Wairarapa hit back to beat Wanganui

STAR BATSMAN: Skipper Henry Cameron fired a hard-hitting half-century against Nelson.

THE OPENING two days of the Chapple Cup cricket tournament at Nelson Park, Hastings brought Wairarapa a frustrating loss to Nelson then a comprehensive win over Wanganui.

Wairarapa had Nelson on the ropes on Friday but failed to deliver the knockout punch and Nelson took the spoils by 13 runs.

Nelson batted first and their innings was pretty much in tatters when, after 20 overs, they had lost seven wickets for just 48 runs. At that stage, even reaching three figures looked pretty much mission impossible. However, the tailenders had other ideas and, with some sensible batting, they saw them through to 168, hardly a huge total for Wairarapa to chase but a whole lot better than it might have been.

Wairarapa used eight bowlers in all and it was Brock Price who did the most damage, finishing with an impressive 3 for 13 from his eight overs. Seth Rance was typically economical in taking 2 for 26 from his 10 overs while Gordon Reisima snared 2 for 30 from six overs.

Skipper Henry Cameron, batting lower in the order than usual because of a hand injury suffered in the field, provided the highlight of what was a disappointing Wairarapa batting effort. He came in at No 8 and his 59 came from 38 balls and included six fours and three sixes. Robbie Speers made 32 and "Mr Extras" with 18 was the third top scorer. Former Black Cap Jesse Ryder was clean-bowled first ball for a duck and the other import, Palmerston North Boys' High opener Mason Hughes, made 10.

Scoreboard:

NELSON 168 (Cross 3, Kain 1, Hay 19, Clarkson 15, McGowan 0, Harden 3, Macquet 0, O'Connor 37, Routhan 53 not out, Murray 12, Baxendine 2; extras 21;

Fall: 1, 6, 39, 40, 44, 46, 48, 116, 163, 166; Rance 10 - 0 - 26 - 2, Hook - Sporry 10 - 2 - 35 - 1, Ryder 5 - 1 - 16 - 0, Price 8 - 1 - 13 - 3, Fahey 1 - 0 - 3 - 1, MacDonald 4 - 0 - 28 - 0, Speers 3 - 0 - 9 - 0, Reisima 6 - 1 - 30 - 2) beat WAIRARAPA 155 (Hughes 10, Price 0, Speers 32, Lyttle 11, Ryder 0, Rance 8, Reisima 14, Cameron 59, Elliott 0, Hook-Sporry 2, Fahey 1 not out; extras 18;

Fall: 2, 35, 51, 51, 62, 85, 85, 85, 107, 155; Baxendine 6 - 0 - 16 - 0, Ingham 3 - 12 - 1, Clarkson 8 - 1 - 51 - 2, O'Connor 8 - 1 - 63 - 6, Routhon 3 - 1 - 4 - 0, Kain 1 - 0, 2 - 0, Murray 0.5 - 0 - 3 - 1) by 13 runs.

Wairarapa took on Wanganui on Saturday and a much more consistent batting effort paved the way for their 95-run victory. Opener Mason Hughes top scored with 90, made from 107 balls and including 10 fours and one six, while other handy contributions came from Paul Lyttle (66 from 69 balls with eight fours and one six), Jesse Ryder (35 runs from 23 balls including four fours and two sixes), Seth Rance (40 from 23 balls including three fours and three sixes) and Gordon Reisima (45 runs from 39 balls with six fours and two sixes).The third-wicket partnership between Hughes and Lyttle was worth 148 runs.

At 14 for 3 Wanganui were in deep strife early in their reply and, while there were a couple of handy partnerships later, they never looked like making a decent battle of it.

Wairarapa again used eight bowlers with Henry Cameron most successful, taking 4 for 53 from 9.5 overs.

Scoreboard:

WAIRARAPA 332 (Hughes 90, Price 0, Speers 7, Lyttle 66, Ryder 35, Cameron 0, Rance 40, Reisima 45, Elliott 14, Hook - Sporry 7, Fahey 0 not out; extras 28;

Fall: 1, 14, 162, 189, 206, 230, 285, 312, 328, 332; Slight 10 - 1 - 59 - 2, Bartels 7 - 0 - 52 - 1, Rayner 10 - 0 - 51 - 1, Harding 8.2 - 0 - 68 - 3, O'Leary 10 - 2 - 59 - 2, McIlwraith 4 - 0 - 33 - 0) beat WANGANUI 237 - 9 (Lock 8, Inness 2, Smith 23, McIlrwaith 1, Fraser retired hurt 62, Rayner 11, N.Harding 2, Sharrock 32, H.Harding 34, O'Leary 31 not out, Bartels 2; extras 29;

Fall: 7, 12, 14, 71, 85, 87, 159, 162, 233, 237; Rance 9 - 0 - 29 - 1, Hook - Sporry 8 - 2 - 32 - 2, Macdonald 2 - 0 - 18 - 1, Fahey 2 - 0 - 14 - 0, Cameron 9.5 - 0 - 53 - 4, Reisima 7 - 0 - 49 - 1, Price 4 - 1 - 22 - 0, Speers 2 - 0 - 12 - 0) by 95 runs.