Lansdowne claim crown

Flight Centre Lansdowne are the Bidwell Cup two-day cricket champions in Wairarapa for 2008-09 after securing a first innings win over Greytown in a keenly-contested final at Queen Elizabeth Park Oval in Masterton over the weekend.
There was more than one occasion during the course of the two days where Lansdowne threatened to be their own worst enemies through inept batting and catching but fortunately for them it did not prove their undoing.
Batting first on a damp wicket Lansdowne were in deep strife when their first wicket fell at five, their second at six, third at nine, fourth at 27 and fifth at 40.
Skipper Sam Curtis hit a couple of boundaries in his 25 but it wasn't until two experienced campaigners in Robin James and Chris Jefferies came together that the innings got some real momentum. They were both a mixture of patience and aggression with James striking five fours in his 45 made of 64 balls and Jefferies two fours in his 32 made off 66 balls.
Once their partnership was broken Brock Price dealt some hefty blows in an unbeaten 52 which included five fours and one six and there were useful knocks from Choi Jackson (17) and Mark Scully (14) at the bottom of the order, the last wicket falling at a respectable 228.
Clearly the most impressive of the Greytown bowlers was paceman Hayden Spierling who despite battling the 'flu finished with 4-33 from his 15 overs. He had 3-8 after five overs and 4-17 after nine, fine reward for his ability to exploit the tricks inherent in the pitch.
There was a handy 18.1-over stint from young spinner Nash Patel too and his control of flight and direction was noteworthy. He conceded just the 30 runs and took the one wicket while brother Fez Patel finished with 2-17 from seven overs and Blake Lyford with 2-46 from 11 overs.
It was the old hands who came to the party in Greytown's first innings as well. Opener Josh Doherty rode his luck in hitting eight fours in his 51, Wal Tatham found the boundary three times in his 32 and skipper Mark Childs hit seven fours in his 53. At 177-4 they were well on target to achieve the first innings lead which would have given them the title but 40 runs later they were all out, 11 runs short.
Lansdowne's bowlers deserve special credit for stickability as with at least seven catches being spilled the support given them in the field was poor & and that's being kind!
Skipper Sam Curtis finished with the best figures of 3-19 off nine overs but it was Robin James who bore the bruint of the workload. He put down 33 overs, 18 of which were maidens, and took 2-31 in a lion-hearted display.
The objective for Lansdowne in their second innings was simple. With some 56 overs left to play it was all about the conservation of wickets and they did so while scoring at a reasonable clip, reaching 142-4 when the two skippers shook hands and called it a day. Curtis had struck nine fours in his unbeaten 63, Henry Cameron six fours in his 39 and Chris Jefferies a couple of boundaries in his 19 not out.
Once again Hayden Spierling was the pick of the Greytown bowlers, taking 2-37 from 14 overs, while Glen Jonas took 2-49 from nine overs.
Lansdowne coach Mark Brown was delighted with his team's success but conceded they had made it harder for themselves by dropping so many catches. "It got a bit close in the end, there wasn't a lot in it," he said.
SHORT SCOREBOARD:-
LANSDOWNE 228 (Cameron 4, Adamson 0, Treseder 3, Curtis 25, Buchanan 0, James 45, Jefferies 32, Price 52 not out, Jackson 17, Johnson 4, Scully 14, extras 32; Spierling 15-3-33-4, Southey 8-2-20-1, James 8-1-35-0, Lyford 11-1-46-2, N Patel 18.1-7-30-1, Doherty 4-0-13-0, V.Patel 7-3-17-2, Smith 1-0-7-0) and 142-4 (Cameron 39, Adamson 6, Treseder 9, Curtis 63 not out, Buchanan 2, Jefferies 19 not out, extras 11; Spierling 14-3-27-2, Southey 3-0-29-0, Jones 9-1-49-2, N.Patel 1-0-9-0, James 4-0-11-0) beat GREYTOWN 217 (Doherty 51, Ross 2, Tatham 32, Childs 53, Lyford 14, Didsbury 3, Smith 4, Southey 8, Spierling 6, James 2, Patel 11 not out, extras 28; James 33-18- 31-2, Price 12-2-43-1, Scully 16-4-44-1, Buchanan 11.3-5-14-1, Cameron 3-0-22-1, Jefferies 3-0-5-0, Jackson 5-2-5-0, Macklin 3-1-6-1, Curtis 9-2-19-3) by 11 runs on the first innings.