Seth Rance (no cap) put CD Stags' first victory in Ford Trophy yesterday above his milestone 50 wickets in the one-day competition. PHOTO/FILE
Seth Rance (no cap) put CD Stags' first victory in Ford Trophy yesterday above his milestone 50 wickets in the one-day competition. PHOTO/FILE
Seth Rance got his milestone 50th wicket and also showed his batting prowess with 32 runs but nothing gave him more satisfaction than the Central Districts Stags claiming their first one-day victory of the season yesterday.
"Absolutely. That's the main thing because you go to try to contribute so thatthe team wins," said Rance after CD pulled off a courageous two-wicket victory over the Northern Districts Knights at Seddon Park, Hamilton, last night.
The round-three, rain-affected limited-overs match was reduced to 33 overs with defending champions CD having to chase down 200, with the DL Method kicking in, after ND posted 266/6 in 50 overs.
They did it in style with No7 Joshua Clarkson unbeaten on 48 from 24 balls, including three each of fours and sixes, after opener Ben Smith and No3 Jesse Ryder scored 36 and 31, respectively.
"We're under way now. It wouldn't have been the greatest atmosphere with rain so to pull it back like that against all odds, especially with that Duckworth Lewis that made us change a hell of a lot, so we did well," he said, revealing CD needed nine an over in the last 10 overs of the chase so skipper William Young and his troops want to keep that feeling going in the quest for a third consecutive crown.
Rance didn't give much thought to his milestone but felt it was an accomplishment in a format he's enjoyed playing for years.
"To get 50 wickets is a nice feeling so when I reflect on it tomorrow it'll probably sink in a little more," said the 29-year-old seamer from Wairarapa who started his CD age-group respresentaive years as a top-order batsman before mutating into a seamer after realising he could be good at bowling in the backyard of his home.
"He's scored in three games and he did that in the twenty20s so he's very talented and, in my mind, he's going to play at the higher level very, very soon."
