Chad Law.
It must have been big bouncer to have felled Horowhenua-Kāpiti Bears cricket captain Chad Law.
The six-foot-seven-inch man mountain is ruled out of all cricket this wicket as he recovers from a nasty blow to the jaw in the Cave Cup final against Taranaki at Donnelly Park in Levin at the weekend.
Law was hit square on the chin under his helmet. With a stream of blood staining his white shirt a new colour of red, he took some time to gather his thoughts before a decision was made by the umpires that he should retire hurt.
The 33-year-old player-coach had been heroic the previous day with 90 not out against Whanganui and was poised to repeat the dose against Taranaki in their chase of 288 when he was struck early on in the innings.
Law was noticeably groggy and taken to hospital with concussion. He was advised to have a few days of rest.
"I'm a bit indisposed. I took a bad knock," he said.
It was a sombre end to a weekend of cricket for HK Bears as they capitulated to be all out for 94, with Matt Good the only batsman offering resistance with a gritty 48 - more than half the team total.
A highlight of the match was an innings of 80 for Taranaki from former international Tom Bruce, and a 74 from Adam Keene.
But it was a different story for HK Bears the previous day against Whanganui, where the home side put in a stunning performance to chase down 223 in the 43rd over of the 50 over match and make the final of the Cave Cup.
First day winners went on to compete for the Chapple Cup, while the remainder were still in the running for the Cave Cup.
The match signalled the maiden first class century for Dylan Reder with 101. He and Law put on a brilliant second-wicket partnership of 189 runs to put the results beyond doubt.
Both Reder and Law showed guts to hold down their end after losing opener Dion Sanson early in the innings.
Despite the first day loss to eventual winners Nelson, and the disappointment of coming up short against Taranaki on the last day, there were morsels of encouragement for the HK Bears for the rest of the season.
HK Bears manager Gary O'Brien said the tournament had to be put into context. His was an extremely young side up against experienced first-class cricketers, including internationals and Central Districts representatives.
HK had no CD representatives in their side and were made up mostly of players aged in their teens or early 20s. Debutantes Jaedyn Dawson, Blake De Burgh and Thomas Harris are all still teenagers and acquitted themselves well.
Dawson picked up a wicket and toiled hard, Harris ended with 3-31 against Whanganui, De Burgh looked at home when given his chance with the bat, while Zack Benton was a bowler of real promise.
O'Brien said despite not having the depth and big name players of some of the bigger associations, his team were competitive and would grow with every experience.
"The guys can be proud. They should be very happy with the way they played. They earnt the right to be there in the [Cave Cup] final," he said.
Both the Chapple Cup and the Cave Cup finals of the three-day Central Districts tournament were held at Donnelly Park in Levin on the final day for the first time in history, in what was a coup for local groundsmen and organisers.
It also gave local cricket fans a rare chance to watch top-class cricket on their home patch. All eight Central Districts associations were involved - Taranaki, Hawke's Bay, Manawatū, Wairarapa, Nelson, Whanganui, Marlborough, Manawatū and HK Bears.
Nelson won the Chapple Cup beating Hawke's Bay in the final, batting first and reaching 205-8. Hawkes Bay were all out for 174 after 35 overs.
Horowhenua-Kāpiti's weekend scorecards:
Horowhenua Kapiti Bears 193/10 (50.0 overs) v Nelson 195/5 (41.0 overs).
Nelson won by 5 wickets.
Horowhenua-Kāpiti
Jamie Pinfold c Ollie Jones-Allen b Josh Newport 0
Chad Law c Josh Clarkson b Ronan Restieaux 14
Dion Sanson c Greg Hay b Josh Newport 28
Matthew Good c Josh Clarkson b FJM Murray 25
Bailey Te Tomo b TAD Zohrab 28
D Reder b FJM Murray 36
CA Andrews c Greg Hay b Harsh Visalia 10
Fraser Bartholomew run out (Ronan Restieaux) 31
Jaedyn Dawson c Ronan Restieaux b FJM Murray 1
Zack Benton not out 6
Xitij Sakhalkar run out (Josh Newport) 0
Extras (w 8, nb 2, b 3, lb 1) 14
Total (10 wickets; 50.0 overs) 193 All Out 3.86 RPO
Nelson bowling
Josh Newport 9 0 51 2. Josh Clarkson 100 380. Ronan Restieaux 3 0 27 1. TAD Zohrab10 231 1. FJM Murray 100 273. Harsh Visalia 8 1 15 1.
