes, from just 50 balls, teamed up with Logan Robinson for a 101-run opening partnership. Robinson’s 21 was much more sedate, coming from 52 balls.

After the openers departed Renwick managed to slow the run rate, with Eden Pettigrew (1-34 from eight) and Ed Gilhooly (3-29 from eight) limiting the damage.

However, a late flurry of runs from Jerrym Lamb (41 from 29) set up a very competitive total.

All the Renwick attack picked up wickets, with Gilhooly, Pettigrew, Joe Timms and Keiran Gaudin the most parsimonious.

In reply, Renwick made a poor start, losing Mark Zillwood in the first over. However, fellow opener Luke Frankland dropped anchor and held their innings together with a patient 73 from 94 balls. Problem was, he could not find anyone to stay with him for any length of time and soon the asking rate became an issue.

As the Renwick batsman tried to up the ante, Lamb took control, snaring a remarkable 5-11 from his seven overs to rip the heart out of the middle and lower order. Timms scored a quickfire 21 from just 11 balls, but it was far from enough as the final wicket fell at 149 in the 38^th over.

Apart from Lamb, Tom Sloan picked up two wickets, with one each to Jaden Adams, Tom Sutherland and Liam Young.

Their opponents in the final will be Wairau, who inflicted a 35-run defeat on Wairau Valley on Horton Park three.

Starting the day Wairau, with two losses beside their name looked unlikely finalists, however a combination of results saw them leapfrog Valley and Renwick to claim the second final berth. Wairau finished tied with Valley on points but progressed due to their win yesterday.

Wairau had Nick Weaver to thank for posting a competitive score of 208-9 from their 40 overs.

Weaver, batting eight, scored 70 from 67 balls after coming to the crease with his side struggling at 108-6. He and Tim Petrie, 18 from 24, took the score to 163 before their partnership was broken, after which Weaver combined well with the tailenders to push the score over 200. Earlier, number three Joel Lavender scored 46 to provide a platform.

All six of the Valley bowlers picked up wickets, Luke Pannell, 2-30, Jethro Moran 2-47 and Sukh Aulakh, 2-30, bagging braces.

Valley’s reply saw five players notch up more than 20 runs, but none were able to go on and produce the big score that was required to reach their target. They were handily placed at 150-5 in the 30th over but were ultimately dismissed for 173 in the 37^th over.

Top scorer was Aulakh with a hard-hit 35 from 20 balls while skipper Matthew Stretch contributed 29, Damian Sexton 21, Tom Leonard 24, and Joel Pannell 25.

Youngster Josh Alexander turned in a top effort with the ball, grabbing five wickets from his seven overs for just 22 runs. Baxter Croad claimed 2-35, while Petrie, Tarin Mason and Griffin Carter also took wickets.