Stars seal semifinal spot

CAUGHT SHORT: Kuranui Old Boys keeper Darren Dingle runs out Lansdowne batsman Jock Cameron.PHOTOS/CHRIS KILFORD

Red Star made short work of Wairarapa College in their crucial Wairarapa Cricket Association Umpire's Cup match at Wairarapa College on Saturday.

Needing a win to have any chance of joining Greytown, Lansdowne and Kuranui Old Boys in the Cup semifinals, Red Star blitzed the students by eight wickets.

Batting first, Wairarapa College were all at sea against an accurate Red Star attack, losing their first two wickets with just three runs on the board, their third at 12, fourth at 19, fifth and sixth at 25 and seventh at 27.

There was some resistance from the college lower order, led by Hamish Woolgar whose stubborn 22 came from 39 balls, but they were all out for a paltry 77, scored in 25.2 overs. Former Wairarapa College player Tane Workman was the main destroyer, taking an impressive 4-22 from his eight overs,

Red Star reached their target for victory in the 16th over and with eight wickets to spare, an opening stand of 34 between Richard French and Troy Burling setting them well on their way.

Greytown beat Rathkeale College by four wickets despite helping Rathkeale's cause by conceding a massive 36 wides when the school side took first strike and were all out for 140. Matt McKenzie with 20 scored the most runs off the bat. Seth Rance, Steve Coleman and Gordon Reisima all finished with two wickets for Greytown, with Rance giving away just 16 runs from his 10 overs.

An 82-run partnership for the second wicket between Jason Kibblewhite (37) and Jake Ross (45) highlighted the Greytown reply of 142-6, with Ross wasting no time, facing only 31 balls and hitting seven fours and a six. Also full of aggression was Rance. Coming in at seventh in the order, the allrounder smashed three fours and three sixes as he raced to an unbeaten 32 from 10 balls. The most successful of the Rathkeale bowlers was George Deans who took 3-46 from his 9.4 overs.

Lansdowne and Kuranui Old Boys had a close tussle at Queen Elizabeth Park oval with Lansdowne winning by nine runs. Lansdowne were in early strife after losing in-form Justin Herbert before a run had been scored. They stumbled along to 42-4 and never really recovered, posting 139 all out in 47 overs. Josh Jacques was the major contributor, his 39 coming from 69 balls included just one boundary. Old Boys used eight bowlers and the best figures were returned by Mark Goodin (3-32) and Sanjay Patel (3-39).

The Kuranui Old Boys innings was similar to that of Lansdowne in that they started poorly to be 42-3 and with their sixth, seventh and eighth wickets falling with the score at 108 they were clearly on the back foot. In the end they were dismissed for 130. Top scorer was Sam Curtis who made 33 from 63 balls. Calvin Ball (2-22), Ford Burr (2-30) and Aaron Bidlake (3-8) led a persistent Lansdowne attack.

Short scoreboards:

Rathkeale College 140 (Burling 5, Mason 7, Morrison 8, b Deans 10, Crombie 4, McKenzie 20, Caldwell 14, Fahey 4, Ryan 6, Forrester 11, Osborne 5 not out, extras 46; fall of wickets, 23, 33, 54, 61, 79, 101, 101, 109, 124, 140; Rance 10-3-16-2, Foster 3-0-22-0, Greenwood 1-0-7-0, James 10-3-31-2, Colmen 10-4-26-2, Reisima 7-2-17-2, Lucas 3.2-0-14-1) lost to Greytown 142-6 ( Hudson 0, Kibblewhite 37, Ross 45, Lyttle 7, Lucas 4, Coleman 3, Rance 32 not out, Foster 1 not out, extras 13; fall of wickets 0, 82, 90, 103, 109, 109; Mason 2-0-21-0, Ryan 2-0-16-0, Fahey 3-0-28-0, Deans 9.4-2-46-3, Osborne 7-1-29-1) by four wickets.

Wairarapa College 77 (Reisima 8, Elliott 1, Griffith 0, Burt 4, Pepperell 7, A Payne 20 not out, J.Wakeling 0, Hook 0, Woolgar 22, Finlayson 1, G.Wakeling 1, extras 13; fall of wickets, 3, 3, 12, 19, 25, 25, 27, 68, 70, 77; Karaitiana 5-1-10-1, Workman 8-0-22-4, Jarvis 4-0-22-1, Hurley 4.2-1-15-2, Sigvertsen 4-3-6-1) lost to Red Star 81-2 (French 12, Burling 21, D.Stoneley 17 not out, Mnikina 17 not out, extras 14; fall of wickets, 34, 51; Hook 3-0-18-0, Griffith 3-1-17-0, J.Wakeling 3-0-11-1, Woolgar 4-0-13-0, Burt 2-0-12-1, G.Wakeling 0.5-0-9-0) by eight wickets.

Lansdowne 139 (Holmes 7, Herbert 0, Adamson 10, Jacques 39, Jackson 16, Bidlake 9, Burr 3, Cameron 13, Ball 17, Hall 3, extras 18; fall of wickets 0, 21, 32, 42, 73, 97, 104, 106, 127, 139; Russo 10-4-13-1, Goodin 10-2-32-3, Carter 6-0-28-1, Macdonald 5-0-17-0, S.Patel 10-1-29-3, Curtis 1-0-2-0, Barber 3-0-6-1, N.Patel 2-0-9-0) beat Kuranui Old Boys (Towgood 12, D.Dingle 10, L.Dingle 0, Curtis 33, S.Patel 15, Carter 4, Russo 15, N.Patel 0, Goodin 0, Macdonald 5 not out, Mountcastle 8, extras 28; fall of wickets, 30, 31, 42, 70, 75, 108, 108, 108, 112, 130; Ball 8-1-22-2, Cameron 7-0-26-0, Burr 10-1-30-2, Holmes 10-0-38-1. Bidlake 4-1-8-3, Treseder 1-0-3-0.) by nine runs.