Plunket Shield (NZ DOMESTIC)

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Round 1 of this year's Plunket Shield has been completed.

Otago suffered a loss to Wellington after leaving them a target of 47 runs in their 4th innings. This was after Malcom Nofal took 4-15 (and 3-15 in the 1st innings) and Devon Conway top scored with 96 in Wellington's first innings.

Auckland cleaned up defending champions Central Districts in a low scoring affair. Ultimately, CD were set a target of 231 to win and only managed 192 with Matt McEwan taking 8-90 in the match.

A bit more batting in the draw between Canterbury and Northern Districts- with centuries to Black Cap Henry Nicholls (103) and captain Cole McConchie (107) for Canterbury and then Tim Siefert (119) and Darryl Mitchell (170*) as well as 96 from Mitchell Santner

 

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Wellington wrapped up a spectacular win over Canterbury by 44 runs yesterday.

The obvious highlight was the first innings unbeaten triple century from Devon Conway (327*) for Wellington to declare on 525. Canterbury responded well (415/9 dec) with Tom Latham scoring a double century (224). Wellington then added a further 237/6 dec with Conway top-scoring for them again (66) to set Canterbury a target of 358 to win. Canterbury gave it a good crack (particularly their middle and lower order) but eventually fell for 313 with Malcom Nofal taking 4-100.

Conway is just the eighth player to score a triple century in NZ.

 

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Central Districts beat Northern Districts by 74 runs, with their first innings total of 371 being decisive. A top score of 130 by George Worker and then 71* from Tom Bruce were the features. NZ limped to 202 in reply and that only after the tail wagged via Trent Boult (44) and young Brett Randell (56). Boult and Neil Wagner impressed in CD's second innings, taking 4-68 and 5-62 respectively to clean CD up for 204, setting ND a target of 374. However, they managed only 299 of those, thanks to the bowling of Brad Schmulian (4-34)

Otago v Auckland was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

 

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How about this ball from Lockie Ferguson? Or more to the point, what happened at first slip?

 

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3 matches and no winners this round.

CD and Canterbury had a relatively uneventful match in Nelson.

ND and Otago had a bit more spice to it. ND posted 243 thanks to 149 scored by their opening batsmen, an HR Cooper who was the last wicket to fall. Otago's reply was 349, the feature being a 190 run partnership for the 7th wicket between young Nathan Smith (114) and Michael Rippon (98). Rippon capped off the game with 11 wickets in the match, but they couldn't finish off ND who held on for the draw.

Wellington were dimissed for just 91 by fast bowlers Matt McEwan (3-28) and Lockie Ferguson 4-23, but managed to reply well to get Auckland for 217 with young Ben Sears taking 6-43. Wellington were more composed in their second innings to secure a draw.

A bit of weather around the place, obviously

 

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Ford Trophy (ODI) began last week. I was in Asia, so missed Round 1- but Auckland beat Wellington by 4 wickets with Ben Lister taking 5-18. CD posted 349 against Canterbury with centuries to George Worker(135) and Ben Smith (100), but the match finished with no result. Otago beat ND by 28 runs (D/L) with Nick Kelly scoring 120.

Round 2 has just been completed. Auckland thumped CD by 100 runs. They posted 349 and then Lockie Ferguson took 5-38. Canterbury scored 296 with Jack Boyle putting on 126 of those over 47 overs and then the bowlers all carried the load in dismissed ND for 212. Wellington chased down the target of 229 set for them by Otago with Devon Conway continuing to impress with 79 runs. He also keeps? Could he be Waitling's heir?

 

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Amidst the excitement of a great Test match, another round of the Ford Trophy was completed.

Canterbury beat Otago by 117 runs with Chad Bowes (76) and Cole McConchie (60*) steering them to 292/5 and then English export Andrew Hazeldine leading the way with the ball, taking 3-14 off 4 overs as Otago fell for a dismal 175

ND put on a masterful run chase to chase down CD's 270 with 8 balls and 5 wickets to spare. CD put on 143 for the 1st wicket (Worker 54, Cleaver 83) but failed to build a big score on that foundation. Fringe international Darryl Mitchell then produced the goods on the chase with an unbeaten 62 off 54 balls to guide ND home.

