Red Star had a firm grip at the end of the first day's play in the Wairarapa senior men's cricket Bidwell Cup grand final match with Flight Centre Lansdowne at Queen Elizabeth Park oval on Saturday.
Starting underdogs against a Lansdowne line-up chockful of current Wairarapa representatives, Red Star batted first
on a pitch that gave the quicker bowlers early assistance.
Their chances of reaching a competitive total did not look bright when the sixth wicket tumbled with the score at only 61 but thanks to some stern resistance from the lower order - most of whom were prepared to go for their shots - they got through to a respectable 230.
Talented all-rounder Dean van Deventer top scored with 59 while Jared Watt made 56, Sean Jarvis 43 not out and Chris Wendon 17
Medium pacer Mark Scully did a fine job with the ball for Lansdowne, running in hard for 25 overs and thoroughly deserving his 4-81.
Brock Price, another medium pacer, took 3-53 from his 15 overs and provided a talking point when he was "sin binned" for 20 minutes after bowling a high full toss (commonly referred to as a beamer) at Red Star skipper Shay O'Gorman. That resulted in a brief verbal altercation between batsman and bowler before the umpires intervened and sent to Price to the sidelines.
His penalty not only finished his bowling stint but it also meant he was unable to open the Lansdowne first innings as it came within his 20-minute stand-down.
Price came in at first drop after Jamie Holmes was needlessly run out and remarkably his 18 runs represented the best score in a dismal Lansdowne performance that saw them all out for a paltry 62. Watt, van Deventer and Jarvis were the heroes again for Red Star, taking eight of the wickets to fall.
