Northern Knights vs Auckland Aces

The Basics

It's safe to say that the ball dominated the battle of the north, with the Auckland Aces doing enough to grab the win and set up their perch at the top of the Plunket Shield ladder. 23 wickets fell on the first day, which is always a bit of fun as the Aces dismissed the Knights for 124 thanks to 4/29 off 10 overs from Michael Bates. Mitchell McClenaghan and Colin Munro chipped in with two wickets each as Bharat Popli was the only Knights batsmen to score more than 25 runs. The Knights fought fire with fire though and bounced back to roll the Aces for 98 with Scott Kuggeleijn picking up 5/32 off 10 and Joel Baker taking 4/44 off 10. 

Back in the game, the Knights then managed 206 as Anton Devcich hit 54 and Scott Kuggeleijn completed a solid all round performance with a 50 to go with his 5-for. Both Auckland lefties took three wickets each with McClenaghan continuing on his path of destruction while Donovan Grobbelaar took three middle-order wickets. This resulted in a target of 233 for the Aces, which they reasonably comfortably thanks to half-centuries to Rob Nicol, Colin de Grandhomme and Colin Munro. 

BLACKCAPS Factor

Big Mitch is in a nice bit of form after two games, which reinforces the theme from the opening round of the Plunket Shield in which fringe BLACKCAPS put runs and wickets on the board. McClenaghan leads all wicket-takers with 12 and he's bowling with venom, picking up wickets with short balls while also enjoying the pre-Christmans juice in pitches.

Big Mitch currently has the Funk Ball as the leading wicket-taker.

We also saw Colin Munro return to the Aces from New Zealand 'A' duty and he performed as he should and as he has done for a few years now, whacking 50 off 40 balls as well as taking three wickets for the match. Munro looks to be a few levels below a Test call up, with limited overs squads his best bet to further his international career and while I haven't seen Munro perform as such in the international arena, it's hard to ignore someone who serves up the goods in domestic cricket. 

Ponderings

Scott Kuggeleijn got out-done in the all-rounder stakes by Logan Van Beek in this round of Plunket Shield action, but Kuggeleijn is  once again a man to watch this season. Kuggeleijn has already taken 10 wickets in two games and now has a 50 to his name, which in conjunction with Van Beek's efforts (be patient) it's great to see all-rounders putting the likes of Jimmy Neesham and Corey Anderson under pressure

Brett Hampton made his debut for the Knights and he's a young pace bowler who will be the main benefactor of the Knights' strong BLACKCAPS contingent. With Tim Southee and Trent Boult likely to miss a fair chunk of domestic cricket, Hampton will have plenty of time to settle into his work and he looks to be a promising right-arm bowler who will enjoy the grassy wickets that we're known for.

I said last week that Colin de Grandhomme is in cricketing no man's land where he's too good for domestic cricket but lacks the ability to translate that into international cricket. CDG scored his second 50 of the season in his second game of the season here.

Keep an eye on this BLACKCAPS-less Knights team. They might struggle, but they'll be fun to watch as there's the usual crop of youngsters who have a point to prove.

Central Stags vs Wellington Firebirds

The Basics

Wellington grabbed their first win of the season over the CD Stags, despite the best efforts of George Worker who hit the Stags' second double-hundy in successive weeks. Worker didn't have much support from his Stages homies though as he accounted for 210 of their 385 first innings runs with Kruger van Wyk helping out with 51. Wellington bowled CD out with Brent Arnel and Dane Hutchinson taking three wickets each before Stephen Murdoch countered with 171 while Craig Cachopa offered 76 handy runs, which saw the Stags declare on 353 - a funky declaration.

Ben Smith backed up last week's double-hundy with 117 while van Wyk repeated his first innings dose with another 50, with the Stags also making a sporting declaration as they ended their innings with a 306 run lead and five wickets in the shed. Wellington chased 307 in 376 balls to seal the win via 65 from Michael Pollard and 77 from Tom Blundell.  

BLACKCAPS Factor

George Worker is certainly putting runs on the board, offering food for thought for national selectors as he's now the second best run-scorer, with Stags homie Ben Smith leading the charge. Worker earned his BLACKCAPS call up in coloured clothing, which could make one pigeon hole Worker as a dashing lefty but his two centuries have come at a strike rate of 68.20 with Worker putting his long-form batting on full display.

I'm not the biggest fan of Andrew Mathieson, but he did play an ODI in England and so he deserves a little shout here. It's not a good one though as Mathieson has taken 2/183 off 48 overs after the first two Plunket Shield games.

Ponderings

Ben Smith: 402 runs at an average of 201. You've got the Funk Bat as the best batsman in the Plunket Shield right now.

Dane Hutchinson has had a strong start to his Plunket Shield campaign, taking 9/235 at an average of 26.11 and with the Firebirds lacking a strike-weapon with the ball, Hutchinson could be an influential bowler.

The Stags failed to bowl Wellington out in either innings and while their batting has been top notch (Smith #1, Worker #2 and van Wyk's 50's), their bowling certainly lacks a Doug Bracewell type. It will be interesting to see how this pans out as a bowler might step up and take the lead.

Canterbury vs Otago Volts

The Basics

Otago sit at the bottom of the ladder, two points behind the Knights after falling victim to Logan van Beek and his rampant Canterbury homies. Van Beek was the only notable score in the first innings and it was an important notable score as his 111 off 125 balls coming in at no.8 helped Canterbury wiggle their way to a reasonable first innings total of 293. Jack Hunter was the pick of Otago's bowlers with 4/47 off 24 overs as the tall right-arm seamer made the most of favourable conditions, bowling stump to stump while Michael Rae and Sam Wells helped out with three wickets each.

The batsmen then let Otago down as they were dismissed for 98 with all of Canterbury's bowlers (Ryan McCone 3/36, Will Williams 3/13, van Been 2/13, Andrew Ellis 1/19 and Tim Johnston 1/2) taking wickets to hand Canterbury the advantage. Canterbury's top four then rubbed salt into the wound as they each passed the 50-run mark (Leo Cater 57, Roneel Hira 63, Ken McClure 66) with Peter Fulton going large, clubbing 155 off 144 balls. Otago were set a target of 553, which despite a century to Brad Wilson, was far too much for the Southerners with van Beek's 6/57 off 20 overs the key effort with Otago rolled for 248.

BLACKCAPS Factor

The only BLACKCAPS related player on display was Peter Fulton, but he won't run out in the black cap again so nothing to report here. 

Ponderings

It's all about van Beek and his stellar display with both bat and ball. Van Beek finished with his top score in the Plunket Shield and his first century as well as his best bowling performance, which is a great performance for a young player who has always had the potential to push for higher honours. It's early days so I won't ride van Beek's bandwagon for too long, it is however a start and a great start at that so hopefully we see van Beek build on this and become a dominant force in domestic cricket.

Otago's bowling attack could be put in the same category as the Stags' attack. Time will tell if they can take enough wickets to win these games, without a bowler like Jacob Duffy. 

Ken McClure scored his second half-century of the season for Canterbury with the no.4 batsman another one of these players who has started the season strongly.