Bowls: Kiwis notch up four wins from four

Four wins from four starts yesterday have put the New Zealand pairs and triples team within sight of medals at the world bowls championships in Ayr, Scotland.

Gary Lawson's triple beat Jersey 26-13 first and completed a great day, defeating a strong Irish combination 22-14 in a gripping second session.

They now have three straight wins and head their section.

With Kenya and the Philippines to come a top finish in the championship pool, and with it a place in tomorrow's final, is within their grasp.

The pair of Russell Meyer and Paul Girdler edged their first match of the day 16-15, also against Jersey, and completed the New Zealand sweep with a 22-12 win over Israel.

Meyer and Girdler must beat both Ireland and South Africa in the last two rounds, also tonight, to have any hope of making the gold medal playoff.

Lawson's win over Neil Booth of Ireland in the triples could prove crucial, but was not as easy as the score might suggest.

With Sean Johnson again off the front and Rowan Brassey at two, New Zealand trailed 9-8 at halfway but built a handy 17-11 lead with three ends to play.

Ireland held promising positions but Lawson converted tellingly at least three times, never more so than on the final end as Ireland held a position for at least a draw and possibly the win.

Lawson's whoop of joy as three down became five up told a tale, as the win was confirmed.

Against Jersey, Lawson's triple raced to a 17-1 lead over David Le Marquand after just eight of 18 ends, and were never likely to lose from there.

Meyer and Girdler found themselves 1-8 down after six ends against Jersey's Derek Boswell and Allan Quemard.

Just as in their round one match against Scotland, they rallied, scoring on all the next six ends to go to the comfort of a 14-8 lead with four to play.

But the match was far from over as Jersey scored two, one and then a four to edge ahead 15-14 playing the last.

Even there it took a measure to secure the second New Zealand shot and the relieved New Zealanders registered the narrowest of wins to keep alive their medal hopes.

- NZPA