Challenge Match - Zone 3 recheduled match from 2021/22 season
[Holder] Hawke's Bay lost to [Challenger] Canterbury Country by an innings and 29 runs
Canterbury Country will host the next Challenge against 2021/22 Zone 4 qualifier Southland
Nelson Park, Napier
Friday 4 to Sunday 6 November 2022
DAY THREE
Already firmly on the back foot, disaster struck yet again for Hawke's Bay whose slim hopes of retaining the Cup quickly evaporated.
At 88/9 in just the 39th over of the second innings, tailenders Jayden Lennox and Ben Stoyanoff tried to stave off the last wicket required to put the Hawke Cup on a plane to Christchurch, and on to Rangiora.
Hawke's Bay had begun the fateful last day at 15 for no loss in their second innings, and now faced being dismissed inside the first session.
Zak Foulkes (4-28) had got the red wrecking ball rolling, removing Jono Whitley in his second over of the morning. He had fellow Hawke's Bay opener Jack Boyle dismissed off his next.
With the top sliced off, Canterbury Country went to town.
Foulkes quickly had his third at 46/3. Will Williams had meanwhile been in support at the other end and decided he would like some victims, as well.
The tall paceman struck twice in the space of three balls in the 22nd over to send Hawke's Bay skipper Angus Schaw and Brett Johnson both walking back to the pavilion.
A handful of overs later, Jesse Frew came in and removed first-class rep Will Clark, and Hawke's Bay were all but black and white toast.
Canterbury Country went on to win by an innings and 29 runs, after Lennox became the third of spinner Blake Coburn's victims (3-19 off 5.5) in the lower order.
After two winters in Hawke's Bay, the precious silverware was finally on the road again.
DAY TWO
Is the Hawke Cup about to change hands at last?
Canterbury Country continued the grind through the second afternoon to ensure an advantage over the hosts, who now need an outright to hold on to their precious.
Canterbury Country inched into the crucial first-innings lead on the morning session, and took that lead to 122 runs before Hawke's Bay dismissed them for 219, after 123.2 long overs.
The wickets were shared for the hosts, Stags left-arm spinner Jayden Lennox (3-37) and first-class paceman Liam Dudding (3-40) getting rewards, but all the while Canterbury Country chipped away with the bat.
Dutch international Tim Gruitjers and Jesse Frew (son of former WHITE FERN Lisa Astle and Canterbury rep Robbie Frew) both top-scored with just 36 but it was accumulation that added up to an effective position for the team, a string of middle to late order partnerships wearing down the Bay attack.
By stumps, the hosts were 15 without loss in their second innings, now needing to pick up the pace substantially if they are to have any remaining hope in the game.
DAY ONE
Fourteen wickets fell on Day One at sunny Nelson Park as the defenders found themselves under the pump early against a strong Canterbury Country side looking to relieve them of the Hawke Cup.
The historic trophy had sat in the pavilion at Nelson Park for two consecutive winters, and this was an overdue assignment from Canterbury Country - who had been all set to challenge Hawke's Bay earlier in the year before the Omicron outbreak saw the 2021/22 Zone 3 and Zone 4 challenges postponed until now, before Christmas in the following season.
Now it was game on.
Canterbury Captain Sam Chamberlain won the toss and sent in Hawke's Bay, the local side containing one of his former Canterbury Country colleagues in Jack Boyle.
Boyle would be one of the Bay's top scorers on Hawke Cup debut in his new colours, but that score would be just 22. The hosts' batting lacked its usual solidity. Boyle battled for more than an hour at the top, partners disappearing at the other end as the holders found themselves 23/2.
By lunch, that had spiralled to 56/5 and Boyle was back in the pavilion as well. Canterbury rep Zak Foulkes had struck twice in the 27th over to really rock Hawke's Bay back.
It was Foulkes's second spell and a productive one, after fellow opening bowler Will Williams and Foulkes (2-23) had both gone wicketless in their opening spells of the morning.
Williams was a trump card in the Canterbury Country attack - the former Canterbury spearhead now representing Lancashire as a local player in County Cricket, and no longer available to Canterbury in the concurrent Plunket Shield.
It was inevitable that Williams (2-30) would have an influence, and he eventually picked up two wickets to stop Hawke's Bay gaining any traction - just as Scott Schaw, brother of Hawke's Bay captain Angus, was poised to overtake Boyle's score.
Jesse Frew finished with 3-19 while Sam Chamberlain, who had made the initial breakthrough, also picked up a brace as Hawke's Bay found themselves rolled for 97 in 61 overs.
By stumps, Canterbury Country needed just a further 11 runs to push into a crucial first innings lead. They had lost four wickets along the way at 87/4, with big Ben Stoyanoff removing both opening batsmen at 27/2.
But Harry Chamberlain and Frew formed a good stand for the third, putting on 50 runs together before Will Clark finally had Chamberlain caught on 24.
Frew went on to 36 before succumbing to Liam Dudding just a few overs before stumps. The ball was in Canterbury Country's court, however, pressure going on Hawke's Bay to stem the damage tomorrow - their only option looking likely to be an outright, now, if they are to hold on to their prize any longer.
