Happy holders: Hawke’s Bay lock the Hawke Cup up for winter

Jayden Lennox took 10 wickets in Hawke's Bay's win over South Canterbury.

Hawke’s Bay’s never had a problem winning the Hawke Cup.

It’s keeping it that’s proved a challenge.

This summer’s been a notable exception, though, as the side swept all before them.

South Canterbury became the latest challenger to be repelled, beaten by eight wickets at Nelson Park on Sunday.

Hawke’s Bay captain Angus Schaw says the province hasn’t retained the trophy through an entire season of defences since the 1960s, so the satisfaction at being able to keep it for the winter is immense.

“We’re up there with one of the great squads now from Hawke’s Bay,” Schaw said.

Schaw himself, with 101 in Hawke’s Bay’s first innings of 358, was among the standouts for the home side. Left-arm finger spinner Jayden Lennox was another, returning match figures of 10-113.

Lennox took 4-50 in South Canterbury’s first innings of 235, then 6-63 as the visitors were bowled out for 218 the second time around.

That left Hawke’s Bay needing 114 to maintain their status as New Zealand’s pre-eminent minor association side.

“To be honest, this is the pinnacle for a lot of our Hawke’s Bay players,” Lennox said.

“We’ve played a shedload of Hawke’s Bay cricket together and we’ve won the Hawke Cup a few times, but we’ve never held it consistently.

“We’ve prided ourselves on winning it off other teams, but I don’t remember holding it for more than one or two games in my time.

“The fact we’ve come up with a bit of a blueprint to hang on to it is seriously satisfying.”

That blueprint has seen Hawke’s Bay invariably asking the opposition to bat, then backing themselves to chase down whatever’s scored.

That’s resulted in a succession of first-innings wins this season, with outright victories, such as this one over South Canterbury, being rarities.

Toby Findlay, Jono Whitley and Bailey Wiggins all made important contributions with the bat in this match, while veteran medium-pacer Ben Stoyanoff bowled his heart out on a very flat Nelson Park pitch.