Bowes Blitzes Records, Wellington and Northern Hold Their Nerve

Match reports written by Vincent Jones and Otis Murray.

Round Two of the Ford Trophy had close results in two fixtures, whilst there was a world record in the other.

Central Districts vs Northern Districts

By Vincent Jones

Central and Northern were both looking to get their first wins of the season in this round two clash at Pukekura Park following defeats to Auckland and Otago, respectively.

The match was reduced to 46 overs due to rain and a ground delay, and then it was further reduced to 44 overs before the play got underway in New Plymouth.

Katene Clarke got his Northern side off to a solid start alongside Fergus Lellman, who was playing his second List A game after making his debut in the previous fixture.

Central’s strike bowler Blair Tickner quickly removed Lellman just after the five-over mark for nine and then, in the final over of the powerplay, had Clarke for 29. 

The early success for the Stags didn’t last much longer, with Robbie O’Donnell and Tim Seifert getting their side past the 100-run mark and slowly swinging the game in Northern’s favour.

Just as it looked like O’Donnell was going to start building on his 21 runs, he fell to Central’s captain Jayden Lennox. 

However, Northern’s day was about to get a whole lot better when Henry Cooper joined Seifert in the middle and game’s momentum started to massively swing in their favour with a solid 142-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Cooper set the pace for the partnership with a quickfire 92 from just 61 balls, falling just short of his fourth List A century, whilst Seifert’s 102 from 87 balls allowed him to get his fourth List A century.

The Stags bowlers did take some hit from the Cooper-Seifert stand, with Josh Clarkson and Brett Randell both going at around ten an over.

Following Cooper’s and Seifert’s dismissals, both to Will Clark and with just over ten overs remaining, the Northern batters decided to go out on the attack and push on for a big total.

Captain Jeet Raval (47*) showed his talent alongside Brett Hampton (31) as they took their side past the 350-run mark, leaving Central with a target of 352 from 44 overs.

Curtis Heaphy fell early for the home team, with Kristian Clarke getting him to send one behind to Seifert for six.

Brad Schmulian and number three Jack Boyle then set about setting a record second wicket stand for Central in List A fixtures against Northern. 

The start of the partnership between the pair was at around four runs per over, and it was clear that as the overs left decreased, the rate at which scoring was needed would increase.

Throughout their time in the middle, they both made 50s, with Schmulian’s coming in 58 balls and Boyle’s in 70. Both batters took 26 balls each to move from 50 to their centuries.

Just as the Stags needed the pair to keep kicking on, they both fell within a couple of overs of each other. Scott Kuggeleijn made the breakthrough when he got Boyle to edge behind for 104, and Schmulian was caught in the outfield by Lellman off Neil Wanger for a new List A high score of 126.

With 86 runs needed from the final 41 balls, Tom Bruce and Clarkson knew they had to go bang from ball one. Bruce’s 47 from just 21 balls nearly got his side to victory, falling with just over four overs to go, whilst Clarkson hit a quick 14 from five.

Dane Cleaver was run out for eight, and Clark went first ball to Kris Clarke. Randell managed to find a four in his three-ball stay at the crease, but with 23 required from the last over, it was always going to be a tough task.

Lenox ended on 16* and Tickner on 7* with two wickets to Kris Clarke and Hampton, whilst Wagner, Kuggeleijn, and Walker all got one.

Northern finished victorious on the day with an eight-wicket win to be in fifth place on the table, and Central sits bottom of the log.

Auckland Aces vs Wellington Firebirds

By Otis Murray

The Wellington Firebirds were out for revenge after losing by six wickets to Canterbury, while the Aces wanted to go 2/2 to start their Ford Trophy Campaign. 

The toss was won by the Firebirds, who elected to bowl, and it paid off immediately. The experiment of Simon Keene at the top hasn’t gone well for the Aces, as he was struck straight on the pad after squaring up to a straight one from fresh Blackcap call-up Nathan Smith.

Captain Sean Solia didn’t do much better catching a thick edge off a straight one from Liam Dudding being caught at gully by Nick Kelly, obtaining the new signing's first wicket for the association. 

Will O’Donnell didn’t have much to show for his 47 balls at the crease, scoring only 15, catching a thick edge from former contracted Aucklander Yahya Zeb.

Jock McKenzie then went for seven, being bowled by Peter Younghusband after an expansive drive. The Aces were 65/4 after 21.4 overs. However, it didn’t get much better, with Jimmy Neesham scoring 0 off three deliveries.

