Greytown seated first at the final table

Greytown are guaranteed a place in the Bidwell Cup two-day senior men's interclub cricket competition in Wairarapa this season but their opponent will rest on the results from the last round of preliminary round games next weekend.
Defending champions Lansdowne will be desperately seeking points from their fixture with Wairarapa College at Queen Elizabeth Park Oval while Red Star will be doing likewise when they engage in battle with Greytown.
Red Star have the inside running as they sit in second place on the competition table with 19 points but they have only two points to spare from Lansdowne which means that providing the weather does not intervene this coming Saturday and Sunday they will almost certainly need to pick up first-innings points against Greytown to keep their noses in front. And if they don't the door will be open for Lansdowne to snatch the other grand finals spot.
The latest round of Bidwell Cup fixtures was completed this Sunday with Greytown securing an outright win over a plucky Wairarapa College at Wairarapa College and Lansdowne earning themselves first-innings points against Red Star on a tricky Park Sports No2 pitch.
Runs flowed freely in the match at Wairarapa College, which had to be transferred to an artificial wicket after vandals scarred the grass pitch overnight on Friday and also flooded it by turning on the sprinkler taps.
Greytown won the toss and elected to bat first and with openers Duncan Didsbury and Paul Lyttle putting on 171 runs they were off to a flying start. Didsbury made his first senior club century in reaching 106 while Lyttle blasted the ball to all parts of the boundary in his quick-fire 103. Mark Childs with 93 and Steve Coleman with 76 also scored heavily and Greytown were able to declare at a healthy 406-5.
Wairarapa College were 102-2 when stumps were drawn on Saturday, Mark Cummings being unbeaten on 43. He was out early on Sunday but some hard hitting by Gordon Reisima, who struck six 6s in his 75, enabled the students to reach 248. Bowling for Greytown Hayden Spierling took 4-58 and Steve Coleman 3-77. The Greytown second innings was all about aggression and when they declared at 148-7 the vast majority of their runs had come from boundaries. Mark Childs top-scored with 32 while the most successful of the Wairarapa College bowlers were Oliver Burt 4-76 and Quentin McKenna 3-76.
Needing 310 runs in about 45 overs for the outright win Wairarapa College responded to the challenge and with Mark Cummings again leading the way with 53 they were in with a chance at 100-3.
Daniel Ingham, whose 81 included seven 6s, also took the battle to the Greytown attack but Wairarapa College were finally all out for 210, the last wicket falling with just two overs to go. An unbeaten 100 by skipper Sam Curtis was a major catalyst in Lansdowne's vital first-innings win over Red Star. His knock was a mix of patience and aggression on a pitch that provided a variable bounce.