Pressure on table toppers

Round four of the Borton Cup should produce some exciting cricket.

Table toppers Union will have their work cut out against Waitaki Boys', Oamaru will host St Kevin's and Albion will be taking on Valley at Awamoa Park.

Union showed why they've dominated the tournament in recent years last Saturday with a classy display, the holders romped to a 98-run victory over Valley at King George Park.

Across town WBHS notched their first win of the campaign by 27 runs in a slugfest with Oamaru. The clash saw a total of 529 runs scored whilst SKC picked up their first win with an upset four-wicket win over Albion.

Union will be without Jeremiah Shields for tomorrow's game. Shields will be missed after forging an impressive partnership with Sean Conlan last week scoring 44 each.

Paul Johnston, who was bowled out for a duck in his last outing, is also unavailable for the Blues.

Skipper Thomas Shields remained diplomatic over his side's chances, and is well aware of the threat Stephan Grobler poses to his team's undefeated record.

"It's going to be tough, they're (WBHS) going strong, especially with Stephan (Grobler) getting a 150 last week. We're going to do our best and hopefully get the win," he said.

WBHS will get a boost with the return of captain Lachie Kingan but Stephan Grobler knows his team will be up against it.

"They've been champions four years in a row so it'll be tough. We've got to bat well, we're always confident but we'll have to play some very good cricket," he said.

Oamaru captain Matt Murphy said his team must up their performance from last week, the Choccos are sitting bottom of the points table and will be looking for their first win but will be missing some influential players for the clash.

"We're just hoping to have a good game, we're down on a few players this week, Gary Mahuika and Josh Gutsell can't make it. We need to improve on our fielding from last week, we gave too much away against Waitaki Boys'," he said.