Damn rain huh? Thanks to that damn rain we only got substantial cricket in the game between Northern Districts Knights and Auckland Aces, the battle of the northeners you could say and it was the Knights who got their first win of the Ford Trophy. Auckland suffered their first defeat and here's what you gotta know...

Sizzle, You're On Fire

Corey Anderson

No centuries or 5-wicket hauls in this game, we did however get 98 from Corey Anderson. It wasn't the swashbuckling innings that we expect of Anderson as he scored his runs off 119 balls and only hitting 3 sixes; one over long-off and two over mid-wicket.

Anderson's knock was the key contribution in the Knights' total of 303 and a win for ND, however it's the bigger picture that we should all be worried about with Anderson. Ahead of his return to the BLACKCAPS, Anderson has been in a bit of a purple patch having hit 88 a few days ago and in the Plunket Shield game inbetween the Super Smash and Ford Trophy, Anderson hit 83. 

Within that BLACKCAPS context, it's great to see Anderson play a key role for his domestic team. This innings came with Andersoon at No.4 and as has been the case recently, he's not bowling so to have Anderson approaching his international return with some form is exactly what we want.

Rob O'Donnell

Not quite a standout like Anderson, O'Donnell has strung together two half-centuries for Auckland. Against ND, O'Donnell (like Anderson) came in at No.4 after a few early wickets and played a steady hand as Auckland's middle order couldn't back the 21 year old up. Back to back 50s for a youngster is impressive and with more runs comes more scrutiny or homework from the opposition, so it will be interesting to see how O'Donnell handles this over the next few games.

O'Donnell is also doing a tidy job as a spin option for Auckland. Before having a bat, O'Donnell took 1/39 off 9 overs.

Kudos

James Fuller | Lachie Ferguson

Both Aces quicks were in the wickets despite ND's dominance with the bat. Fuller took 4/54 off 9 overs while Ferguson also went for 6 runs an over taking 3/60 off his 10 overs. This ensures that Ferguson stands alone as the leading wicket-taker in the Ford Trophy so far with not much action around the grounds. Fergsuon has 9/165 at an average of 18.33 and is quickly becoming a key man in Auckland's bowling attack.

Anton Devcich | Daryl Mitchell

Helping the Knights pass 300 runs were Devcich (53 off 58) and Mitchell (55 off 39). Mitchell is an interesting character as he's slipped down ND's batting order, which may have been to allow him to focus on his hitting or because in his last 10 innings' he hasn't scored over 36 runs in an innings.

Brett Hampton

With their pace attack generally always on international duty, ND need to rely on domestic troopers to do a job. One of them is Joel Baker who is doing a fine job but it was 24 year old Brett Hampton who caught the eye against Auckland taking 4/30 off 7.3 overs including the key wickets of Glenn Phillips and Colin de Grandhomme.

Edward Nuttall

There was some action between Canterbury and Wellington, not much but enough for Ed Nuttall to take 2/15 off 3 overs. I wrote about Nuttall last time around as he's Canterbury's key man with the ball and could be a sneaky BLACKCAPS inclusion sometime soon as the lefty (along with Joel Baker) sits on 7 wickets, just behind Ferguson as the leading wicket-taker. 

The only thing is that Nuttall's wickets have come off 19 overs, he's got an average of 10.42 and he's only conceding 3.84 runs an over. Compare that to Ferguson's 30 overs, average of 18.33 and 5.50 rpo and Nuttall's clearly got some value.

Hmm...

Mark Chapman

Having scored a century for Hong Kong and more than likely to pursue a career with New Zealand, Chapman is a young player to keep an eye on (Auckland have a few of them). Chapman made his debut for Auckland here and didn't have a great day with ball or bat (0/17 off 3 overs and 15 off 18 balls) but he's intriguing.

Here's the table so far with Auckland vs Wellington in Auckland, Canterbury vs Otago in Christchurch and CD vs ND in New Plymouth tomorrow. Will see y'all soon.