WAIMATE CRICKET CLUB

This coming weekend Waimate play competition leader Star/MVHS at MVHS 1 in Timaru and the outcome will most likely determine this seasons Second Grade finalists.

Waimate should be confident having beaten Star/MVHS in the first round, also at MVHS and the second game was rained off, but I am sure they would appreciate all the supporters they can muster, so why not make a day of it and watch the seniors upset Celtic at Rockdale Rd as well!

If Waimate win and then again the following weekend they will probably get the chance to defend their Trophy against Temuka in the final, a team they have had a win and a loss over.

The Second Grade team pulled off a big upset beating the previously unbeaten Temuka XI comfortably over the weekend. This pushes Temuka back to third place behind MVHS/Star and Waimate.

Batting first Waimate put together a very impressive tally of 213-3 from their 40 overs. Tim Suddaby finished unbeaten on 81 while Robbie Westland was out for an equally impressive 76 while Ruha Davis also got amongst the runs with 38.

Temuka’s reply came close, eventually being all out for 190 as the “Wily Old Campaigner” Pete Wallace led the Waimate bowling attack with 3-18.

Waimate 213-3
T Suddaby 81*, R Westland 76, R Davis 38
Bowling: G McNicol 7 1 33 1, S Goodeve 8 0 54 1, N Henderson 4 0 37 1

Temuka 190
T Kerridge 34, N Henderson 31, S Goodeve 25
Bowling: P Wallace 8 2 18 3, C Farrell 8 1 45 2, T Suddaby 4 0 14 1

On Saturday Waimate went to Timaru to take on Temuka.

After winning the toss Waimate chose to field first. On an artificial wicket it was always going to be a hard task to bowl out a good Temuka side.

Justin Thompson with 3 late wickets picked up 3-50 off 8 overs and getting the crucial wicket of Simon Davenport whom scored 89. Connor Farrell handing over the wicket-keeping duties to Ruha Davis and bowled well and was rather unlucky to only get 1-32 off 8 overs.

Pete Wallace came on after Connor and bowled and picked up no wickets with 0-25 off 5 overs. Greg Paul who replaced Justin bowled really well and some good tight bowling resulted in good figures of 1-25 off 7 overs.

After 20 overs and drinks break Temuka were cruising along at 103/2 so captain Greg Paul decided on a bowling change to bring on Tim Suddaby and Sam Newman. Tim who picked up a wicket in his first over bowled consistent and quick but bowling near the end of the innings resulted in him unfortunately getting hit for 1-33 off 7 overs. Sam Newman bowling from the other end bowled his medium pacers and wasn’t rewarded with a wicket and ended his spell with 0-20 off 5 overs.

Credit to Temuka they batted well and played to the field, hitting superbly. For their innings Temuka ended up with 205/6

Waimate going into bat and needing just over 5 runs an over should have been a score to chase down. But no strong partnerships and wickets falling regularly meant it was always going to be hard to keep the board ticking over. Thou noticeably Connor Farrell and Tim Suddaby did stick together for a time and gave some hope.

Opening up was Robbie Westland and Ruha Davis who both were out in the third and fourth over with Robbie getting 4 and Ruha 5. Todd Aikman comes to the crease and a good cameo of 14 before being caught going big. Ryan Manson being caught out for 11 looked good. Tim Suddaby coming in and Waimate were feeling the pressure of the run-rate going up. Tim batted well and scored at a good rate keeping the score ticking even at times surprising other that he can play attacking cricket. With Ryan gone Connor Farrell came in and batted well, scoring at a good rate with Tim but eventually being caught out for 17.

Adam Smart comes to the crease and didn’t last long, as he was bowled first ball for a Golden Duck 0 and a $5 fine to contribute to team funding. Waimate now at 110/6 and needing 95 runs off 9 overs to win was seeing the game slip away. However with Greg Paul coming in and well known for his aggressive play and good eye there still was slight hope that a win could be possible. Temuka were quick to learn this so they spread the field and Greg was caught near the boundry, out for 2.

Sam Newman didn’t contribute much with only 1 run and being caught from a leading edge witch is becoming his only shot it seems. Justin Thompson attacking cameo of big hitting did give some excitement and was good to watch. Meanwhile Tim Suddaby brings up a 50 with a cracking 4 to the boundary. Tim goes on to make a well committed 65 before some splendid quick fielding to be run-out from a direct hit.

With Tim gone it was just Justin and Pete Wallace left. Justin continued his good batting and will be secretly happy that his average will be going up with 29 runs and not out. Pete was last out LBW for 7 in the last over of the game. Waimate lost the game by 31 runs all out for 174 in the 39th over. Temuka’s bowling attack deserves credit too with tight bowling and a good spell from Shane Gilkson with 4-43 off 8 overs.

Next week Waimate take on MVHS/Star at Mountain View High School.

Reporter: Sam ‘Newsboy’ Newman

Waimate Win Second Grade 3rd Year Running

Today Waimate Second Grade travelled to “the Rock” to take on Celtic in the final and attempt to retain ‘our’ trophy three years running.

