Country Ashburton’s Sam Bubb in action during premier tennis action on Saturday.The hometown boys claimed bragging rights after completing their first premier win of the season.

Back in the thick of premier mens tennis for the first time in more than two decades, the Country Ashburton contingent prevailed four matches to two over Christchurch’s Elmwood club in Ashburton on Saturday.

Dual doubles wins proved to be the difference between the two clubs, as Ashburton bounced back from their opening round defeat to Cashmere a fortnight prior.

Jack Tiller and Sam Bubb, the former taking on his former club mates, combined to beat Sam Keenan and Aidan Watt in straight sets.

Across court and Cameron McCracken and Ben Smith prevailed over Benji McGillivray and Tom Batt 6-3, 6-4.

It was a scrap in the singles showdowns with Tiller falling to a 6-7, 3-6 defeat to Batt and McCracken going down 5-7, 3-6 to McGillivray.

However, Bubb and Smith sealed it for the Mid Cantabrians in their respective duels.

Smith put on a clinic out on centre court, hammering Watt 6-1, 6-1 while Bubb also enjoyed a dominant early foray to knock over Keenan 6-0, 6-4 as the hosts got home by two.

By Adam Burns © The Ashburton Guardian - 3 November 2020

The Mid Canterbury senior representative cricket side made a strong start to their campaign with a 65-run victory over South Canterbury in Timaru on Sunday.

Playing at Aorangi Oval, Mid Canterbury coach Garfield Charles opted for a good mix of experience and newcomers for the Ron Biggar Memorial game, with four players making their debut in the green and gold baggy cap.

With a busy season ahead, including the Hawke Cup, getting a win on the board to start the season will have come as a welcome boost for the side, who were methodical in their success on the weekend.

New captain William Southby won the toss, and elected to bat in the first innings.

Mid Canterbury lost Angus Jemmett quickly, but a steady innings from Nick Gilbert (42) set a solid platform for the middle order to deliver.

Spearheaded by an in-form Des Kruger, who had scored 99 the day before in club action, they pushed through to an impressive target.

Kruger finished with 94 not out to give himself a weekend average of 96.5, while Southby made a valuable captain’s knock of 39, combining for a 75-run partnership with Kruger through the middle stages of the innings.

Mid Canterbury could have posted a higher total than their 263 for nine, but their last four wickets fell for just eight runs.

South Canterbury were in trouble from the outset in their run chase, with both opening batsmen back in the sheds after just the first two overs.

Shaun Stagg claimed a royal golden duck on the first ball of the innings, and then Mana Singh, on debut, claimed his first Mid Canterbury wicket 11 balls later.

With wickets falling at a frequent rate, the game looked well in control until a 66-run eighth wicket stand threatened to turn things around.

However, two quick wickets from Angus Jemmett changed the match around again and South Canterbury were eventually rolled for 198.

Mana Singh and Ryan Bell were Mid Canterbury’s main forces with the ball, taking threw wickets each, while Jemmett’s input was invaluable as he removed two big threats on his way to taking 2-23 off his six overs.

Mid Canterbury will now turn their attention to a clash with Canterbury Country this weekend on the Ashburton Oval on Saturday.

Short scoreboard:

Mid Canterbury 263-9 (50 overs) Des Kruger 94 not out, Nick Gilbert 42, William Southby 39 beat South Canterbury 198 all out (41.2 overs) Ryan Bell 3-27 off 10 overs. Mana Singh 3-37 off 7 overs. Angus Jemmett 2-23 off 6.2 overs.

By Matt Markham © The Ashburton Guardian - 3 November 2020

Des Kruger had an imperious weekend with the bat, averaging 96.5 over two games. Photo supplied.It’s taken a little longer than they would have liked, but the Tech Stags’ foray into the South Canterbury cricketing scene is finally under way, after their first success on the weekend.

Three frustrating efforts to open the campaign were put behind the talented side on Saturday when they put together a polished performance to win by seven wickets, spearheaded by a 162-run opening stand in their successful run chase against the Timaru Cricket Club.

The Stags found themselves on the losing side of the coin toss and were asked to bowl – an outcome they wouldn’t have been too displeased with when they had their hosts in trouble at 33-4 after 11 overs.

A 140-run sixth wicket partnership saved the Timaru innings though, and they managed to put up a respectable 229 all out in the final over of the innings to set the Stags a difficult target.

Tom Meyrick paved the way for the Stags with the ball, claiming 3-38 off his 10 overs while Matt Tait (2-36) and Richard Print (2-34) also made valuable contributions with the ball in hand.

After a few frustrating innings with the bat in their opening games of the season, the Stags set about turning things around as they chased their first win of the season, and they couldn’t have asked for a better start.

In-form opening bat Jason Morrison was joined at the top of the innings by the experienced Des Kruger, and the duo compiled an outstanding 162-run partnership to put their side right in the box seat.

Morrison fell in the 19th over for 83 – an innings which featured 13 fours and one six from just 63 balls faced.

Kruger was in a similarly dominating mood, and he guided his side right through to the 26th over before he was trapped lbw on 99.

By that time the match was won, needing just 10 for victory, and Bevan Richan and Will McKee scored the required runs to get their side over the line.

The victory lifted the Stags to fourth on the points table for the season, and now gives them a platform on which to build from.

They get a chance to go another step forward this weekend when they take on Star at Ashbury.

The two sides are yet to meet for the season, and Star registered a similarly dominant victory over Timaru earlier in the season, so Tech will see it as another good opportunity to get a further win on the board.

While they struggled through the opening weeks of the competition, a number of Stags players are producing results that have them highly ranked.

Morrison has scored 182 runs in four innings at an average of 45.5 to have him the fifth best batsman in the competition while Kruger – helped by Saturday’s effort – is seventh with 177 runs from four innings at an average of 42.5.

On the bowling front, Richard Print features in the top 10 bowlers in the competition with his three matches seeing him take six wickets at an average of 22.1.

By Matt Markham © The Ashburton Guardian - 3 November 2020