An impressive all-round performance by Jaco Oosthuizen was not enough to spur Wairarapa to victory in their vital Hawke Cup qualifying cricket match with
Horowhenua-Kapiti at Queen Elizabeth Park in Masterton over the weekend.
Oosthuizen, a South African who plays at club level for the Bracewell Academy XI, starred with bat and ball but Wairarapa, needing an outright win to keep hopes of a Cup challenge alive, were always on the back foot after trailing on the first innings by a massive 139 runs.
It was captain John Peters, fresh from a century the previous weekend, and Oosthuizen who dominated the scoring action when Wairarapa took first strike on a batter-friendly pitch.
Peters scored 70 and Oosthuizen 68 but they were the only contributors of any note in an innings which went from the comfort of 133-2 to be all over at 237.
The Horowhenua-Kapiti attack was steady with C.Turkington disrupting the middle order in taking 4-42 and S.Cope finishing with 2-32.
Whereas Wairarapa had adopted an attacking stance in their batting effort Horowhenua-Kapiti were prepared to doddle along in their first innings with the 31 overs they faced before stumps on the first day producing just 71 runs for the loss of one wicket.
Unfortunately for Wairarapa their bowlers also struggled yesterday to make any impression with five of the Horowhenua-Kapiti batsmen getting themselves past the 50 mark. Top scorer was Hayden Morgan with 95, followed by Mark Fox 62, Jeremy Simpson 63, Ben Rowney 57 and Sam Cameron 51
By the time Horowhenua-Kapiti declared their first innings closed at 378-9 any prospects of a Wairarapa success were well and truly out the window.
Oosthuizen was the only Wairarapa bowler to emerge with credit. He maintained a steady line and length and finished with 6-106.
Batting a second time Wairarapa again failed to make much impact against the accurate Hoowhenua-Kapiti attack but they did manage to avoid an outright loss. Cameron Stone, a new addition to the staff at Wairarapa College, and Oosthuizen were the only players to get amongst the runs on that occasion.
On the club scene the Academy XI had a 78-run win over Red Star in their Umpires Cup match.
Batting first at the Pugh Sportsbowl, the academy team made the most of a lightning fast outfield in reaching 268-9. Top scorers were Williams 72 and Stebbings 66 while bowling for Stars Moorcock took 3-52 and Wootton 3-26.
Red Star made 190 in reply with Stonely making 35 and Watt 33 not out. Jackson with 4-28 and Dorean with 2-15 were the best of the academy bowlers.
Good effort, but not enough for Wairarapa
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