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The Plunket Shield title race will be decided in Hamilton with only Northern and Wellington left to fight it out for the title.
Canterbury vs Northern Districts:
Northern never had much success through their top order in the first innings with none of the top five making over 30.
Henry Cooper did look promising with his 30 opening the batting but fell victim to Michael Rae just after the 20-over mark. Jeet Raval (14), Bharat Popli (17), Joe Carter (2), and Sandeep Patel (7) all struggled to get going on a tricky pitch at MainPower Oval.
Tim Seifert’s aggressive knock of 49 from just 47 balls and Scott Kuggeleijn 65 from 102, on return from Blackcaps duty, allowed Northern to get over the 200 run mark and secure one batting point.
Zak Foulkes ended up with three wickets whilst Rae, Angus McKenzie, and Michael Rippon all got two each.
Canterbury too struggled early with the bat as Kuggeleijn had two early victims in Chad Bowes (1) and Henry Nicholls (14).
Rhys Mariu (13) and Leo Carter (16) couldn’t last long either with Canterbury slipping to 72/4.
Mitch Hay and Cole McConchie then took the game away from the visitors with a mammoth 159-run stand for the fifth wicket. Both players ended up scoring centuries with Hay getting his maiden first-class century (146) and McConchie getting his 10th first-class century (106).
Rippon also chipped in with a valuable 55 as the home team posted 398. Kuggeleijn grabbed figures of 6/79, his 12th first-class bag.
Northern’s batters fared much better in the second dig with solid contributions from Raval (45), Popli (39), Carter (54), and Seifert (51). All worked very well in their innings but no one was able to push on to turn their score into a big knock.
Patel also made 42 having been pushed down to number eight in the batting lineup.
Rae grabbed four wickets while McConchie and Rippon got two each as they managed to restrict Northern to 298.
Canterbury’s chase was set up around a fast-paced knock by Bowes with a very aggressive 87* from just 69 balls.
None of the other six Canterbury batters were able to perform with bat as they made just 43 runs between them.
The big scorers from the first innings of McConchie and Hay both struggled making three and one respectively.
Bowes' knock allowed Canterbury to chase down the target of 136 in just over 32 overs to take a five-wicket win.
Wellington Firebirds vs Otago Volts:
Otago’s innings were mainly supported by opener Thorn Parkes’ 62 on return from injury to the side and Dale Phillips’ 127 at first drop.
Dean Foxcroft (2), Jamal Todd (2), and Luke Georgeson all fell within the space of a couple of overs with Otago going from 135/2 to 143/5 as Peter Younghusband used his spin to trouble the Otago batters.
Max Chu’s 35 and Andrew Hazledine’s 20* were also valuable to ensure that Otago got to 280.
Younghusband ended with a career-best haul of 5/65 from 19 overs.
The game got even better for Younghusband who put on a massive display of batting at number four, having been promoted as nightwatchman. Alongside the ever-improving Gareth Severin, who made 105, the pair put on 166 for the third wicket.
Nick Kelly (26) and Mo Abbas (25) both got starts as well, but couldn’t quite push on.
Foxcroft was the main wicket taker as he grabbed career-best figures of 6/84 to have Wellington nine down at the stumps on day two.
However, the Otago bowlers found it very difficult to take the final Wellington wicket with Logan van Beek (50*) and Michael Snedden (32) putting on 83 runs for the final wicket. Ben Lockrose eventually got the wicket with Wellington all out for 421.
Otago’s second innings didn’t go to plan at all with Michael Bracewell ripping right through the Otago lineup with career-best figures of 8/41 from just 11.4 overs.
Chu and Parkes both made 17 runs, but no one could push on as Otago were all out for 99 in 27.4 overs with Wellington taking an innings and 42-run victory.
Central Stags vs Auckland Aces:
Auckland’s batters all managed to get starts in their first innings but none could push on to put a big important score on the board.
They were cruising nicely at 100/2 but soon were 102/5 with Liam Dudding and Blair Tickner striking in the space of four overs.
Jock McKenzie added an important 48 at number seven and it looked like he’d bring up a second first-class 50 but fell just short with Dudding getting him leg before.
Danru Ferns and Louis Delport added 28 and 20 respectively as Auckland posted 240. Tickner grabbed four wickets and Dudding three.
Central's openers both struggled to get going with Will Young (14) and Curtis Heaphy (25) both falling early on. Brad Schmulian could only add eight runs at number four.
Both Tom Bruce and Greg Hay showed their experience with important knocks of 95 and 79 respectively whilst Dane Cleaver added an important 51 to boost the Stags total up to 340.
Auckland was going to need some players to stand up and go big if they were within a shot of setting a healthy total for the Stags to chase.
Mark Chapman decided to go down the aggressive route after the loss of the opening pair of Will O’Donnell (14) and Sean Solia (17).
Alongside Chapman (83 from 68), Robbie O’Donnell scored 42 but by the time both were out, Auckland were already five down for 184.
Cam Fletcher (38) and McKenzie (39) added important knocks at number six and seven whilst some late smashing by Delport (33 from 28) pushed Auckland’s total up to 281.
Dudding once again impressed with the ball taking 3/44.
Central needed to chase just 181 for victory and to keep themselves alive in a late push for the Plunket Shield title.
Disaster struck however as they slipped to 24/3 with Jordan Sussex and Ben Lister getting the opening wickets.
After the early collapse, Schmulian and Bruce fought hard as they made 24 and 37, but when Bruce went the Stags were sitting in trouble at 86/5.
Josh Clarkson and Cleaver were the last of the Stags recognised batters however they both went in quick succession and the Stags were at 125/8.
It was just too much for the last three batters of Ajaz Patel (4), Tickner (3*), and Dudding (8) to do with the Stags bundled for 140 and Aucklanders getting a 41-run victory, their first of the season.
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