Nelson
TAD Zohrab c Jamie Pinfold b Fraser Bartholomew 6
Finn Raxworthy lbw b CA Andrews 0
Greg Hay c Jamie Pinfold b Fraser Bartholomew 13
Harsh Visalia c Dion Sanson b Jaedyn Dawson 54
Josh Clarkson c Dion Sanson b Fraser Bartholomew66
Tom Cross not out 30
Josh Simpson not out 18
Extras (w 7, lb 1) 8
Total (5 wickets; 41.0 overs) 195 4.76 RPO
Horowhenua-Kāpiti
Fraser Bartholomew 10 3 40 3. CA Andrews 10 0 43 1. Zack Benton 5 1 21 0. Thomas Harris 5 026 0. Xitij Sakhalkar5 0 29 0. Jaedyn Dawson 6 0 35 1.
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Whanganui 223/7 v Horowhenua Kapiti Bears 224/2 (43.1 overs)
Horowhenua Kapiti CA, HMC HK Bears - Won by 8 wickets
WHANGANUI
Sam Sheriff lbw b Zack Benton 87
Max Carroll b Zack Benton 2
Mark Fraser lbw b Dion Sanson27
Ben Smith c Jamie Pinfold b Thomas Harris 19
Matthew Simes not out 38
Hadleigh O'leary b Thomas Harris 7
Ross Kinnerleyrun out (Jamie Pinfold) 1
Chris Sharrockc D Reder b Thomas Harris 1
Fraser Kinnearly not out 17
Extras (w 18, nb 1, b 2, lb 3) 24
Total (7 wickets; 50.0 overs) 223 4.46 RPO
Did not bat: Hunter Morrison, John Beale, Connor O'Leary, J Clark
Horowhenua-Kāpiti Bowling
Fraser Bartholomew 10 0 56 0. Zack Benton 70 342. Xitij Sakhalkar 8 0 34 0. Jaedyn Dawson 3 0 110. Dion Sanson5 0 13 1 2.60. D Reder 7 0 390. Thomas Harris 10 1 313.
Horowhenua-Kāpiti
Chad Law not out 90
Dion Sanson lbw b Connor O'Leary 12
D Reder c Matthew Simes b Ross Kinnerley 101
Blake de Burgh not out 2
Total (2 wickets; 43.1 overs) 224 5.19 RPO
Whanganui Bowling
Ross Kinnerley 9.1 1 42 1. Connor O'Leary 7.00 441. Fraser Kinnearly 3 0 12 0. Hadleigh O'leary 2 0 21 0. Hunter Morrison 40 400. J Clark 10 1 32 0. Ben Smith 4 0 21 0. Chris Sharrock 4 0 11 0.
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CAVE CUP FINAL
Taranaki 288/9 50 overs Horowhenua Kapiti Bears 94/10 22.3 overs
Taranaki won by 194 runs
Taranaki
DS Robinson run out (Matthew Good *) 41
Sebastian Lauderdale-Smith c Thomas Harris b Zack Benton 3
LCJ Muggeridge c Jamie Pinfold b Zack Benton 54
T Bruce c Bailey Te Tomo b Xitij Sakhalkar 80
A Keene c Dion Sanson b D Reder 74
Ryan Watson b Fraser Bartholomew 1
ML Thomas c Dion Sanson b D Reder 8
BF Frewin lbw b Thomas Harris 1
JTRG Gard b Thomas Harris 0
PC Barraclough not out 4
Daniel Bernett not out 4
Extras (w 16, lb 2) 18
Total (9 wickets; 50.0 overs) 288 5.76 RPO
Did not bat: EK Keller
Bowling
Fraser Bartholomew 10.00 541. Zack Benton10 0 59 2. Xitij Sakhalkar 10 2 55 1. Jaedyn Dawson 6 0 21 0. Thomas Harris 10 0 58 2. D Reder 4 39 2.
Horowhenua-Kāpiti Bears
Dion Sanson c T Bruce b EK Keller0
Chad Law retired hurt 0
D Reder c A Keene b EK Keller 4
Matthew Good c PC Barraclough b ML Thomas 48
Bailey Te Tomoc DS Robinson b Ryan Watson0
Jamie Pinfold b Ryan Watson 0
Blake de Burghc ML Thomas b BF Frewin8
Fraser Bartholomew not out 19
Zack Benton c Ryan Watson b ML Thomas 4
Xitij Sakhalkar b Daniel Bernett 0
Jaedyn Dawsonc Sebastian Lauderdale-Smith b ML Thomas 2
Thomas Harris c BF Frewin b JTRG Gard 0
Extras (w 5, lb 4) 9
Total (10 wickets; 22.3 overs) 94 4.18 RPO
Taranaki Bowling
EK Keller 4 0 32 2. Ryan Watson 5 2 13 2. BF Frewin 4 1 23 1. ML Thomas 6.01 153. Daniel Bernett 3 0 7 1 2.33. JTRG Gard 0.3 0 0 1
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