Lansdowne’s Alasdair Bailey bowling against Marist OB on Saturday. PHOTO/JADE CVETKOV
CRICKET
JAKE BELESKI
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Lansdowne got their Umpires Cup campaign up and running with a four-wicket win over Marist Old Boys at Queen Elizabeth Park in Masterton on Saturday.
It had been a tough start to the season for Lansdowne, who went into the match on the back of two losses and one abandoned match.
Marist OB won the toss and elected to bat, and battled their way through to 205-6 from their 40 overs.
Opening batsman Keith Pullman made a valuable 33 at the top of the order, while other meaningful contributions came from Gurleen Singh [38], Greg Pullman [37] and Darren Wardle [31 not out].
Four wickets were shared across four different bowlers for Lansdowne, while there were also two run outs.
Lansdowne knew they had an opportunity to claim their first win of the season, and it was Jay Macdonald who stepped up with the bat to help get them over the line.
Macdonald came to the crease with the score at 54-2, and batted the rest of the innings to finish on 72 not out from just 70 balls, with eight boundaries to his name.
Lansdowne passed their target in 37 overs, for the loss of six wickets.
In Saturday’s other match, Greytown also picked up their first win of the season when they beat the Rathkeale College Second XI by five wickets at Greytown.
Rathkeale won the toss and elected to bat, and were all out for 149 in 38 overs.
In reply, Greytown got through to 153-5 in 30 overs to secure a five-wicket win.
The result would have been a relief for Greytown, who were coming off a thrilling tie the week before against Red Star.
The results mean that the Rathkeale First XI held on to their spot at the top of the points table, despite having the bye on Saturday.
They have 12 points after five rounds, with Marist OB in second place with 10 points.
The Rathkeale First XI will have an opportunity to add to their lead on the points table this weekend when they take on their Second XI counterparts, who are yet to register a win.
The other match this weekend has Lansdowne hosting Red Star at Queen Elizabeth Park.
This week is the penultimate round of matches in the round robin, with teams vying to make the top four and secure a spot in the semifinals.
The semifinals will be held on December 8, with the final held the following Saturday at Queen Elizabeth Park.
Meanwhile, the Wairarapa College First XI scored a convincing win over Scots College in the Wellington premier 2 grade on Saturday.
Waicol batted first and posted 253-7 from their 50 overs, with the top contributions coming from Oliver Bunny [63] and Jake Young [57].
In reply, Scots College could only manage 148-9 from their 50 overs, with Josh Nelson [2-17 off eight overs] and Bunny [2-27 off 10 overs] the pick of the bowlers for Waicol.
The win put Waicol on 10 competition points after four rounds, which put them level with three other teams at the top of the points table.
