Classy pair pave the way

The big guns fired on all cylinders when Wairarapa scored a 95-run win over Wanganui in their Cave Cup senior men's representative cricket match in Hawke's Bay on Saturday.

Skipper Greg Todd, now contracted to the Central Districts Stags after previous first-class stints with Otago and Auckland, and Peter Borren, the current Netherlands captain and former New Zealand under-19 squad member, took the limelight with bat and ball.

They were the mainstays of the Wairarapa innings which ended at a healthy 289-9, Todd coming in at No 5 and being 90 not-out and Borren reaching 62 batting at six.

Wairarapa selector-coach Mark Brown said the most impressive feature of Todd's knock was the manner in which he paced himself with the focus being on playing each ball on its merits.

Borren, on the other hand, showed his experience at the one-day game by playing a number of inventive shots, many of which saw the ball racing to the boundary.

"He himself thought he was still a bit rusty but, quite honestly, some of the shots he played you see very seldom at this level," Brown said of Borren, who was still introducing himself to his Wairarapa teammates on match day.

The other notable batting effort for Wairarapa came from Jamie Holmes who opened the innings and got through to 49 with a good mix of patience and aggression.

Wanganui never really looked a chance to overhaul the Wairarapa total and were finally all out for 194. Again it was Todd who led the way by taking 3-44 with his medium pacers and Borren also impressed and continually had the batsmen guessing with his ability to vary his pace and length. Opening bowler Dean Van Deventer also turned in a solid effort.

Wairarapa's win took them through to the Cave Cup final against Marlborough, who beat Horowhenua-Kapiti in the other preliminary round fixture.