Wairarapa squad finish season on high note

The Wairarapa senior men's cricket squad finished their season on a high note when they scored a comprehensive seven wicket win over the Doug Catley XI in the annual limited-overs fixture played at Queen Elizabeth Park Oval in Masterton yesterday.
The victory was mainly due to a dashing 117 not out by opening batsman Henry Cameron who was brought into the side at the eleventh hour and constantly peppered the boundary with his wide range of shots.
He and Brad Edwards, who came in at first drop and made 47, ensured the Catley XI's total of 222 was quickly overhauled, the winning runs coming in the 37th of the scheduled 50 overs. The Catley XI's innings was very much a case of the top order showing good form and the middle and lower order providing little resistance to a steady Wairarapa attack.
Openers Dipak (18) and Cameron (36) gave the visitors a solid start and first drop Murdock was in splendid touch, getting through to 94 before being run out.
Spinner Edwards was the most successful of the Wairarapa bowlers, coming on at fourth change and taking 3-32 from his 10 overs. Youngster Daniel Ingham, in his first game for Wairarapa, took 2-57 from his 10 overs while Cameron finished with 2-37 from six overs.
SHORT SCOREBOARD:-
CATLEY XI 222 (Dipak 18, Cameron 36, Murdock 94, Cudy 14, Topp 16, McSweeney 0, Williams 0, Ormiston 4, Bidwell 9, McGuiness 1, Hammond 2 not out, extras 28; Rance 8.1- 1-21-1, Watt 9-1-32-0, Taylor 5-1-26-1, Ingham 10-0-57-2, Cameron 6-0-37-2, Edwards 10-1-32-3) lost to WAIRARAPA 225-3 (Curtis 21, Cameron 117 not out, Edwards 47, Anderson 18, Finnemore 7 not out, extras 15; Sutherland 6-0-37-1, McGuiness 4-0-30-0, Murdock 5-0-18-0, Topp 4-0-8-0, Williams 5-0-22-0, Bidwell 6.4-1-28-1, Dipak 5-0-25-1, Hammond 1-0-2-0).
Meanwhile, Rathkeale Cricket Academy scored a clear-cut win over Lansdowne in their Umpires Cup senior men's inter-club match on Saturday.
Academy batted first and made 248 with the major contributors being Hussain Shabbir (77) and Steve Coleman (52). Bowling for Lansdowne, Robin James took 4-34 from 10 overs.
Lansdowne made just 160 in reply with Dane Buchanan left unbeaten on 43. Spinner Jon Samwell captured three wickets for Academy.
Red Star recorded a two wicket win over Greytown in their match played at the Pugh Sports Bowl. Greytown reached 209-9 in their 50 overs, with Duncan Didsbury (29), Shane Mellor (34), Ewan Burt (44 not out) and Hayden Spierling (30) all getting amongst the runs.
Red Star made their target with eight wickets down, thanks to a fine knock of 99 by Camus Wyatt.
Umpires Cup points are: Academy 28, Greytown 24, Wairarapa College 20, Red Star 18, Rathkeale College 10, Lansdowne 8.
The Bidwell Cup grand final between Academy and Red Star will be played at the Park Oval this coming Saturday and Sunday with play scheduled to start at 10.30am and end at 6.30pm on both days.,