A blistering unbeaten 71 by opener Mark Childs ensured defending champions Greytown made short work of Rathkeale College in their Wairarapa Cricket Umpire’s Cup semi-final match on Saturday.
Set just 95 for victory at Queen Elizabeth Park oval, Masterton, Greytown took just 14.5 overs to achieve their target and they only lost the one wicket in the process of qualifying for the grand final against Lansdowne.
Childs has not been a regular feature of Greytown teams in recent seasons but he was a Central Districts A rep in his heydey.
A Rathkeale team including his twin sons, Ethan and Quinn, had no answer to the power of his stroke making.
His 71 came from 57 balls and included 15 fours, meaning all but 11 of his runs came from boundaries.
Earlier Rathkeale College never got any momentum into their innings, losing the first five wickets for 62 runs and the next five for an additional 32.
Kelsey Fahey did his best to stem the tide in making 33 from 97 balls, including three fours, but he was very much a lone hand.
Bowling for Greytown Daniel Ingham and Lucien Burt both did a grand job with the new ball, Ingham taking 3-17 off seven overs and Burt 3-14 off 10 overs.
Short scoreboard:
RATHKEALE COLLEGE 94 (E.Childs 9, A.Sprowson 0, M.Paton-Masters 8, K.Fahey 33, Forrester 2, Q.Childs 10, Osborne 2, McKensie 14, McIntyre 1, S.Sprowson 1 not out, Stephens 0, extras 14; fall of wickets, 3, 17, 21, 36, 63, 68, 88, 90, 90, 94; Ingham 7-1-17-3, Burt 10-4-14-3, Speers 10-0-22-1, James 7.5-2-20-2, Aiken 5-2-7-1, Reisima 3-0-11-0) lost to GREYTOWN 97-1 (C.Morrison 12, M.Childs 71 not out, Burling 0 not out, extras 14; fall of wickets, 84; Fahey 6-1-31-0, Sprowson 2-0-15-0, McIntyre 3-0-20-0, Q.Childs 2-0-9-1, Stephens 1.5-0-18-0) by nine wickets.
