• Zone 4 Challenge in Rangiora
The final Challenge Match of the 2025/26 summer over the next three days will decide where in Canterbury the historic silverware spends the winter.
New holder Canterbury Country is hosting their first defence at Rangiora’s MainPower Oval where South Canterbury captain Shaun Rooney won the toss on a warm, sunny first morning and elected to field first on the opening morning of the three-dayer.
Seahorses on a mission | Credit South Canterbury Cricket facebook
This is the third season in a row that Rooney’s “Seahorses” have won the right to a challenge, something South Canterbury has never done before — and this time it’s not only an all-South Island, but all-Canterbury, provincial affair.
South Canterbury is the official Zone 4 challenger, Zone 4 being the lower half of South Island, while Canterbury Country is from Zone 3 — the upper half along with the Buller, Marlborough and Nelson (and also formerly, the West Coast) and the team has held the Hawke Cup only once in its history - in the 1999/2000 season, when it took the trophy off then-holder Canterbury Country at the same ground as the two teams are playing today: MainPower Oval.
The Seahorses then surrendered the silverware to Dunedin Metropolitan in the next Challenge Match at their Timaru home ground.
This summer, Canterbury Country uplifted the Hawke Cup in a hurry from Bay Oval with a dominant display that was triggered by ex-Canterbury, now County pro Will Williams.
This time Canterbury Country sports a slightly fresh-look XI that again contains a number of Canterbury caps and another notable former Canterbury pace bowler.
Left-arm fast bowler Ed Nuttall comes in for Williams who is now unavailable as the County season revs up on the other side of the planet.
Williams's younger brother Joe remains in the side.
Injuries have frequently interrupted Nuttall’s career and the 32-year-old last appeared for Canterbury in the Plunket Shield in March 2024.
But he packs 44 matches of first-class experience, as well as 134 wickets and four bags at first-class level for Canterbury and New Zealand A, together with copious Ford Trophy and Super Smash feats (he has 73 wickets in each of those formats).
Jesse Frew, Harry Chamberlain and Callum Cameron have all played first-class Plunket Shield matches as well.
Undaunted, South Canterbury made a great start with the ball, wickets falling quickly in the opening session. Follow the live-scores here.
SQUADS
Holder: CANTERBURY COUNTRY
Sam Chamberlain - captain
Robbie Foulkes
Archie Redfern
Harry Chamberlain
Tim Petrie
Jesse Frew (w)
Joe Williams
Raunaq (Ronnie) Kapur
Callum Cameron
George Gunn
Ed Nuttall
Mackenzie Smith (12th)
SOUTH CANTERBURY
Shaun Rooney - captain
Lachie Munro
Fletcher Rhodes
TJ Clemett
Ben Davenport
William Sharp
Jacob Naylor
Flynn Brookland (w)
Sam Carlaw
Ollie Linton
Jed McKerrow
Sam Porter (12th)
PREVIOUS CHALLENGE MATCH
Zone 3: Bay of Plenty (holder) 94 & 38/2 lost to Canterbury Country (challenger) 440 on the first innings.
27-29 February 2026
Bay Oval, Mt Maunganui
- Four Challenges are made each season from the qualifier from each of therfour Hawke Cup zones, starting in January.
- Matches always begin on a Friday at 10.30am and are played at the current holder’s home ground.
- To uplift the Hawke Cup, a Challenger needs to win outright or on the first innings.
- The Hawke Cup is one of the oldest sporting trophies in New Zealand.
