Six quick singles – plenty of gifts for everyone

This week’s Plunket Shield round-up is a little later than normal – my apologies. Unfortunately, my “real” job has got in the way of my passion, as it so often does at the tail end of one year and the start of the next.

The final pre-Christmas round involved all six sides and there were more highlights than Willie Watson bowling to a young Sachin Tendulkar. Records tumbled, as did wickets, and the ball was despatched to, and over, the fence on a regular basis. Players with international experience, whether local or foreign, shone through in every match. The Plunket Shield now takes a break for a month to allow for the HRV Cup to dominate the holiday period – for those who complain, think for a minute where the money comes from to finance our domestic game.

Six quick singles – the night watchman delivers

It was going to take a Herculean feat from Central Districts to recover from a poor first day – it never came. Will Young’s maiden century was lost in a heavy defeat, surpassed by a nonchalant innings from the talismanic Jesse Ryder and a maiden ton from Scott Kuggeleijn.  Cricket matches aren’t won or lost by the individual feats of one man, though CD management must be tempted to touch base with Tonya Harding’s husband, and bodyguard, prior to the sides’ next meeting.

Central Districts 260 (W Young 121, M Gillespie 3/56, S Kuggeleijn 3/53; 59.1 overs) and 389 (J How 51, J Raval 74, C Cachopa 90, P Trego 59, J Franklin 4/71, J Patel 3/66; 116.4 overs) lost to Wellington 403 (M Papps 117, J Ryder 162, A Lamb 3/76, A Patel 3/62; 98 overs) and 248/3 (M Papps 77*, S Kuggeleijn 142*; 66.4 overs) by 7 wickets at Karori Park, Wellington

Six quick singles – Munro goes long

Central Districts humbled Otago by 10 wickets, Auckland and Wellington took part in a run-fest on the Eden Park Outer Oval, records were amassed like a ‘70s DJ building his collection, but it was all irrelevant. All anyone will remember was a large double hundred in Kingsland, Colin Munro putting on a master class unrivalled in the City of Sails.

Central Districts 476 (C Cachopa 123, T Nethula 108, A Milne 97, B Soper 3/116, I Butler 3/132; 127.2 overs) and 21/0 (4.5 overs) defeated Otago 257 (S Wells 78, I Butler 73, P Trego 3/57, A Milne 5/47; 73.5 overs) and 239 (A Redmond 57, H Rutherford 55, A Mathieson 5/39, C Cachopa 3/28; 98.0 overs following on) by 10 wickets at McLean Park, Napier.

Wellington 380 (J Ryder 72, L Ronchi 127, M McClenaghan 4/90; 95.2 overs) and 145/2 (J Brodie 60*; 42.0 overs) drew with Auckland 658/9 decl. (C Munro 269*, C Cachopa 166, M Gillespie 4/166; 147.5 overs) at Eden Park Outer Oval, Auckland.

Six quick singles – more records than Elvis

The start to the 2012/13 Plunket Shield season has seen records broken like plates at a Greek wedding. For a competition steeped in history, the play has been fascinating – domestic cricket’s cream has risen quickly to the top.

A mixture of youth and experience continued to show through in the most recent round. Michael Papps, Dean Brownlie and Peter Fulton all dominated with the blade, while promising young international Tom Latham led his Canterbury team mates to an unlikely victory in Rangiora. But the most encouraging performance came from Central Districts’ young quicks, Adam Milne and Ben Wheeler – if only they can stave off injury that so regularly strikes down bowlers with any pace in this country.

Six quick singles – Plunket Shield’s opening round

First class cricket is upon us and summer is underway - the first two matches of the Plunket Shield are done and if the season continues in the same vein supporters would do well to get to their local oval. In an early season reversal, bat dominated ball with the top order leading Otago and Wellington to comprehensive victories over Central Districts and Canterbury respectively.

If you missed all the action, have a read of my six quick singles and keep abreast of our great game.

Canterbury (297 and 352) lost to Otago (383 and 267-2) by 8 wickets
Central Districts (383-8 decl. and 298-7 decl.) lost to Wellington (340 and 343-5) by 5 wickets


1. Ryder defeats Central Districts