Changes have been made to the Southland club cricket format for the 2024-25 season.
The top-flight one-day competition will feature the five premier teams from last summer and the five division one teams.
The new 10-team premier grade will play a full round of 40-over cricket from November through to February before teams return to the original grades in February.
Round 1 of the competition was a washout and only one venue was dry enough to play on in round two, where Central Western beat the Royal Riders by seven wickets, thanks to a century from James Wadsworth.
In round three on Saturday the defending champion Appleby Rams hosted the Central Western Goats. The Rams won the toss and elected to bat, reaching 228 runs for the loss of seven wickets.
Jamie Clark (19) and Kieran Lloyd (26) put on a 52-run opening partnership. Aaron Hart then scored 35 runs and Reid Murray added a valuable 28 runs. Ryan Rusk hit five sixes in his total of 41, while Sam Downing was unbeaten on 36 runs at the end of their 40 overs.
Carlo Scheepers was the most economical Central bowler, taking two wickets for 28 runs from his eight overs.
The Goats gave the run chase a fair crack. John White (28) and Kyle Schins (19) put on a 54-run opening partnership, while David Lindsay (23) and Gary Singh (26) also each got a start. Conner Wells added an aggressive 48 runs before he became Aaron Hart’s fourth victim. Wells was bowled out for 198 in the 40th over.
Marist beat Blue Mountain by seven wickets at Miller St. Blueys had first dig but were bowled out for just 67 runs. Josh Peters (21) and Jack Campbell got the visitors off to a solid start but only one other batsman made double figures.
Marist bowler Dylan Hawkes took five wickets for 13 runs off six overs and Abid Younis took four wickets.
Marist took 13 overs to reach the winning target with Hamish Stratford (31) top-scoring.
Invercargill Old Boys lost just one wicket as they chased down Te Anau’s meagre total of 48 runs on their own pitch.
Both the Metropolitan Cubs and Royal Riders game and the Southland Boys’ High School and Waikoikoi game, which were scheduled for Hamilton Park in Gore, were abandoned.
By John Langford