The most exciting match of the round saw Wellington beat Auckland by 7 runs. Wellington put on 344 with young Rachin Ravindra impressing with 130 off 109 balls, supported by Andrew Fletcher (75) and Michael Bracewell (54*). In response, Auckland got off to a great start via international pair Munro (119) and Guptill (75), but collapsed from there.

That win puts Wellington comfortably on top of the table

1 Wellington 3 2 0 0 1 0 43
2 Central Districts 3 1 1 0 1 0 28
3 Auckland 3 1 0 0 1 1 26
4 Canterbury 3 0 1 0 2 0 16
5 Otago 3 0 1 0 1 1 15
6 Northern Districts 3 0 1 0 2 0 14

 

[Meth]

Another round of domestic action-

Auckland had a handsome win over Otago, scoring 310 with a 235 run partnership for the second wicket between Black Caps Martin Guptill (117 off 130 balls) and Glenn Phillips (156 off 135 balls). Otago only managed 213 in response with only Neil Broom (66) providing any real resistance.

CD managed to defend their modest total of 251/8 against Wellington, primarily thanks to the efforts of Seth Rance (4-33) and George Worker (3-36). Wellington's Malcolm Nofal's unbeaten 66 from 60 deliveries was the best batting performance of the day, but he simply did not have the support to chase down the total.

The most exciting match of the round, undoubtedly, was Canterbury's 1 run victory over Northern Districts. Scoring 283 thanks to a 99 run partnership between McConchie (58) and Ellis (49). Black Cap Scott Kuggeleijn took 4-50. ND didn't run out of wickets, but they did run out to balls. Lower order batsmen Anurag Verma (34*), Ish Sodhi (19) and Zak Gibson (9*) got ND into the position to win, but just couldn't find that last run or two.

 

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The Ford Trophy resumed last week-

Canterbury beat Auckland by 4 runs after posting 332/4, spearheaded by 120 from Henry Nicholls. Auckland chased well, scoring 328 with wicketkeeper Ben Horne scoring 101 off 73 balls.

Otago posted a massive 407/4 with Hamish Rutherford scoring 155 off 104 balls and then bowled out Central Districts for a relatively modest 282 with Anaru Kitchen taking 4-34

ND beat Wellington by 1 wicket in another incredibly close match. Wellington scored 265/8 led by Black Cap in waiting Devon Conway's 138. ND chased Wellington's total thanks to young players Henry Cooper (83) and Ben Hampton (29*) to win with 2 balls to spare.

Auckland then beat ND, scoring 297, again led by Ben Horne, scoring 70 off 46 balls. A nice cameo from Kyle Jamieson with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 35*. ND's chase was in good shape with Brad Waitling scoring 73 and Henry Cooper 69, but they eventually fell for 239.

CD scored 345/2 with a 224 run partnership for the second wicket- 99 from George Worker and 149* from Ben Smith. They then bowled Otago for 290, with in form Kieran Noema Barnett taking 3-26. South African Dean Foxcroft top scored with 138.

Wellington beat Canterbury by 6 wickets, chasing 267. Most noteworthy was Jimmy Neesham's 5-29. They then beat them again a few days later by 22 runs, with Blundell (97) and Neesham (70) taking them to 275. Canterbury fell short despite Henry Nicholls' 55.

CD scored 282 with Bayley Wiggins scoring 98. Auckland chased this total down with 4 wickets with 2 overs to spare with Jeet Raval finding form, scoring 118.

Otago and ND's match was abandoned without a ball bowled.

PHEW

Today-

Otago beat Canterbury...or maybe, Canterbury beat Canterbury. Otago scored 253 with Dean Foxcroft (72) and Anaru Kitchen (48). Canterbury were looking in good shape to chase the total down, but then lost with Jacob Duffy taking 5-38 and Canterbury losing their last 4 wickets in 4 overs.

ND scored 237 with in-form Ben Lister taking 6-51. His Auckland team capitulated for 174 in response, with young Jake Gibson taking 5-31.

Wellington scored 293 with Devon Conway getting 112. They then bowled CD out for 175, in form Michael Bracewell taking 3-30.

