Cricket: Whanganui sides seek to bring Coastal Challenge Cup home

Whanganui United and Whanganui Marist will do battle at Victoria Park to kick off the Coastal Cup Challenge.

Can one of Whanganui’s two powerhouse clubs finally break the championship run of the Horowhenua-Kāpiti sides to bring the Coastal Challenge Cup home for the first time in five summers?

That is the question Property Brokers United and Wanganui Vet Services Marist have to answer, and only one of them can get momentum coming out of the chute as their derby starts the inter-district competition at Tasman Tanning (Victoria) Park on Saturday.

The 50-over coastal tournament was introduced in 2015-16 to give the top clubs of Whanganui and Horowhenua-Kāpiti a more robust and competitive one-day competition, then expanded in 2018-19 to include Wairarapa clubs, of which only Burger King Red Star remains.

Levin Old Boys are two-time defending champions, having won the cup a record-tying three times alongside their local Horowhenua-Kāpiti rivals Roofbox Paraparaumu.

Paraparaumu have made the grand final five times in eight tournaments, a record they share with Whanganui United, although for the home side that statistic is becoming infamous.

Having had a glorious history of winning titles, including the last two Cricket Whanganui Premier 1 45-over crowns, United have yet to claim the elusive Coastal cup.

This included last year’s final against Levin, who had comfortably beaten Marist at home by five wickets in the semifinal and came to Victoria Park to again deny United the silverware with an 81-run victory.

As for Marist, they will want to go one game better than last year’s second vs third away semifinal, having won the Coastal Challenge in their only trip to the championship game in 2018-19.

It will be interesting to see who “shows up on the day” for United and Marist to help them earn bragging rights in this latest derby clash.

One could argue the question of current supremacy was split during the Premier 1 competition.

Marist secured an impressive 36-run victory in a high-scoring match on the artificial turf at Springvale Park on November 4, in a game where both sides had brought in some young future prospects from their feeder schools – Whanganui High for United and Collegiate for Marist.

However, United had the last laugh as they still qualified ahead of Marist for the final on net run rate, and picked up a narrow two-wicket win over the Collegiate 1st XI, who had those same prospect players.

Of the 12-man Riverview Motel Whanganui squad who played the last Furlong Cup match against Pay Excellence Hawke’s Bay at Victoria Park last Saturday, exactly five each come from these two clubs.

Joel Clark, Nick Harding, Shaun O’Leary, Connor O’Leary and Ross Kinnerley were the Marist contingent, while Greg Smith, Carter Hobbs, Daniel Burgess, Chris Sharrock and James Woodford are the United men.

In the Horowhenua-Kāpiti derbies, Levin get their title defence under way against last year’s other semifinalist in Weraroa CC at Donnelly Park.

Kāpiti Old Boys will host Paraparaumu at the Paraparaumu Domain.

Games start at midday with a provision to begin at 11am by agreement.

Draw for January 20, Coastal Challenge Cup 50-over

Wanganui Vet Services Marist vs Property Brokers United

Kāpiti Old Boys vs Roofbox Paraparaumu

Levin Old Boys vs Weraroa CC

Bye: Burger King Red Star