History beckons for Arorangi Redbacks in the Rarotonga Cricket Club men’s final this afternoon at Raemaru Park.

The Redbacks will be gunning for a perfect end to their unbeaten season, and their first cricket title, when they take on defending champions Turangi at home.

The two teams have met twice this season with the Redbacks winning both matches – 107-run win in their first meeting followed by four wickets win in the second match a fortnight ago.

Skipper Glenn Hori Miller is hoping for their third consecutive win in the much-anticipated final starting at 3pm.

“In the last couple of games, we put our best team out there and we want to carry on with the way we have been playing,” said Miller, who is also the team wicketkeeper and top order batsman.

“We are quietly confident of our chances but we are trying to keep ourselves grounded and keep doing what we do. We have experience in our side with some former national reps but we don’t want to get too cocky about it.”

Arorangi have set a high standard with their overall performance throughout the season.

They boast a well-balanced side of big hitters, brilliant bowlers and sharp fielders. Their top batting order led by Dan Simpson has been well supported by the whole team and their bowling attack are hard to face, especially their fast bowler Tomasi Vanuarua.

The Redbacks fielding has been sharp in all aspects of the game. All combined, they have got a winning formula.

According to Davis Teinaki, the chief executive of Cook Islands Cricket: “Arorangi must maintain their composure if they are to win in the final. It will be history for them if they win, it will be the club’s first cricket title.”

Turangi, who have dominated the domestic competition over past six years winning three titles, will enter the final as the underdog.
The Vane Tangimetua Sr led side has a good mixture of young and experienced players such as Richard Piakura and Tutu Tangimetua.

Davis said: “A team collective performance from them will be the deciding factor for them winning yet another title.”

Despite losing both matches to the Redbacks, Tangimetua Sr is hoping to be third time lucky in the do or die clash.

The side has not played on Arorangi’s grass pitch this season and adapting to the conditions will be a major challenge.

“We have learnt a lot from our previous losses and we did improve in our second loss so I think we got a good chance of going one better this time around,” Tangimetua Sr said.

“Arorangi has an experienced squad whereas we have a couple of young ones who started playing the game this year so we are in a development phase. However they are all looking forward to stepping up for this match.

“The aim is to complete a clean sweep as our women’s team will also feature in the final (against Muri) but we will stay humble and put up a good fight against Arorangi on their grounds.”

A new winner will be crowned in the women’s final between Turangi and Muri starting at 12 noon.

Fixtures

Women’s Final – Turangi vs Muri. Venue: Raemaru Park, Time: 12pm the first ball to be bowled. Umpires: James Thompson, Leeroy Mangere.  3rd Umpire - Terry William. Men’s Final – Arorangi vs Turangi. Venue: Raemaru Park. Time: 3pm. Umpires: James Thompson, Leeroy Mangere. 3rd Umpire: Terry William.