Regional sports roundup

NORTH OTAGO
- Terry O'Neill

Oamaru, Waitaki Boys' High School and Union recorded wins in the second round of Borton Cup cricket on Saturday.

Oamaru decided to bat first against Albion and struggled through to 57 for three after 22 overs with Andrew Sewell leading the way with 22. Josh Gutsell (32) and Gary Mahuika (26) saw Oamaru through to 116 before the final wicket fell in the 40th over for 116 with Brad Kernahan taking three for 154.

Albion could not handle the bowling attack of Josh Gutsell (five for 31) and David Sewell (four for 41) and was dismissed for 112 in the 30th over with Gareth Duncan top-scoring with 24.

• Sent in to bat by Waitaki Boys, St Kevin's made a solid start and was 67 for two after 25 overs with Jordan Bartlett making 20. Player/coach Tim McCormick (41) saw St Kevin's through to 101 for four with 16 overs remaining.

Tim O'Malley took control in the latter stages with a half-century as St Kevin's accumulated 190 for nine after 50 overs.

Adrian Myburgh took three for 50 while George Inwood and Mat Day took two wickets each.

Adrian Myburgh (28) saw Waitaki through to 54 for one after 15 overs and Stephan Grobler (55) and Matt Day (23) saw Waitaki pass the St Kevin's total in the 48th over.

Tim O'Malley, Tim McCormick and Tim Cotter took two wickets each for St Kevin's.

• Union defeated Valley by 47 runs at Weston Park.

Union, sent in to bat by Valley, made a pedestrian 123 for seven in its 50 overs with Jeremiah Shields top-scoring with 40 and Chris Ware adding 28.

Blair Malcolm took three for 14 for Valley.

Valley was never in the hunt at 33 for five after 14 overs before the side was bundled out for 76 in the 20th over.

Left-armer Chris Ware finished with four for 20 while Glynn Cameron took two for 17.

Bowls
Dunedin took the honours in the annual pentangular women's tournament played in Oamaru over the weekend.

North Otago led after the first two rounds played on Saturday, picking up five wins in the six second-round games to lead Dunedin by seven points.

Dunedin, with four wins and a draw in the third round and five wins in the fourth round, finished with 30 points, two ahead of North Otago, with Central Otago a point behind.

For North Otago, in the singles Anne McDonald won three of her four games, while in the fours Joan Larcombe dropped only one game over the weekend. For Dunedin, Anne Gawn, in the fours, was the only unbeaten skip while in the singles, Carolyn Crawford won three of her four games.

For Central Otago, Margaret O'Connor (singles), Shona Anderson (pairs) and Linley O'Callaghan (pairs) won three of their four matches.

The development tournament was won by Dunedin with 23 points, ahead of South Otago and Central Otago.

CENTRAL OTAGO
- Rhys Chamberlain

After a long winter, the Vincent Cricket Association twenty/20 competition got under way around the region with three entertaining matches.

The most entertaining was at Poolburn, where home side Blacks Hill got a two-wicket win over Albion, the winning runs coming in the 20th over.

The visiting side was at the crease first and made a modest 103 for nine, former Cromwell player Richard McNeilly top-scoring with 43. The wickets for Blacks Hill were shared around in a solid team effort in the field.

The home side's reply did not go according to plan either, as it slumped to 40-6 early in the innings. But some big hitting from man-of-the-match Tom Cooney (46no) and Russell Nevil (15) ensured the win. Ryan Wheeler was Albion's best with the ball finishing with figures of three for 20.

• At Millbrook, twenty/20 specialists Slope Hill got off to a less-than-convincing start, thumped by Queenstown by eight wickets.

With an impressive 181 for six, it seemed Slope Hill might have done enough with the bat, Arrowtown local Dan Eyles hitting a solid 40 not out. Cory Finn was the best of the Queenstown bowlers, taking two for 38.

The reply was brutal and calculated and it all came on the back of the competition's first century, Craig Rackham hammering an unbeaten 104 while Finn continued his good start to the season with a valuable 56. Slope Hill could only manage two Queenstown wickets, Eyles finishing with one for 39.

