Quinn Childs continued his good form with the bat scoring another half century as the Barbarians took a comfortable lead at the halfway stage of Wairarapa Cricket’s Bidwill Cup premier championship.
The all-rounder scored a patient 64, following on from his 94 against Burger King Red Star the previous weekend, ensuring his side secured first innings points over Inspire Living Greytown.
Having decided to bat Greytown struggled to a below par score of 102 on their home pitch, thanks mainly to another lower order assault from Michael Courtman, who smashed 42 not out from 37 balls. Courtman is yet to be dismissed in the championship, having scored 101 runs, all in the lower order and at a rapid pace.
Rathkeale and Wairarapa representative medium pacer James Church did the main damage with the ball for the Barbarians, claiming 4-21 off eight tidy overs.
An early Barbarians wicket brought Childs to the wicket and he almost single-handedly turned the game his side’s way, with his 64 coming off 102 balls. The only other batter to make an impact on the Barbarians scorecard was number eight Sam Jonas with a well-compiled 45.
Medium pacer Tony Russo was the best of the Greytown bowlers, picking up 4-42 from 15 overs.
Burger King Red Star kept alive their chances of defending their championship title with a scratchy first innings win over Lansdowne.
Batting first on Queen Elizabeth Oval, Red amassed a disappointing score of 129, with the main contributor being number 10 Ajaytesh Singh Sandhu, who hit a run a ball unbeaten 34. The tally was given a late boost by what proved to be an important ninth-wicket partnership of 29 runs.
In reply Lansdowne lost their first two wickets with two runs on the board and never recovered. Only Shamal Perera [28] and Kushen Ekanayake [20] made double figures.
Red Star off spinner Trey Bidois had a field day against the struggling Lansdowne batting line up picking up 5-14, while George Deans snagged 3-16 with his accurate medium pacers.
Red Star picked up a valuable two bonus points in their second turn at bat and were 123-3 at the close of play.
Brief Scores
Greytown 102 [Michael Courtman 42 no; James Church 4-21] and 40-1 lost on first innings to Barbarians 159-9 [Quinn Childs 64, Sam Jonas 45; Tony Russo 4-42, Jacques Luckins 3-34].
Red Star 129 [Ajaytesh Singh Sandhu 34no] and 123-3 [Trey Bidois 29, Jeremy Anderson 29, Nathan Elliott 28no] won on first innings over Lansdowne 72 [Shamal Perera 28; Bidois 5-14, George Deans 3-16]
Provisional Points
Barbarians 46, Greytown 33, Red Star 30, Lansdowne 15.
