Renwick, Celtic book place in T20 final

Renwick and Celtic have reserved their places in Marlborough cricket’s senior Twenty20 title decider with a round remaining.

Both teams batted first at Horton Park on Friday evening, then restricted their rivals’ run chase.

Renwick (24 points) downed Wairau (12) by seven runs in a tight encounter, while Celtic (20) beat Marlborough Boys’ College (4) by 20 runs. Wairau Valley, on 12 points, had the bye.

Renwick’s total of 129-7 looked a little light at the end of their innings on Horton Park 3. Akhil Pant, with 33 from 25 balls, Kirk Nicholas (30 from 33) and Max Brydon (20 from 10) provided the bulk of their runs, while Will Smith and Harry Boyce both picked up a brace of wickets.

MBC spin bowler Tim Petrie sends down another delivery.

However, Renwick found a way to get the job done, their steady bowling, coupled with Wairau’s inconsistent batting seeing them defend a small total.

Wairau ended on 122-7. After slipping behind the required run rate they needed 18 runs off Michael Anstis’s final over, but despite the best efforts of batsmen Joel Lavender (22 from 29) and Carter Aitken (20 from 22) they only managed 10. Earlier opener Will Smith had set Wairau’s chase up positively with 24 from 13, but received little help from the middle order.

Pant, who took 2-34 from four, Ed Gilhooly, 2-19 from four and Patrick Dawkins, 2-12 from four, were the wicket-takers.

Meanwhile, on the No 1 ground, Celtic accounted for MBC with relative ease.

Batting first the Celtic scorecard was almost totally dominated by Jerrym Lamb and Liam Young as they reached 148-4 from their 20 over allocation.

Lamb, who opened the batting, scored an unbeaten 94 from 68 balls, slamming 12 fours and a six. Young came in at the fall of the fourth wicket and helped himself to a run-a-ball 39 not out, he and Lamb putting together a 121-run partnership. The other four Celtic batsmen totalled just one run between them to make for a bizarre scorecard.

Joel Pannell and Cameron Collins both claimed a brace of wickets, while Griffin Carter was economical, going for just six runs from his two overs.

Rep opener Ben Ivory-McCullum did his best to anchor the MBC reply, scoring a patient 46 from 47 balls but, apart from Ben Holdaway, who contributed 21 from 20, he got little help from the rest of the students’ line-up as they were forced to settle for 128-7 from their 20 overs. A scoring rate of 6.4 runs per over was their issue as they finished with wickets in hand.

Young, with two wickets and two run outs, continued to be a major figure in the game, while Matt McCormick, who bagged 1-16 from four overs, also bowled well.

Second grade

Meanwhile, the second grade 40-over title was decided at Horton Park on Saturday, Celtic taking the honours by three wickets over Wairau Valley.

A man-of-the-match performance from Logan Robinson helped Celtic to the title. After taking 4-16 from his eight overs during the Valley innings, Logan top scored in Celtic’s reply with 25 from 56 balls, opening the innings.

Reuben Kepes chipped in with 21 from 47 as the Green and Golds ran down their target in 38 overs.

Bowlers Luke Pannell, 3-16, and Kohri Brown, 2-24, did their best to keep Valley in the contest but ultimately their score of 114 all out in 36.5 overs was not enough.

Opener Pannell top scored for Valley with 19 from 40 balls. James Croker, with 2-32, was, along with Robinson, the main wicket-taker.

Cup off to Nelson

In representative action, the Nelson Griffins, who beat Marlborough last weekend to earn a challenge for the Hawke Cup, have relieved Canterbury Country of the prized trophy at the first hurdle.

Nelson claimed the cup for the 12

th

time in their history, winning on the first innings at Mainpower Oval, Rangiora.

After struggling initially batting first, 172 from Nic Clark and 120 from Joe O’Connor saw Nelson set a daunting target of 365 for first innings honours.

The hosts looked dead and buried at 162-8 before their tail wagged to such an extent they made their way to 325 before being dismissed.