Only opener Matthew Boswell (27 from 54 balls) survived, joined by skipper Simon Badger (16) and then wicket-keeper Chris Sharrock (11), as Horowhenua-Kāpiti representative bowlers Carter Andrews, Martin Harrison, Michael Newell and Connor Beleski kept the pressure on.
Newell finally clipped Boswell’s pads in front to end his innings, and when Sharrock was caught off Harrison, it was the veteran pair of Robbie Power (17) and Brendon Walker (18) who saw their team into triple figures by the 27th over.
But the innings wouldn’t last much longer, as Beleski drew Power into an easy catch - Kāpiti’s fielders not dropping anything during the innings - and Cloete’s return to the crease signalled a rapid conclusion as he fired it at Walker for a high deflection to a catch, and then took last man Ryan Slight’s stumps in the 37th over.
For United, this was a depressing reoccurrence of an old story – just not batting well enough in the final – but the runs were on the board.
Going with the slower balls followed by a latter-over pace, Badger (2-20) trapped opener Daniel Franks with the third ball of the innings, while the game’s top scorer in Daniel Browne (32 from 89) stood his ground to get his team through the early pressure from Badger and Slight for 20-1 after seven overs.
Slight still knocked over Taine Halbert’s stumps, while Badger again laid the trap to get the LBW on fellow skipper Jayden Rose-Miles after less than a couple of overs at the crease – Badger bowling eight overs straight.
With Kāpiti nervous, United brought the field in and kept a man at slip even after bowling restrictions were lifted.
At 25-3, the leading hope in Cloete strode to the crease.
However, returning veteran Tom Lance (3-16, four maidens), soon had Cloete out to a slips catch and at 28-4, United sensed today could be the day.
The fielding got tighter as the in-form Power (3-19) joined Lance to have spinners going at each end – and with his second ball he picked up Brayden Meikle to a catch by Smith at point.
Lance soon removed Beleski to another slips catch to have Kāpiti in real trouble at 40-6, and then after a couple of near misses on catches, the next man fell as Benton feathered at a wider Power delivery and took a nick for Sharrock to snaffle.
Teenager Aiden Muir was introduced to keep the spin tandem going, and got a wicket in his first over to reduce Kāpiti to 62-8.
Kāpiti’s hopes were now resting entirely on Browne to carry his tail, but after hitting Lance to the boundary in his last over, the opener pushed at the ball and gave yet another snick to the slips.
At 70-9, the die was cast, and although last man Michael Newell showed some defiance, hitting Power to the boundary after his end change, he miscued a swing for Sharrock to take the spooned catch in front of the stumps and finally give United their inaugural Coastal Challenge Cup.
The relief was evident for Badger that his team had finally defied history, winning the Cup despite yet another poor batting effort.
“Just going back to some of the other finals, there’s one in particular we played out here against Paraparaumu and they got only 159 and we didn’t get there.
“So I think we knew it was possible, we would have probably liked to have got 170-190, but you make do with what you’ve got, and I couldn’t fault anyone in the bowling performance – that’s been us all season, so stoked.
“It’s a normal, Vic Park, end-of-March pitch, to be fair. It’s low and slow, turns a bit.
“It was always going to be hard batting second on it, so I haven’t got a bad thing to say – it was what we expected and we just played the conditions a bit better.”
The vast majority of the playing XI had been involved in 3-4 of the previous Coastal final losses – Walker all five of them – and the celebrations went long into the evening.
“We unfortunately might lose our team now, there might be a few retirements tonight, so we’ll see how we go – we can all retire happy now,” said Badger.
Results, March 23rd
Coastal Challenge Cup Final
Property Brokers United 123 (M Boswell 27, B Walker 18; T Cloete 4-26, Z Benton 2-21) bt Kāpiti Old Boys 82 (D Browne 32; T Lance 3-16, R Power 3-19, S Badger 2-20) by 41 runs.
Premier 2 40-Over Final
Whanganui High School 192 (N Burroughs 54, M Comrie 31, H Burroughs 24, C McKerras 23; D Rayner 4-9) bt Matt Burke Engineering Marton Saracens 184 by eight runs.
Premier 3 30-Over Final
Matt Burke Engineering Marton Saracens P3′s 131-7 (S Edwards 43, P Galpin 19; D Holly 2-13, F Edwards 2-24, P Bowman 2-34) lost to Kaitoke Knight Riders 134-4 (D Groube 47, D Holly 26no, Z Payne-Potaka 24; A Reynolds-Rowe 2-25) by six wickets.
