Hawke's Bay is off to the ball at last for a long-awaited Challenge Match against its regular Hawke Cup adversary, Canterbury Country.
The battle for one of New Zealand's oldest sporting trophies, launched 113 years ago, will begin early this season with the 2022/23 season's Zone 2 Challenge Match that was postponed from last summer due to the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on the Hawke's Bay region.
Hawke's Bay had been preparing to travel to Rangiora at that time - and this Friday will mark the second season in a row that the two teams have met in a rescheduled Challenge Match held over to the start of the following season.
A year ago, it was Hawke's Bay who held the Hawke Cup, hosting a Challenge from Zone 3 Challenger Canterbury Country that had been held over from the tail of the 2021/22 summer due to the Omicron outbreak.
Hawke's Bay had locked away the 1910 trophy at Nelson Park, Napier for two successive winters, but Canterbury Country stormed their fortress in that rescheduled match, uplifted the history-laden silverware, and has kept it in their possession ever since.
Just one week later, the formidable Canterbury Country team brushed aside Zone 4 Challenger Canterbury Country in the other 2021/22 Challenge that had been postponed for half a year due to the outbreak, then saw off Challenges from Nelson (Zone 3), Otago Country (Zone 4) and Waikato Valley (Zone 1) in the "normal" 2022/23 Hawke Cup season, for their longest consecutive tenure.
Now, the silverware goes back on the line, with Hawke's Bay coach Christie van Dyk expected to name a strong side to travel to Rangiora for a big rematch.
The rescheduled Challenge will start at 10.30am this Friday, with livescores at nzc.nz and on the NZC app.
The winner of the match will host the first Challenge of the "normal" 2023/24 Hawke Cup season that will begin in mid-January 2024, with the order of Zone challengers to be determined by the outcome of the upcoming battle.
RESCHEDULED HAWKE CUP CHALLENGE MATCH (2022/23)
10-12 November 2023
Hawke Cup Holder Canterbury Country v Zone 2 Challenger, Hawke's Bay
From 10.30am, at Mainpower Oval, Hawke's Bay
