There is one more week of the twenty20 competition remaining.
CRICKET: Marist batsman Craig Lawrence put in the Manawatū club performance of the weekend, smashing a century in their 57-run win over Old Boys in the twenty20 competition. Lawrence raced to 100 not out from 56 balls, hitting eight fours and five sixes as Marist piled on 194-4 batting first at Ongley Park in Sunday. The win put Marist into fourth place with one round of matches remaining this weekend, but they are out of the running. There is one round at 12pm on Saturday, with the final at 3.30pm. Unbeaten United still lead the competition and have already qualified for the final. Freyberg are second and Palmerston North Boys High School are third, and they play each other in the final round in a virtual semifinal.
“I’m glad we got over the 100 mark, a psychological advantage probably. But finals are weird things and we had runs on the board.” Mitchell was in the team last time Freyberg won the title, when he was straight out of school. He was full of praise for the last-wicket partnership between Ali Akhter and Finn Martin, who put on 36 runs, taking them from 71-9 to 108.
David Unwin/Stuff
Marist bowler Matt Wells steams in against Freyberg. Akhter made 29 from 36 balls at No 9 and Martin scored 5 from 21 balls at No 11 to give them something to bowl at. Mitchell was also pleased with the contribution of all-rounder Thomas Kuggeleijn, who scored a crucial 37 at No 4 in the first innings, then took four Marist wickets.