• At Clyde, home side Dunstan could not get a first-up win over Cromwell falling short by 20 runs with five wickets still in hand.

Cromwell posted 128 for eight thanks mostly to the batting of Gareth Noble, who posted 55 from 49 balls. Ross Anderson chipped in with a valuable 23 not out down at number seven. The best of the Dunstan bowlers was Alistair Banks, who picked up four wickets, while Jayden Attfield had three from his four overs.

The reply from Dunstan came mainly from opener Nathan Hawker and Hamish Grubb at number seven, who scored 26 and 24 not out respectively. However it was not enough, as the Cromwell bowlers managed to hold Dunstan to 109 off its 20 overs. The five wickets to fall were shared around the Cromwell bowlers as well as a run-out.

• In the senior reserve 50-over competition, Albion beat Queenstown by 112 runs thanks to 111 from Ross McGregor and 80 from Jon Lovelock. Dunstan High School also recorded its first win over Cromwell, by five wickets, Russell Moloney scoring 59.

Bowls
Round four of the ECNZ Trophy competition saw three wins apiece to Alexandra GW, Alexandra KM and top-of-the-table RSA 5, to give them maximum points for the round.

It was not so good for Clyde 1, Omakau and RSA 4, which all failed to register a win.

RSA 5 leads the standings after four rounds, on 20, one point ahead of Alexandra R and three clear of Alexandra CB.

Out West, Wanaka tops the points table after three rounds of its competition on 20.75, while Queenstown and Bannockburn sit in second and third respectively.

Steve Pike (Waipiata) and Mike O'Malley (Ranfurly) each racked up a large win in the latest round of Maniototo Sub-Centre pennants action.

Pike beat Sam McSkimming of Patearoa 21-10 while O'Malley accounted for Naseby's Graham Brown 22-9. Other winners for the round were Waipiata's Peter Williams and David Andrew, Duncan Cotton of Naseby and Sandy Cundall of Ranfurly.

In Wanaka, Ross Davey, David Byers and Barry Miskimmin lead their respective disciplines after the latest round of the progressive tournament.

SOUTH OTAGO
- Norman Woods

The opening games in the South Otago cricket season were played on Saturday, with Kaitangata the most impressive winner.

Batting first, Kaitangata scored 174 for nine wickets from its 40 overs. Best batting came from Brad Storer with a fine 60 and Jason Young with 40; Best bowling for Milton came from Bradley Frost, with three for 32 from eight overs.

In reply, last season's champion, Milton, was dismissed for 154. Brian Littlejohn and Jason Mellon scored 37 runs each.

Best bowling for Kaitangata came from Brady Carmichael with five for 25 from his eight overs. Mark Phillips provided good support with three for 26 and Oory Young chimed in with two for 30. Kaitangata winning by 20 runs.

• SOHS batted first against Owaka and was all out for 76. Pat McKenna top scored with 19 and next best was Chris Faddes with 13. In reply, Owaka replied with 78 for six wickets, claiming victory by four wickets.

• Lawrence began its season with a win, as Clutha defaulted, which was disappointing for the start of the season.

• Blueys (Tapanui), making its debut in the South Otago competition, beat Clinton by just three runs.

Batting first, Clinton began at a great rate, scoring 60 before losing its first wicket, with Kerry Craig scoring 59 of those runs, but in the end was all out for 107.

Best bowling for Tapanui came from 14-year-old Brian Duff, who took three for 24 from six overs. Eric Harris took four for 10 and James Anderson two for 19. In reply, Clinton scored 110 for nine wickets. Craig Stanaway (29) and Eric Harris (20) fared best with the bat.

Best bowling for Clinton came from Heath Culbertson, who took two for 25 off seven overs, while Kurt Thomson took two for 21 off eight overs.

Tennis
In the only game played in the South Otago tennis competition, Clinton beat Clutha Valley, 7-1.