Rance provides ideal end to Chapple Cup match

Two huge sixes by all-rounder Seth Rance provided the ideal ending to Wairarapa's six-wicket win over Horowhenua-Kapiti in their Chapple Cup one-day senior men's cricket match played at Levin on Sunday.
Rance came to the wicket with Wairarapa well on the way to securing the 166 runs required for victory in a match shortened to 40 overs by overnight rain and he was typically belligerent, smashing 21 runs off just nine balls. It was Wairarapa's first win in this season's Chapple Cup series and as has become the norm their leading run scorers were Brad Edwards, skipper Sam Curtis and Rance. Edwards made 46 on this occasion while Curtis was 53 not out. Victory was achieved with five overs to spare. Earlier Horowhenua-Kapiti had been dismissed for 165 and here too Edwards played a prominent role, taking 2-19 from his eight overs Rance also picked up two wickets as did Dane Buchanan. while Mark Scully claimed his first victim in Wairarapa colours. The fielding effort from Wairarapa was their best of the season with a number of good catches being taken.
The previous two days had seen Wairarapa and Horowhenua-Kapiti draw their Hawke Cup elimination match with Wairarapa taking the seven points for a first innings lead. That left Wairarapa equal at the top of the zone two points table with Hawke's Bay but the latter won the right to challenge holders Hamilton for the Hawke Cup this coming weekend on a countback.
Wairarapa captain Sam Curtis was "hugely disappointed" that Horowhenua-Kapiti were not prepared to make a declaration in their second innings which would have given both teams the chance of an outright win.
"There was plenty of time available for them to set up a decent run chase but they were just not interested, it was like they had settled for a draw right from the word go," Curtis said. Making the Horowhenua-Kapiti attitude even more difficult to understand for Curtis was that with Wairarapa needing an outright win to earn a Hawke Cup challenge they would have gone for whatever target they were set no matter how many wickets were lost.
"We would have been prepared to lose and give them eight points but they were happy with one & how unreal is that?" he said.
Curtis admits his decision to have his team face one over before stumps were drawn rather than call the game off early was borne out of frustration.
"I thought what the hell if they weren't prepared to make a game of it then they could get changed out of their tracksuits and go out in the field again," he said. "I was pretty hacked off with them, and that's putting it mildly!"
Curtis admits that on a player-for-player basis Wairarapa probably didn't have the depth of most of the teams which opposed them in Hawke Cup play this season but in terms of character and resolve they had been right up with the best of them.
"We played some really gutsy, ballsy cricket," he said. " It wasn't perfect by a long way but we never gave up fighting, that was the main thing."
Curtis is unsure just how many of this season's Wairarapa squad will be missing next year but he said there were definite question marks over the availability of at least four & Brad Edwards, Henry Cameron, Robbie Anderson and Simon Butler.