Last-ball blow for Red Star

A four off the last ball of the match by tail-ender Matthew McKenzie earned Rathkeale College a tie with Red Star in their Wairarapa Cricket Association Bidwell Cup senior men's one-day cricket match on Saturday.
With all the Red Star fielders spread far and wide to protect the boundary the odds against McKenzie striking a four for the tie - or even better a six for the win - with a normal cricket shot seemed slim but he fortuitously managed the first part of that equation with a "French cut" to fine leg off medium pacer Nikolai Karaitiana, thereby allowing Rathkeale to share the honours.
Earlier Red Star won the toss and batted first. They were all out for 156, Karaitiana top scoring with 40. Other useful knocks came from Robbie Anderson (32) and Chris Wenden (21).
All the Rathkeale bowlers impressed with the consistency of their line and length. Medium pacer Jacob Smith showed good aggression in his opening spell but it was George Falloon, with his part-time off spin, who caused the most damage, taking 4-20. Most of his scalps came through the Red Star batsmen looking to go after him and failing in their endeavours.
Rathkeale's innings revolved mostly around captain Ben Foster, who showed excellent shot judgement in getting through to 45. His dismissal left the game very much in the balance although Rathkeale always seemed to have enough wickets in hand to at least force a draw.
Some lofty blows by George Deans helped get the students close enough to make victory for them a definite possibility going into the last over, but Red Star held their nerve and McKenzie was left with four runs to get off the very last ball to bring the scores level. He got just enough bat on ball to do just that and Rathkeale finished on 156-8. Karaitiana was the most successful Red Star bowler, taking 3-35.
Red Star skipper Shay O'Gorman was pleased with the way his side clawed their way back into the game after posting a score which was some 30 runs shy of what was seen as a defendable total. He was impressed by the batting of Foster for Rathkeale - "he probably did enough to win the game for them" - and also by the ability of his attack to keep picking up enough wickets to ensure a close finish.
O'Gorman also blamed himself for McKenzie's vital boundary shot, saying he didn't have the fine leg fine enough to stop the ball from going for four, a situation which meant Red Star had to settle for a tie rather than a winning draw.
"That's the game of cricket I guess," he said.
Rathkeale captain Foster was disappointed he had not been able to see his team home but was happy at the competitiveness of his side in what was an enthralling match.
The other Bidwell Cup game played on Saturday saw Flight Centre Lansdowne score a winning draw over Wairarapa College.
Lansdowne batted first and reached a healthy enough 228 for 8 declared after 58 overs. Sam Curtis dominated the scoring action with his 83 coming off 125 balls. He struck eight fours and one six. Captain Henry Cameron continued his consistent form with 38 (six fours) while H. Barrett opened the innings and was always in a hurry, slamming seven fours in his 32. He faced just 17 balls. Bowling for Wairarapa College Daniel Ingham took 3-58, Quenten McKenna 1-31 and A. Williams 2-52.
Wairarapa College never looked like reaching their target but still had two wickets in hand when stumps were drawn with their total at 155-8. Ingham demonstrated his all-round qualities by making 53 (six fours)and was well supported by H. Wiramanaden who made 44. Five of the six Lansdowne bowlers were among the wickets, Brock Price taking 2-34, Choi Jackson 2-24, Mark Scully 1-22, Jamie Holmes 1-22 and Cameron 1-26.