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Otago, Canterbury, and Auckland all registered wins in their respective Ford Trophy fixtures on Sunday to kick off the 2024/25 season.
Wellington Firebirds vs Canterbury Kings
Canterbury put on a dominant display in the capital, led by the pace bowling duo of Zak Foulkes and Angus McKenzie.
Whilst Wellington did lose Tim Robinson in the first over for a two-ball duck to Foulkes’ bowling, Nick Greenwood and Troy Johnson managed a fightback for the hosts.
After putting on 58 runs for the second wicket, McKenzie started to take wickets, with Greenwood (25) and Nick Kelly (0) falling in consecutive balls.
McKenzie then had his third wicket of the day, with Johnson being trapped leg-before for 30.
Muhammad Abbas and Callum McLachlan put on some resistance for the home side, but the 26-run fifth wicket stand was never going to be enough for Wellington.
Foulkes, like McKenzie, also got two in two balls, with Abbas (18) and Logan van Beek (0) perishing.
Michael Rippon broke the trend of the fast bowlers getting all the wickets in the innings, with Adam Milne edging behind for nine and Peter Younghusband being run out earlier for three by Sean Davey.
Michael Snedden (0) and McLachlan (29) fell to McKenzie, who grabbed his maiden five-wicket haul in professional cricket, with Wellington bowled out for just 129.
Canterbury managed to get off to a quick start as they raced out to 44 runs in just over seven overs, with Wellington’s new signing Liam Dudding taking some tap from Henry Nicholls and Chad Bowes.
Whilst there was a bit of a halt in Canterbury’s innings following van Beek’s wickets of Nicholls (19) and Rhys Mariu (4), along with Milne grabbing Hay and Cole McConchie for ducks, a victory was never really going to be in doubt.
Matt Boyle ensured that his side got their season off to a winning start with 45* from 34 balls, while Bowes finished on 48* to give Canterbury a six-wicket win.
Northern Districts vs Otago Volts
Under new coach Ashley Noffke and captain Luke “Chef” Georgeson, it looks like they may kick on and win their first bit of silverware since 2013 after looking dangerous in the backend of the same competition last season.
The Volts got sent into bat, and the occasional opener, Thorn Parkes, went for seven however, things didn’t go much better for ND.
The previously inconsistent Llew Johnson, since his 72 in Alexandra vs Auckland in 2020, strutted to the crease and held a 50-run partnership with Dale Phillips at the top. However, it came to an end after Johnson played an expansive drive and got caught at cover off Kris Clarke’s bowling.
Dean Foxcroft came and went quickly, getting caught after a skied pull shot at deep square leg. New signing from Canterbury Leo Carter came and scored a 50 on debut for the Volts.
A 119-run partnership from Phillips and Carter stabilised the inning and got Otago to over 200 runs with 12 overs left to play and eight wickets in hand. However, Phillips went for 89, trying a cross-bat shot to long off where Jeet Raval was standing off Johnston’s bowling.
The bash fest started with Carter getting out the next over for 53, being caught at mid-wicket, however, Georgeson and Chu caused issues for the home side. Georgeson scored a quickfire 40 off 23 balls, while Chu scored 32 off 29.
Ben Lockrose scored 21 off 11, while Muller scored 0 off 1, and Hazeldine scored six off four delivers. The Volts ended with 316, much higher than the projected score after the first five overs.
ND didn’t start well, as they lost three wickets for 49 runs in the first 12 overs. Katene Clarke went out via playing across the line and getting caught at mid-on off Hazeldine’s bowling. Tim Seifert went out dancing down the pitch and skying it to long off Bacon’s bowling. After scoring 30, Fergus Lellman tried a straight drive that beat his inside edge going to Chu.
O’Donnell, after moving down from Auckland over the summer, went out by a top edge up to Phillips at mid-wicket. Jeet Raval played a glance down the leg side, being caught by Chu diving to his right while sticking out his right mitt.