Michael Sclanders cemented the middle order for the Aces, scoring 35 off 50 having to go after chipping it straight back to Nick Greenwood. A recent transfer from Canterbury Bevon-John Jacobs didn’t last long, going for seven after going for a slog sweep that hit him on the pad.

Cam Fletcher then had to go for 20, playing a drive straight to point off Michael Snedden’s bowling.

Louis Delport then went for two, being bowled by Snedden and Lockie Ferguson for four, being bowled by Dudding. Adi Ashok hit 23 off 31, bringing the Aces to 140 in 43.1 overs.

Nick Greenwood nearly went immediately with a thick edge off Jock McKenzie’s bowling, leading to Jacobs at gully. Troy Johnson didn’t last much longer, going for four squaring up to Ferguson. Nick Kelly went in the same over for 0, being bowled through a gap in his defensive shot.

The Firebirds were 14/3 after three overs, with Robinson and Abbas coming to the crease. However, Abbas didn’t last long, having a slight tickle to Cam Fletcher off Ferguson’s bowling.

Callum McLachlan went for seven squaring up to Jock McKenzie after a straight delivery. Nathan Smith walked to the crease needing a partnership with Tim Robinson.

A 63-run partnership between Smith and Robinson propelled Wellington to 107, needing 34 to win, with Smith getting in a half stride and getting hit on the knee roll from Solia. 

Peter Younghusband played the waiting game, scoring nine of 23, while Robinson did the rest of the work chasing the target with six wickets in hand while having another 19 overs to spare.

Wellington will be happy to have their 1st on the board, while Auckland will need to go back to the drawing board when they face Otago on Saturday.

Canterbury vs Otago Volts

By Vincent Jones

The highlight of the fixture at Hagley Oval in Christchurch was Chad Bowes’ world record-breaking 205 from just 110 balls. 

Canterbury’s top four batters, minus Bowes, scored only 12 of the first 103 runs, with extras also contributing five and Bowes a mammoth 86.

Opener Henry Nicholls was out in the second over to Andrew Hazeldine for a duck, while Rhys Mariu and Mitch Hay both fell to Matt Bacon for ten and two, respectively.

Bowes’ stellar knock just kept on coming as the 150 was brought up in just 77 balls, and Canterbury cruised at well over seven runs per over. However, wickets were falling around Bowes.

Captain Cole McConchie had put up some support but was out-caught and bowled by part-timer Dale Phillips for 27. 

The middle order for Canterbury did manage to stick around as Hazeldine trapped Matt Boyle leg before for three, and Bacon bowled Michael Rippon for eight.

Runs kept flowing from Bowes’ bat and allowed him to grab the world record of the fastest List A history, beating the record of 114 balls held by Travis Head and Narayan Jagadeesan. 

As he was moving closer to the double hundred mark, it was clear that Bowes was tiring, and he eventually fell leg before to Bacon for 205. 

Zak Foulkes played a crucial lower-order innings of 49*, and alongside Angus McKenzie’s 13, they got Canterbury to a total of 343/9 from their fifty overs.

Bacon grabbed a five-wicket bag with the wicket of Sean Davey, and Hazeldine finished with three wickets.

Otago’s reply with the bat did not go to plan at all, with the visitors falling to 32/5 inside the first nine overs as Davey and Foulkes did the damage up top.

Phillips was bowled in the second over by Foulkes for four, and Thorn Parkes departed the next over, bowled Davey for one. 

Former captain Dean Foxcroft only managed one, with Foulkes grabbing a second wicket, whilst former Cantabrian Leo Carter was trapped leg-before by Davey for three.

Llew Johnson managed some resistance from number three alongside his captain, Luke Georgeson, but when Johnson departed for 16 and the Volts five down, it was clear that the match was likely going to go Canterbury’s way.

There was some fightback by Georgeson and Max Chu, but their 34-run stand was the highest of the day. Once Chu fell to Rae for 17 and Ben Lockrose to McConchie for 11, it was only going to be a matter of time before the hands were shaken.

Georgeson’s 34 was the highest score by the Otago batters, but he fell to Rippon for 34 before Hazeldine (0) and Muller (9) became Rippon’s second and third victims of the day.

Canterbury were well-deserved victors with a record winning margin of 240 runs.

Otago will have to regroup when they face Auckland, and Canterbury will want to continue their winning form against Northern, both games being played on Saturday.