Pitch battles hard fought

HOWZAT: Calvin Ball (pictured) took five wickets in the win over Wanganui, while Jamie Holmes scored 83 runs.

Wairarapa had a narrow loss and an even more narrow win on the opening two days of play at the Chapple Cup inter-provincial cricket tournament in Hastings.

First up Wairarapa lost to Nelson by two wickets and then followed an enthralling match with Wanganui which saw Wairarapa secure the victory by a solitary run.

Wairarapa batted first against Nelson and were in early strife at 9-2. A 48-run partnership for the third wicket between Sean Jarvis (11) and Jamie Holmes (28) steadied the ship to some degree but then four more wickets fell in quick succession and at 94-6 they were again in deep trouble. However, the tail "wagged" sufficiently to get them through to a respectable 188.

Leading the way was skipper Seth Rance whose belligerent 42 came from 27 balls and included six fours and one six. Calvin Ball's 23 was also a valuable knock.

Rance again took a starring role when Nelson chased down their target with two wickets to spare after a dreadful start which saw them go from 1-1 to 1-2, 3-3 and 17-4. Rance finished with 4-20 from his 10 overs while Daniel Ingham took 2-53 and Ball 2-56. The mainstay of the Nelson recovery was Ross Edwards whose 81 came off 83 balls and included 9 fours and one six.

Wairarapa also batted first against Wanganui and thanks to a fine innings of 83 from vice-captain Jamie Holmes and a solid 63 from Paul Lyttle they reached a competitive 230.

Holmes faced 93 balls and struck nine fours and one six while Lyttle hit nine fours in a 77-ball stay.

Wanganui looked to be well on the way to victory at 146-4 but their situation changed dramatically when they then lost three wickets for only one run.

A gutsy last wicket partnership of 48 runs almost saved the day, however, coming to an end just one run short of levelling the scores.

Calvin Ball was the most successful of the Wairarapa bowlers, maintaining a good line and length and picking up 5-38 while Brock Price chimed in with 3-19.

Short scoreboards:-

Wairarapa 188 (Burling 4, Price 1, Jarvis 11, Holmes 28, Speers 9, Lyttle 15, Rance 42, Riesima 14, Ingham 1, Ball 23, Haxton 2 not out, extras 38; fall of wickets, 6, 9. 57, 60, 86, 94, 148, 151, 155, 188; O'Conner 10-3-35-1, Baxendine 9-0-24-2, Skeaping 10-1-32-4, Macquet 5-0-27-0, Grimes 2.3-0-28-1, McGowan 4-0-31-2) lost to Nelson 189-8 (Cooper 1, Cross 0, Hay 27, McGowan 1, Clarkson 11, Edwards 81, Macquet 16, Harden 14, Skeaping 22 not out, O'Conner 0 not out, extras 16; fall of wickets 1, 1, 2, 17, 61, 82, 139, 188; Rance 10-2-20-4, Inagham 10-0-53-2, Ball 10-0-56-2, Haxton 2-0-15-0, Hook-Sporry 7-1-30-0, Holmes 1.1-0-7-0) by two wickets.

Wairarapa 230 (Burling 0, Price 18, Jarvis 2, Holmes 83, Speers 13, Lyttle 63, Rance 1, Reisima 10, Ingham 3, Ball 12 not out, Haxton 9; extras 16; fall of wickets, 4, 10, 35,63, 183, 191, 203, 207, 207, 230; Hemi 9.1-2-39-4, Blundell 9-0-42-1, O'Leary 10-0-47-4, Slight 5-0-21-0, Fraser 6-1-32-0, Collier 8-0-39-1, Smith 1-0-5-0) beat Wanganui 229 ( McIlwraith 0, Smith 45, Collier 21, Fraser 62, Steward 3, Rayner 0, Inness 52 not out, Lock 5, Blundell 1, O'Leary 0, Hemi 8 16, extras 24 ; fall of wickets 2, 50, 126, 146, 147, 147, 176, 181, 229; Rance 10-1-34-1, Hook-Sporry 9-0-49-0, Ingham 10-1-47-1, Ball 10-1-38-5, Holmes 3-0-28-0, Price 5.5-0-19-3, Reisima 1-0-7-0) by one run.