Things did not start well as the Celts started by letting Waimate play on their No 1 wicket, which those of us who saw it know was a disgrace at most levels, although it was still one of the better ones this season!

Waimate batted first and were regularly losing wickets, and then Shep retired hurt (someone told me he has gone soft since getting engaged), but he did manage to return to the middle after Todd was out to a dubious Pete Wallace decision.

Suffice to say, in the time I was watching it was generally doom and gloom for Waimate as they battled through to just pass the 100 runs before being all out.

You would think Celtic would have learned by now, not to abuse the Waimate guys, and get them riled, but when guys call Pete a “blind old %&*#” among their many other statements, only one thing generally happens…….yep….Waimate get fired up!

Today was the same, and as I followed the game via text and word of mouth, first I heard Celtic were 30-3 off 10 overs which sounded promising, and then even better the next txt said 69-9, and eventually the final one to say Celtic all out for 74.

I don’t know the intricasies of who took wickets, catches etc, but I do know that all out for 74 in anyone’s book is a hiding, and we will look forward to Pete walking up to accept the trophy at prizegiving!

Saturday Semi Final

A quick note about Saturday’s game which Waimate needed to win to make the final…JT (Mr Thomson to you schoolkids) took 5-19 and then Tim Suddaby with 55 not out and Todd Bailey with 59 not out made the chase look easy as Roncalli were put away, and MVHS/Star denied any last minute chance of making the final.

Murray Prattley used the experience gained watching Twenty20 all day Friday as a warm up for his own batting on Saturday as he scored 50 helping Waimate easily chase down the 128 Celtic had been restricted to.

Connor Farrell followed up his fifty from a fortnight ago with 31 while Tim Suddaby continued on from his fifty the week before with 20 not out to get Waimate home safely with six wickets in hand.

All the bowlers contributed, but Sam Newman was the most successful with 4-26.

Celtic 128
A Bailey 39, S Wallace 30, H Curtis 20
S Newman 5 0 26 4, Z Aikman 7 0 27 2, B Devine 6 1 16 1

Waimate 132-4
M Prattley 50, C Farrell 31, T Suddeby 20*
M Caple 6 0 38 2, S Wallace 5 1 19 1, D Fridd 2 0 9 1

Despite the best efforts of Tim Suddaby with 52 with the bat and 2-26 Waimate Second Grade fell 66 runs short chasing a target of 251 set by Roncalli.

Ryza Manson was in the runs again with 31 and El Sheppo scored 26 but eventually Waimate succumbed for 185 and with Celtic getting thrashed by Mackenzie/Geraldine the fight for finals places is closing up again.

Scoresheet:
Roncalli 251
D Dorgan 76, J Shaw 48, G Hamel 39
P Wallace 5.3 0 27 4, T Suddaby 4 0 26 2, N Sheppard 8 0 63 2

Waimate 185
T Suddaby 52, R Manson 31, N Sheppard 26
M Dorgan 8 0 33 4, D Dorgan 6 0 21 3, B Gilbert 8 2 29 2

Playing at home against traditional rivals MacKenzie/Geraldine the Second Grade needed to win to stay at the top of the competition, but unfortunately this didn’t turn out to be the case despite Connor Farrell scoring his top score of the season with a fine ’69′ (presumably he bought the drinks), Greg Paul being left 43 not out and El Sheppo managing to get the arm over often enough to pick up a couple of wickets after moving back into an “all rounders” role and not just a specialist batsman!

Scoresheet: Waimate 176/7
C Farrell 69, G Paul 43*

Mackenzie/Geraldine 177/5
G Muff 58, B Guthrie38*, M Walker 23

N Sheppard 3 0 11 2

Despite missing our chief reporter and star allrounder who prefers to holiday with the “brass monkeys” in Canada, the Waimate Second Grade team has continued on its winning way under the tutelage of captain (and wily old campaigner) Pete Wallace to be tied for first equal heading into this weekend’s match against Mackenzie/Geraldine at home, an always enjoyable and well contested match.

The selectors and the “two wisemen and a ginga” have got together and worked out the rest of the season plan, which we will tell you all about if it comes to fruition, otherwise we will be quiet but mostly we will be hoping some of these stalwarts of the ‘seconds’ can step up and that they deliver on their promise.

Now that the Festive Season is over Meds can go back into retirement (he took 2 wickets in an over and even bowled 4 dot balls), Jug can forget about fishing and come back to play more flowing attacking shots as depicted in the photo, Greg can leave Buck to milk the cows and regraded senior player (El Sheppo) can prove why he was up there in the first place.

It may have taken nearly 30 years but Murray (Muzza) Prattley is celebrating after scoring his first century (107) ever this weekend playing for Second Grade against Mackenzie/Geraldine in the annual match at Fairlie which has become full of notoriety (mainly due to the trip home), and I’m sure that after this effort nothing will have changed.

 Match Story:

 Murray Prattley and Connor Farrell opened the batting on a hot afternoon in the Fairlie sunny, muggy day. It was a slow and steady start and by drinks at 20 overs we were 87 without loss and Murray close to his fifty. The signs looked good for a big score as Murray was starting to dominate the bowling smashing 4′s at will.