One more round to go before the finals-

CD play Canterbury, ND play Wellington, Otago play Auckland

TEAM M W L T N/R PT
1 Auckland 9 6 3 0 0 28
2 Wellington 9 5 4 0 0 21
3 Canterbury 9 4 4 0 1 20
4 Northern Districts 9 4 4 0 1 19
5 Otago 9 4 4 0 1 19
6 Central Districts 9 2 6 0 1 10

I'm predicting an Auckland v Wellington final.

 

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Canterbury beat CD yesterday. CD scored a paltry 237 with the only bright light being 103 from 21 yo keeper/opener Bayley Wiggins. Todd Astle took 4-36 and then his Canterbury team lost just 1 wicket and took 37 overs chasing the total with Chad Bowes scoring an unbeaten 114.

In a bit of an upset, ND beat Wellington to end their season. ND scored just 249 with Anton Devcich scoring 76 and BJ Waitling 51. But then what should have been a relatively easy chase to put Wellington into an elimination final capitulated with Wellington scoring just 176. Star Devon Conway was run out for 1 and the rest skittled by an unfancied ND bowling attack with very little star power.

This opened the way for Otago to miraculously leap over Wellington and ND into the elimination final by trouncing top of the table Auckland. Led by 104 from Neil Broom, they scored 354 and then bowled out Auckland for 144 with MOTM Michael Rippon taking 5-21 to go with his unbeaten 48 off 26 balls.

So, Auckland are through to the final which they will host on Saturday and Canterbury take on Otago in an elimination final in Christchurch on Wednesday!

 

[Meth]

Otago advance through to play Auckland by a narrow margin, beating Canterbury by 6 runs. Otago scored 294/9 with keeper/opener Mitch Renwick (75), Dean Foxcroft 55* and Anaru Kitchen top scoring. Canterbury's best bowling coming from Black Caps Matt Henry (2-54) and Todd Astle (2-44). Despite a fantastic century from opener Jack Boyle (119), Canterbury fell 6 runs short of the total, mostly due to the bowling of Nathan Smith (3-41).

 

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Oh, I thought I posted- Auckland beat Otago in the Ford Trophy final. Colin Munro powered them with a century (104) of 60 balls and Mark Chapman scored 84*, as Auckland won by 2 wickets, chasing 285 in just 44 overs.

 

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The Plunket Shield is underway.

Last week, Auckland won a bit of a thriller by 1 wicket against Northern Districts. ND began with 438, spearheaded by Henry Cooper (111) and Joe Carter (169). Auckland declared in reply on 351/5 (Chapman 143) and then bowled out ND for 283- Joe Carter posting another century (120). Sean Solia took 4-33. Thus, Auckland were set a total of 371, which they achieved but only just: Chapman scored another century (146) and Ben Horne (107).

Otago beat Canterbury by 62 runs. In the first innings, Matt Henry's 4-88 restricted Canterbury to 287 (Smith 78, Rippon 78). Canterbury were bundled out for 145 with a good all-round performance from the Otago bowling unit. Henry then took another 4 wickets and bowled out Otago for 160, setting Canterbury 303 runs to win. Jacob Duffy and Michael Rae eventually both took 8 wickets in the match and bowled Canterbury for 240 runs to secure Otago's win.

Wellington beat CD well off the back of a 1st innings total of 96 from CD (Neesham 3-17). Neesham backed up with 63 as Wellington posted 298 and CD's third-innings 254 (Neesham 3-65, Jamie Gibson 3-36) meant a total of just 53 for Wellington to chase.

 

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Some 4 day cricket recently concluded.

Wellington beat Auckland by an innings and 7 runs. Auckland were bowled out in their first innings for a meagre 179 by a Wellington attack including Michael Snedden (son of Martin) who took 3-42. Wellington then scored 360 with a second-wicket partnership of 175 (Ravindra 101, Conway 94) and then Auckland were unable to make them bat again. Michael Bracewell took 5-43 in the second innings.

ND beat Canterbury by 181 runs with a third-innings total of 302/5 the difference. The total was powered by Henry Cooper (130) and BJ Waitling (71*, adding to 62 in the first innings). Chasing 354 for the win, Canterbury were skittled for 172 with Joe Walker taking 5-41.

Otago beat CD by 3 wickets, with Michael Rippon (95*) helping them to successfully chase their target of 288. The feature of the match was fringe Black Cap Will Young's 133*