Wairau and Valley locked in for cricket decider

Wairau and Wairau Valley will do battle in the SBS senior grade 40-over competition final.

Wairau Valley scraped into the November 26 decider by virtue of having a better run rate than Celtic, after both sides ended the round robin stages on the same number of competition points.

Valley ended their campaign with a comprehensive 186-run win over Renwick while Wairau eased into the championship decider with a narrow five-wicket win over Celtic at Horton Park on Saturday.

In a match reduced to a 30-over affair after overnight rain, Celtic batted first and were in early strife. However, a timely 57-run partnership between Josh Poole, who finished with 44 from 51 balls, and Matt McCormick, who went on to register 68 from 65 deliveries, saw them to a competitive total of 147 all out.

Nick Weaver with 3-20, Tarin Mason, 3-30, and Griffin Carter who bagged 2-35, were the chief wicket-takers.

In reply, Wairau began well. After the early loss of fellow opener Hunter Ruffell, Cooper Roberts, with a well-compiled 39 from 56 balls, joined forces with batting mainstay Andrew McCaa, who ended unbeaten on 60 from 64 balls, to push the score to 64.

After Roberts departed, Tarin Mason and McCaa carried the score to 98, then Jonathon Mackey and McCaa saw Wairau to their target of 149-5, albeit with just two balls to spare.

Ben Holdaway, with 2-34, and the miserly Ben Blackman, 1-16 from six overs, were the pick of a steady Celtic attack.

The other clash, a 40-over game on Horton three, was far less competitive.

Valley won the toss and elected to bat, putting 250-2 on the board. Renwick were never in the hunt when it came their turn to bat, being dismissed for 64 in just 17 overs.

Valley’s total was set up by openers Jamie McVittie, with an unbeaten 76 from 120 balls, and NZ masters player Greg Stretch, who scored 79 from 73. Matthew Stretch chipped in with an unbeaten 48 from 23 balls near the end of the innings to set a daunting target.

Max Armstrong and Kirk Nicholas were the wicket-takers for an outclassed Renwick outfit.

Jacob Zillwood, with 25 from 38 balls, and Armstrong, with 12, were the only Renwick players to reach double figures against a four-pronged Valley attack.

Matthew Stretch claimed 4-5 from his three overs, Jethro Moran bagged 3-35 from four, Luke Pannell took 2-12 from four while his brother Joel managed 1-18 from six.

Points: Wairau 21, Wairau Valley 15, Celtic 15, Renwick 2.

• In this week's Marlborough Weekly it was reported that Wairau and Celtic would meet in the final. The error came about due to incorrect information on the cricketing website that records the games. We apologise for the error.