Union and Oamaru cruised to wins over Glenavy and Valley, while St Kevin’s beat Waitaki Boys in the penultimate round of the Borton Cup on Saturday.
At Glenavy, Union’s Liam Mavor produced outstanding figures of eight for 26 off 8.4 overs — the club’s best bowling in 27 years — as the hosts were bundled out for 79 in the 18th over, chasing 222.
Earlier, Union had reached a competitive 221 all out in the 49th over. Antony Cromwell (39) and Blake James (30) provided a solid foundation before Mavor (23) and Blake Martin (42 off 34 balls) accelerated the scoring later in the innings.
Hamish McCulloch took four for 45 and Ryan Jones two for 47 for Glenavy.
It was one-way traffic at Weston as Oamaru beat Valley by 160 runs.
Despite being 45 for four early, a big partnership of 117 for the fifth wicket put Oamaru firmly in control of the match.
Stephan Grobler (86) was dismissed, but Quinn Wardle (51 not out) and Asanka Gamlathge continued as they finished with 228 for five off 47 overs before rain started to fall. The match was then reduced to 47 overs.
Jake Matthews took two for 31 for Valley.
Valley struggled in their chase and were bowled out for 68 in 24 overs.
Nick Johnson ripped through the Valley order, taking six for 16, while Grobler took four for 25.
St Kevin’s batted first against Waitaki Boys and found themselves in early trouble at 41 for four in the 11th over.
Liam Direen (41) and Oscar Waldron (41) steadied the innings, guiding them to 112 for four, but another collapse followed as they lost their final six wickets for just 25 runs. Jack Kelly contributed 22 at the top of the order.
Billy Wilson sparked the first collapse with four for 28, while Eric Strachan triggered the second, taking four for nine.
In response, Waitaki Boys’ struggled from the outset and were bowled out for just 49 in 16 overs.
— Southland club cricket was abandoned because of rain.
— Scott Cameron
