Canterbury Country has locked down the Hawke Cup for another couple of weeks.
Otago Country made the trip north to Rangiora in the hope of wrestling the 112-year-old trophy from Canterbury Country’s clutches.
But the plan went off the rails early during the three-day match.
The visitors were rolled for 123. Michael Goldstein top-scored with 26.
Wrist spinner Blake Coburn did a chunk of the damage with three for 21, but it was the Canterbury Country batters who then made absolutely sure of the prize.
Openers Rhys Mariu (62) and Archie Redfern (39) added 71 for the first wicket. But things got worse for Otago Country as Harry Chamberlain notched 165 and featured in a monster 241-run stand with Jesse Frew (86) to take the game out of reach of the visitors.
The home team batted on and on — and on — and had eventually reached 526 for five when the game was declared a draw.
It was Canterbury Country’s third successful defence of the cup.
It defended it against Southland in the rescheduled 2021-22 challenge match played earlier this summer, and survived a close call against Nelson in the first challenge of this season’s official programme.
Canterbury Country’s next assignment is the zone 2 challenge from rivals Hawke’s Bay in Rangiora in a fortnight’s time.