Hampton then went soon after scoring 13, being caught at square leg after Foxcroft bowled one on the pads. Kuggeleijn went in the same over being caught at long-on by Thorn Parkes. ND’s chances were dwindling quickly.
Hampton then went soon after scoring 13, being caught at square leg after Foxcroft bowled one on the pads. Kuggeleijn went in the same over being caught at long-on by Thorn Parkes. ND’s chances were dwindling quickly.
Henry Cooper and Kris Clarke were able to form a partnership; however, that was also short-lived after 25 runs were put on. Cooper went for 26 off 61 after bringing stability to the ND inning after a top edge off of Foxcroft’s bowling.
Freddie Walker then went for 13 off 13, trying to slog in the hope of a win, while Johnston went for two after being trapped in front by Foxcroft. ND pitched 141 all out in 38.4 overs.
Learnings to be had from ND, while Otago can move forward with a spark in their season even after their marquee was flooded two weeks ago.
Central Stags vs Auckland Aces
Central and Auckland kicked off their season around 30 minutes after the other two fixtures due to a ground delay.
With the retirement of George Worker and experienced middle-order batter and captain Robbie O’Donnell moving to Northern Districts, Auckland’s lineup looked a bit different than it had in previous years. They were bolstered with the inclusion of Jimmy Neesham and Lockie Ferguson, however.
Auckland threw an unusual opening combination, with Sean Solia and Simon Keene kicking things off with the bat for the visitors.
The Stags struggled to get wickets at regular intervals throughout their innings; however, they were aided by Auckland’s scoring rate throughout the early overs of the match.
Keene was the first to depart, bowled by Blair Tickner for 15.
Central’s bowlers kept their lines and didn’t allow Auckland to score at a quick rate, with Solia and Will O’Donnell in the middle for just over 14 overs, but they were only able to add 38 runs to the total.
Following Solia’s departure for 29 with the wicket falling to Josh Clarkson, the visitors were looking for another stable partnership that would also extend their scoring rate.
In just his second List-A fixture for Auckland following his debut in 2022, Michael Sclanders worked well with O’Donnell for a 98-run stand in just over 18 overs to get Auckland past the 150-run mark.
Sclanders departed to Brett Randell for 40, and he was some joined back in the sheds, the following over by Neesham, who was bowled by Tickner for a duck.
Cam Fletcher helped O’Donnell extend the run rate, and it also allowed the Auckland number three the chance to get to his second List-A hundred.
Tickner did get both O’Donnell for 115 and Fletcher for 17, with Bevon Jacobs finishing on 19* and Jock McKenzie on 3*.
Auckland had managed to make their way to 244/6 from their 50 overs.
The Stags first ten overs with the bat wouldn’t have gone the way they hoped, losing opener Brad Schmulian for seven to Danru Ferns before Jack Boyle (11) and Dane Cleaver (0) both fell to Neesham in consecutive balls to end the powerplay three down.
Curtis Heaphy and Tom Bruce now had the tough job ahead of them of trying to get Central back into the game, and just as they were looking like they could be, Heaphy fell to Ferns for 31.
In a pitch that batters seemed to struggle to get starts on, highlighted by Clarkson’s ten from 30 balls before being bowled by Adi Ashok and the Stags in real trouble at 129/5.
Matters soon got worse as Bruce fell victim to Neesham, bowled for 73 from 65, and the recognised batters ran out.
Randell and Tickner both didn’t get going, making eight and a duck, respectively, but it was all-rounder Will Clark who was showing his value at the other end with the bat.
Jayden Lennox, on his captaincy debut, was run out for nine, and Clark departed not long after for 45 to leave Central 39 runs short of victory.
Auckland’s bowling innings were highlighted by Neesham’s four-wicket haul, and he was well assisted by Ashok (2/38) and Ferns (2/22).
All six sides are back in action for Round Two on Wednesday.
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