Red Star will play Rathkeale Cricket Academy in the grand final of the Wairarapa Cricket Association's Bidwell Cup senior men's two-day competition. They guaranteed their spots over the weekend, Red Star beating Lansdowne outright and Academy taking first innings points over Greytown. A remarkable bowling effort by medium pacer Jared Watt highlightedRed Star's victory over Lansdowne at the Pugh Sports Bowl. He took nine wickets in Lansdowne's first innings and another five in their second to finish with 14 in all at a cost of just 83 runs. Red Star batted first and were all out for 195. Joe Hull top scored with 31 while Watt made 31 and Aaron Wilson 21. Bowling for Lansdowne Mark Scully took 5-68 off 19 overs and Choi Jackson 2-33. Lansdowne were 30-4 early on in their first innings and were finally dismissed for 131 of which Dane Buchanan made 55 not out and Jackson 30. Watt finished with the superb figures of 9-41 off 28 overs, 11 of which were maidens. Red Star top order batsman Brad Edwards was to the fore in their second innings, showing a wide range of strokes in scoring 141, his second century of the club season. He was mainly responsible for his team being able to declare at a healthy 222-6. Robin James was the best of the Lansdowne bowlers with 3-60 off 12 overs. Lansdowne were all out for only 94 in their second innings with Red Star using just the two bowlers, Watt taking 5-42 off nine overs and Peter Sigvertsen 5-43 off 8.1 overs. Rathkeale Cricket Academy made 247 in their first innings against Greytown, Chad Yates (50), Dan Stevenson (55) and Steve Coleman (39) the major contributors. Bowling for Greytown, Hayden Spierling had the excellent return of 6-55. Greytown declared their first innings closed at 198-9 of which Mark Childs made 69 and Blake Lyford 22, Jon Samwell with 5-35 spearheaded the Academy attack. Academy raced through to 130 off 15 overs in their second innings (Hutchinson 44) before declaring and leaving Greytown to score 207 for the outright win in 24 overs. It was a tough ask but the southerners came desperately close, being 204-6 when play ended. Again it was Childs who led the charge, scoring 68, while Dean Southey made 35 and Seth Rance 33. Wairarapa College beat Rathkeale College outright in their McBride-Peterson trophy match at Queen Elizabeth Park Oval. Wairarapa College had an 80-run advantage on the first innings and were left with just six runs to score for outright points when Rathkeale were dismissed for a second time. Highlight of the match was a fine knock of 70 for Wairarapa College by Daniel Ingham.
