Valley retained its lead in Borton Cup cricket when it beat St Kevin's College by five wickets in Oamaru on Saturday. Oamaru moved into second place with a 182 run win over Waitaki Boys High School while Union moved into a third placed tie with Albion and St Kevin's when it beat Albion at Awamoa Park by four wickets.
A superb unbeaten 122 run sixth wicket partnership between Dave Simpson(79 not out) and Nathan McLaughlin(50 not out) carried Valley to its win over St Kevin's. The College side won the toss and batting first made 181 with Tom Squire(48) and Chris Smith(46) the major contributors. Sean Conlan down the order came to light with 31. Matt Pile had the best figures of three for 20 for Valley while Geoff Mavor and McLaughlin took two wickets each.
Valley struggled early in its innings to be 41 for three after eight overs and 93 for five after 15 overs before Simpson and McLaughlin took the game away from St Kevin's with robust batting seeing Valley through to 182 for five. Tim Gourlay and Tim O'Connor took two wickets each for St Kevin's.
Oamaru set the young and inexperienced Waitaki Boys side the task of scoring 323 to win in 50 overs after Oamaru had won the toss and batted first. Anthony Sewell gave Oamaru a rolling start with his 59 while Brendan Murray chimed in with 46 and Jake Gard,36. But it was David Sewell who added the icing with an unbeaten 72 to see his side through to 322 in its 50 overs. Jordan Horrell claimed three for 32 and Jason McGimpsey two for 51 for Waitaki Boys.
Waitaki Boys produced a determined effort with the bat defying the Oamaru attack for all but seven of the 50 overs before the final wicket fell at 142.Sean Todd top scored with 50 and Ryan Whitburn added 25 while for Oamaru Ronald Senior took three for 21 and Paul Selbie, two for 18.
Not even a fine innings of 103 from Albion all-rounder Brad Kernahan could save his side from defeat at the hands of Union. Winning the toss Albion struggled at 29 for two after eight overs, 71 for four after 13 overs and 120 for seven after 25 overs before Kernahan's innings saw the side through to 184 in the 33rd over. Paul Johnston took four for 41 and Dan Conlan two for 41 for Union.
Stu Dickinson(39) and Duncan Drew(23) gave Union a good start but it was Johnston(44) and Ben Sheat(27 not out) who saw Union through to a winning 186 for six in the 27th over. Kernahan completed a good day taking three for 53.
Short Scorecard(s)
Senior - Borton Cup - Round 7
Valley Senior vs St Kevins 1st XI at St Kevins 1
St Kevins 1st XI 181 ( T. Squire 48, C.A. Smith 46, S.M. Conlan 31, M. Pile 3-20 )
Valley Senior 182-5 ( D.W. Simpson 79no, N. McLaughlan 50no )
Valley by 5 wickets
Waitaki Boys 1st XI vs Oamaru Senior at Excelsior 1
Oamaru Senior 323 ( D.G. Sewell 72no, A. Sewell 59, B. Murray 46, J. Gard 36, A.J. Horrell 3-32, J. McGimpsey 2-51 )
Waitaki Boys 1st XI 142 ( S. Todd 50, R. Whitburn 25, R. Senior 3-21, P. Selbie 2-18 )
Oamaru by 181 runs
Union Senior vs Albion Senior at Awamoa Park 1
Albion Senior 185 ( B Kernahan 103, P Odell 15, D Shilito 15, Johnston 4-41, Conlan 2-41 )
Union Senior 186-6 ( P Johnston 44, S Dickinson 39, B Sheat 27no, D Drew 23, T Sidon 17, J Shields 12, Kernahan 3-53 )
Union by 4 wickets