Top qualifier Union had a struggled to down Eastern in the final qualifying round of Borton Cup cricket getting home by just 14 runs in Palmerston. Waitaki Boys although beaten by Albion by eight wickets at Milner Park retains second place with Albion climbing up to third place with its win and Valley which had the bye just edges out Eastern for the fourth slot for the semi finals next week.
Eastern bowlers had the edge on most of the Union batsmen although Union made a steady start at 55 for three after seventeen overs. Union crawled to 111 for six after 33 overs and then collapsed to be all out for 116 in the 43rd over. Sean Conlan topscored with 24 while Matt McLelland finished with four for 28 and Ollie McLelland claimed three for 16 and Cameron Grubb, two for 12.
Eastern made a disastrous start at seven or two but recovered to 39 for four after 19 overs. Nineteen overs later Eastern was sniffing victory at 87 for six but Union claimed the next four wickets for the addition of only 17 runs with Eastern falling 15 runs short of victory. Cameron Grubb topscored with 37 while bowling for Union Matt Lilley and Glynn Cameron took three wickets each and Brad Fleming finished with two for 22.
In a lowscoring game Albion beat second placed Waitaki Boys by ten wickets.Albion put Waitaki Boys in to bat and dismissed the school side for 38 with Paul Odell taking five for 17 off his ten overs and Jeremy Smith taking two for eight and Matt Day, two for six. Ricky Whyte bowled five overs and took one for three. Odell and Peter Cartwright guided Albion through to 40 without loss to wrap up the game.
St Kevin’s won the toss and decided to bat first against Oamaru and was dismissed for 47 in the 23rd over. Player coach Ben Cant made 26 while bowling for Oamaru Josh Gudsell took seven for 14 and leg spinner Peter Botha, two for five. Regan George(29) carried Oamaru through to 52 for two with Cant claiming two for 34.
Short Scorecard(s)
Senior - Borton Cup - Round 12
Albion Senior vs Waitaki Boys 1st XI at Milner Park 1
Waitaki Boys 1st XI 38 ( P.M. Odell 5-17, M. Day 2-6, J.B. Smith 2-8 )
Albion Senior 40-0 ( P.M. Odell 23no )
Albion by 10 wkts
St Kevins 1st XI vs Oamaru Senior at Excelsior
St Kevins 1st XI 47 ( B.C. Cant 26, J. Gutsell 7-14, P. Botha 2-5 )
Oamaru Senior 52-2 ( R. George 19 )
Oamaru by 8 wkts
Union Senior vs Eastern Senior at Waikouaiti
Union Senior 116 ( S.M. Conlan 24, M. McLelland 3-16, O. McLelland 3-16, C.N. Grubb 2-12 )
Eastern Senior 104 ( C.N. Grubb 37, G.R. Cameron 3-11, M. Lilley 3-21, B.J. Fleming 2-2 )
Union by 12 runs