After drinks Connor tried to lift his tempo to match and was out for 21. While Murray continued to smack boundary after boundary as well as push the single, he now was clearing the fence with some big 6′s.

Ruha Davis scored a good 14 before being caught, and Todd Bailey entered for a rapid 25 off 9 balls. This after captain Pete Wallace told him to take it easy and play himself in!

John Dyer saw Murray through to his 100 before going out for 6. With little time left in the innings Justin Thompson pushed and guided the score up over 200, while Murray finally holed out for 107 trying to save himself running he went once to often to be caught well, after a marathon 36 overs batting effort. He offered few chances and played extremely well for his century, his first for the club. Great effort Murray!

The innings continued and Brodie Devine tried hard to hit out but with little time was undone for 1. Zac Aikman batted well to push around in the last over for 3 not out, carrying his bat along with Justin 13*. To give Waimate a score of 211 for 6.

The bowling effort started well with Kerry Weir bowling tidily and taking two good wickets in his opening spell. Justin on the other hand, would like to use the heat as a factor but was a little more wayward than normal to only take 2 wickets for 15 runs from 4 overs.

Enter Brodie and Zac kept things tidy and tight as the both bowled very well. Zac bowling 5 overs 30-1, and Brodie 6 overs 21-1 both controlled the game well. At drinks Murray had recovered enough to get 3 overs in and took the valuable wicket of Bevan Guthrey for 28. Sam Newman got the other valuable wicket of Chris Galwey for 28 also with some interesting accuracy in his 2 overs.

The master Pete Wallace came in to bowl at the end along with Kerry to finish McKenzie/Geraldine off. Pete claimed both of the last wickets finishing 2-7 from 1.5 overs and Kerry 2-13 from 6 overs.

This was a good team effort and the trip home was made sweet by Murray’s ton, and our win. Good luck this week boys as you play the last game of the round at Knottingley Park versus Roncalli.

Last week Waimate hammered TBHS White, this week they did the same to the Timaru Boys High School Blue team.

A very slow start after Pete Wallace’s first coin flip win of the season saw Waimate in real trouble at 12 for 3. A dodgy pitch and poor shots saw Connor Farrell and Ash Shah back to the sideline quickly for a couple of ducks. Todd Bailey got a jaffa and was bowled for 6. Ruha Davis (28) Ryan Manson (14) steadied the ship scoring well as the team moved through to 83 for 5, when top scorer Brodie Devine battled hard for 32 and was supported by Ruha then Kerry Weir (28) who began to see some easier bowling and less variable bounce on the pitch.

This was of concern to the waiting batsman knowing they would have to bowl on this flatting pitch. Brodie went out to bring in Zach who pushed through to 17 and the score up to 143 when Sam Newman (4) entered nervously poking around some singles, before Zach tried once too often to hit a boundary and Kerry tried to up the run rate as overs ran out. They were both caught well and with 5 overs to go Justin Thompson joined Sam to finish off the 40 overs. Justin started slowly but got into his work punching some runs around the field while Pete did the same at the other end. Justin took to the last to overs moving through to 21 not out and Pete again left not out on 4. Waimate finished 180 for 9 from there 40 overs and were not sure if that would be enough, but were happier than what they were expecting after 5 overs or so.

With Justin finishing the innings off (and showing a serious lack of fitness), Kerry got the first over and let Justin relax for 6 balls at fine leg. Kerry didn’t waste it as he took a wicket with his first and fourth balls to have TBHS 0 for 2 after one over. Justin then took the ball and also took a wicket with his first ball finally getting his in-swing happening for the first time this season. He also took another wicket in the over after to slight chances went for singles.

TBHS after two overs were in huge trouble at 2 for 4. The next 8 overs proved wicket-less but also run less as Kerry finished 5 overs, 3 maidens, 9 runs, 2 wickets, while Justin closed with 5 overs, 2 maidens, 6 runs, 2 wickets. Both bowling very well and pressing the batsman at every delivery.

Brodie Devine fresh after his good bat bowled very well and caused a run out in his first over, letting Justin throw to the keeper for Todd to remove the bails and take the wicket of the TBHS best batsman. Brodie (5 overs, 1 maidens, 12 runs, 1 wicket) should have had his first wicket of the season the next ball but Justin put down another catch, but this reporter would like it known the person moved from Mid-on earlier due to a thigh strain would not of got a hand to the ball (don’t you think Ryzer!).

Sam Newman (4 0 13 3) then started up from the other end and bowled well without early success but then took 3 quick wickets to have TBHS 38 for 9. Brodie tried to get the last batsman without success, so Pete chucked the ball to Ryan Manson much to Ash’s disappointment and some laughs from the team he ran in at the number 11 batsman with the team closing in around him the number 11, J Gibb smacked 8 quick runs and killed Ryan’s figures before Pete Wallace took a good catch to give Ryan his first wicket of the season and finish off the TBHS team for 49.

After a few early stumbles Waimate dominated the game and have a bye next week to prepare for a road trip to play the MacKenzie/Geraldine in Fairlie.