Rance revels in superb all-round performance

Gary Caffell
A superb all-round performance by Seth Rance was a major factor in Wairarapa taking first innings points from Nelson in their drawn Hawke Cup elimination senior men's cricket match played at Queen Elizabeth Park Oval in Masterton on Friday and Saturday.
Rance was a picture of controlled aggression as he pounded a steady but hardly threatening Nelson attack for 69 runs when Wairarapa batted first and reached a respectable 276. He was generally content to play the good ball on its merits but anything loose was given the treatment. His knock was studded with boundaries, including three big sixes.
Skipper Sam Curtis matched Rance's score of 69 and while he was not as punishing as him in his stroke making he was also quick to take toll on deliveries which were off line. It was a gutsy effort by Curtis who is still being troubled by the thumb injury received against Hawke's Bay last weekend. "It was a bit sore at times, probably more after I got out than while I was actually batting," he said. "It's a nuisance but nothing more than that."
Also showing excellent resolve was Simon Butler, who had made his debut for the province against Hawkes Bay. He had the good fortune to be dropped early in his innings but there was a lot to admire about the sensible manner in which he got through to 44 before being dismissed. And after two solid knocks against Hawke's Bay Brad Edwards maintained his consistency with a typically gritty 31. Curtis said the Wairarapa camp was "pretty happy" with their first innings although they had been aiming for something in the region of 350 on what was a relatively placid pitch. "We probably should have got more but we knew it was still a handy enough total if we bowled well," he said.
Again Rance played a leading hand as Nelson's first innings saw wickets fall at regular intervals and they were all out for just 125. Rance took five scalps in all and impressed with the sustained fire with which he bowled.
Six of the Nelson wickets to fall were from lbw decisions, a measure of the accuracy of the Wairarapa attack with Dean van Deventer, Robin James and Paul Bracewell all giving Rance excellent support.
The only Nelson batsman to look comfortable in their first innings was Mark Gardiner who scored 39 and he and opener BJ Barnett were the trump cards when their side was asked to follow on.
Gardiner scored 69 and Barnett 100 not out as Nelson made 246-3 in their innings before stumps were drawn. Barnett was dropped at least three times but his concentration seldom wavered while Gardiner by contrast played some impressively crisp shots and always looked to have matters under control.
Wairarapa used seven bowlers with youngster Daniel Ingham being the best of them in taking 2-42 in an accurate 19-3 overs.
Curtis was quick to praise Nelson for avoiding outright defeat but he conceded they had been helped by some "pretty average" play in the field. "We had to make every chance count and we didn't, that was the disappointment for us," he said.
At the same time, however, Curtis was happy that the points haul from the match ended up seven to one in Wairarapa's favour and kept them in contention to take the overall honours in their zone.
Scoreboard:
WAIRARAPA 276 (Curtis 69, Edwards 31, Treseder 0, Butler 44, Cameron 18, Anderson 0, James 0, Rance 69, Didsbury 3, van Deventer 23 not out, Bracewell 2, extras 18; Rae 2-36, Beaumont 2-39); NELSON 125 (Wraight 17, Barnett 9, Gardiner 39, Cederman 6, Kramer 0, McLean 1, Beaumount 1, Paki Paki 7, Binnie 9, Younghusband 23 not out, Rae 4; extras 8; Rance 5-47, van Deventer 3-28, Bracewell 1-3, Edwards 1-10, James 0-20, Ingham 0-10) and 246-3 (Wraight 21, Barnett 100 not out, Gardiner 64, Cederman 2, Kramer 34 not out; extras 24; Rancde 0-40, van Deventer 0-26, James 1-20, Ingham 2-41, Bracewell 0-47, Edwards 0-16, Cameron 0-16).
Chapple Cup
Nelson turned the tables on Wairarapa in the Chapple Cup limited-overs match at the Park Oval yesterday, winning by three wickets.
Wairarapa batted first and would have been disappointed to do no better than 214-8 on a wicket which gave the bowlers little assistance.
Opener Brad Edwards was about the only Wairarapa batsman prepared to build an innings and it was a grave injustice to his application that he should be clean bowled just two runs short of his century. His 98 included 11 fours, most of them struck powerfully along the ground.
Henry Cameron was promoted to open the innings with Cameron and smashed four fours and a six in his whirlwind 26, Alex Treseder hit four boundaries in his 20 and Dean van Deventer three fours in his unbeaten 25.
It was in the middle order where Wairarapa failed to make the necessary impact with free scorers in Sam Curtis, Robbie Anderson, Robin James and Seth Rance all going cheaply. From being well enough placed at 163-6 they were quickly struggling at 175-7.
Rathkeale College's van Deventer, in what was his last game for Wairarapa before heading overseas, had the most success with the ball when Nelson reached their target with seven wickets down. He took 3-44 from his 10 overs. Fellow quickie Seth Rance chimed in with 2-31 from eight overs and spinner Paul Bracewell took 1-32.
SCOREBOARD: Wairarapa 214-8 (Cameron 26, Edwards, 98, Treseder 20, Curtis 3, Butler 19, Anderson 0, James 2, Rance 3, van Deventer 25 not out, Buchanan 2 not out, extras 13; Binnie 4-41, Younghusband 2-26) Nelson 215-7 (Wraight 7, Barnett 56, Gardiner 33, Cederman 32, Kramer 32 not out, McLean 10, Paki Paki 15, Beaumont 0, Binne 1 not out, extras 24; Rance 2-31, van Deventer 3-44, Buchanan 0-37, Bracewell 1-32, Edwards 0-42, James 0-14).
Meanwhile Rathkeale College beat Wairarapa College by four wickets in their Umpires Cup senior men's inter-club match at Wairarapa College on Saturday. SCOREBOARD: Wairarapa College 159 (Chris Wenden 44, Leighton Calkin 32; Jamie Holmes 3-20, Alec Morrison 3-11, Cole Eru 2-17) lost to Rathkeale College 160-6 (Harry Greenwood 63 not out, Cole Eru 37; Quentin McKenna 2-29, Oliver Burt 2-29).
There was no play in the other Umpires Cup match between Flight Centre Lansdowne and Greytown at Greytown because of a damp pitch.