Canterbury, Northern Show Dominance in Round Two of Plunket Shield

Canterbury and Northern took big wins whilst weather caused disruption down south.

Northern Districts vs Auckland Aces:

The arrival of Kane Williamson and Tim Southee in the Northern side bolstered their lineup against their neighbours from Auckland.

The majority of Northern's batters managed to get started in the first innings, with Williamson’s 60 leading the home team.

Support Henry Cooper, Robbie O’Donnell, and Brett Hampton, who all made scores over thirty as Northern pushed their way to 260 in their opening innings.

Williamson’s innings was more about his getting time at the crease, and he was able to build partnerships alongside his fellow batters, particularly O’Donnell, with whom he shared a 52-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Jordan Sussex and Danru Ferns managed three wickets each with the ball, and Sussex got Williamson's prized wicket.

In his second fixture for Auckland, Samrath Singh faced a bit of a tap with his seven overs going for 41 runs.

There was an absolute disaster for Auckland in their first innings with the bat as Scott Kuggeleijn and Brett Hampton ripped through the side to have them all out for 150.

Simon Keene’s resistance and flourish with the bat was shown, making his way to 60 and bringing up his fourth first-class fifty with his 63-run stand alongside Adi Ashok, saving their side, having been 47 for six.

Kuggeleijn finished with five wickets to his name, and Hampton grabbed four.

With a lead of over 100 runs, Northern decided to up the ante with the bat, and this was shaped around captain Jeet Raval’s 21st first-class century.

Rain on day three wasn’t helpful and meant the majority of the morning session was lost. 

Even after a slow start with the bat, as the innings went on, the run rate picked up, with Singh going at over nine an over and Keene at over five runs per over.

Hampton hit a quick 30 from 24, and Northern declared at 252/5 after 56.5 overs. Auckland captain Sean Solia finished with three wickets.

Auckland again struggled in their chase 370, with Bevon-John Jacobs’ 44 at number seven and Sean Solia’s 31 at the top of the order being the scores of note.

It was again Kuggeleijn who destroyed with the ball, grabbing four wickets to finish with nine for the match, whilst former Blackcap Neil Wagner finished with three as Northern took a 179-run win.

Central Stags vs Canterbury:

It was all about Rhys Mariu in Nelson as he made his way to the fifth-highest first-class score in history for Canterbury.

The visitors came to Nelson with a squad that was lacking depth, and Mariu had been elevated to the role of captain with regular captain Cole McConchie unavailable due to family reasons.

Earlier, in the first innings, Central made their way through to 202 with Dane Cleaver’s 54* and Jack Boyle’s 43 being the only two players to make over 40.

The Stags middle order was destroyed by debutant Cam Paul, who became the 34th player to take a five-wicket haul on first-class debut.

Fraser Sheat also showed his skill with three wickets from his 21 overs. 

With Mariu’s 240 leading the way at the top of the order, the Stags were lucky to get two wickets early on, with Scott Jannett and Harry Chamberlain falling just after 60 runs were on the board.

Matt Boyle’s partnership with Mariu of 258 allowed the visitors to shape their innings, with Boyle going on to bring up his maiden first-class hundred on his way to 116 before falling to debutant Tyler Annand.

Jesse Frew and Angus McKenzie's quick lower-order 20s ensured that Canterbury gained a lead of 290 runs leading into the hosts second innings.

Annand and Ray Toole both finished with two wickets apiece. 

It was Curtis Heaphy’s 81 opening the batting that set the platform for the Stags, whilst a lower order 57 from 111 by Ajaz Patel meant that Canterbury were going to need to bat again, even if it was only 14 runs that they required for the win.

A 100-run stand between Heaphy and Jack Boyle, partnered with 50-run stands for the fourth and tenth wickets, was vital in the Stags effort. Toole’s 2* from 44 balls at number 11 allowed Patel to go to his highest first-class score.

Blackcaps pacer Will O’Rourke grabbed his best figures for Canterbury in the Plunket Shield of 4/38, and Michael Rippon chipped in with three wickets.

Mariu and Jannett led Canterbury to a ten-wicket win in their chase of just 14, with Jannett hitting the winning runs on debut.

Otago Volts vs Wellington Firebirds:

Wellington and Otago were both coming off losses in their opening round fixtures and looking to take their first win to kick off the four-day season for them.

In a surprise move, Wellington moved lower-order batter Peter Younghusband up to open, and whilst he survived 21 balls, he didn’t make a run.

Wellington’s innings were both led by a captain's knock from Nick Kelly with 161 in the first and 101* not out in the second, with the game ending in a draw due to stoppages throughout because of rain.

There was one debut, with opener Sam Mycock being the recipient of cap 684. He showed some early success with 32 at the top of the order but fell to Otago captain Luke Georgeson.

Kelly was given support by wicket-keeper batter Callum McLachlan, who struck 38 and all-rounder Logan van Beek, who backed up last week's batting heroics with 68.

Jarrod McKay showed his skills with the ball, grabbing four wickets, and there was a maiden first-class wicket for Jacob Cumming when he dismissed McLachlan.

Otago’s one and only innings with the bat, as it turned out, was led by number three Dale Phillips’ 135. 

Liam Dudding picked up an early wicket, with Thorn Parkes departing for one. 

A 55-run second wicket stand between Cumming and Phillips allowed Otago to get into the game, but there was a middle-order collapse coming for the Volts.

Georgeson (16), Leo Carter (0), and Llew Johnson (21) struggled to contribute as Phillips saw his players depart around him.

Wicket-keeper Max Chu and Phillips put on a 105-run stand for the sixth wicket, and this pushed Otago closer to the 300-run mark as they looked for a third bonus point.

With rain causing delays throughout Otago’s first innings, it pushed into the fourth and final day, with the declaration coming two balls into day four, allowing Otago to get past the bonus point mark.

Three wickets went to Dudding, while Michael Snedden and Younghusband had two each.

Otago found themselves in some early success, having Mycock, Gareth Severin, and Nick Greenwood all out by the time Wellington had 40 runs on the board.

An 82-run stand between Kelly and Muhammad Abbas pushed Wellington further into the lead. However, Otago wasn’t giving up and kept chasing wickets.

McLachlan could only muster one, and Abbas’ 40 had the visitors sitting at 122/5 and potentially facing an Otago chase with the bat.

Kelly, van Beek, and Youghusband all ensured that this wasn’t going to happen as they saw Wellington through to the tea break seven down, and Kelly, having just made his 100, shook hands with Georgeson to declare the game over with the match drawn.