Northen Districts vs Auckland (Draw)

Notables

ND 417

Dean Brownlie - 143, Corey Anderson - 103, Scott Kuggeleijn - 53.

Lockie Ferguson - 3/70 off 25 overs @ 2.80rpo, Tarun Nethula - 3/99 off 30 overs @ 3.30rpo.

Auckland 348

Martin Guptill - 151.

Scott Kuggeleijn - 3/84 off 17 overs @4.94rpo, Daryl Mitchell - 4/39 off 7 overs @5.57rpo.

ND 110/5 

Corey Anderson - 46.

Lockie Ferguson - 3/19 off 11 overs @1.72.

Notes

Scott Kuggeleijn may have ruled himself out of contention for higher honours, yet that's only making him perhaps the most intriguing kiwi cricketer not in the Blackcaps. Every week I'm writing about Kuggeleijn's exploits and while others are yo-yo'd in and out of domestic cricket, Kuggeleijn's predicament will allow us to observe what could be a tremendous summer for the bowling all-rounder. Kuggeleijn hit a half-century and dismissed 3 of Auckland's top-5 batsmen, taking the new-ball and bowling 10 more overs than any other ND seamer.

In the four games this season, Kuggeleijn has offered major contributions in all but one game; last round saw Kuggeleijn take just 2 wickets which is only game this season in which he's taken less than 3 wickets.

Lockie Ferguson is almost as intriguing as Kuggeleijn and just like Kuggeleijn, I'm doing plenty of writing about Ferguson. The Auckland quick bowler took 3 wickets in either innings and after I questioned whether he could settle down and not concede so many runs, he only conceded 2.80rpo and 1.72rpo in either innings. The way Ferguson spears the ball back into the right-hander - skittlin' the stumps of Dean Brownlie and Bharat Popli - is striking, especially when he's bowling fast. 

While Ferguson has taken a 5-for, this game saw him perform in either innings and prior to this, Ferguson hadn't taken over 2 wickets in both innings.

Last year's gun batsmen Bharat Popli hasn't quite been able to pick up where he left off last season; 9, 41, 28, 28, 1, 28, 9, 1.

Tarun Nethula took 3 wickets @ 3.30rpo and Ish Sodhi took 2 wickets @ 5rpo in the battle of the leggies. 

Otago vs Canterbury (Draw)

Notables

Canterbury 446/6

Cole McConchie - 103, Andrew Ellis - 196.

Michael Rae - 4/112 off 26.1 overs @4.28rpo, Christi Viljoen - 2/120 off 29 overs @4.13rpo

Notes

Not much play down in Invercargill and a massive century from Andrew Ellis is an obvious highlight. Ellis smacked 196 off just 159 balls at a strike-rate of 123.27 with a pretty staggering 8 sixes and while he was MVP-calibre last season, Ellis has only dabbled with 6 wickets in four games and even less runs, which means that this epic century could spark him into action.

Who is the other century-maker Cole McConchie? At 24-years-old, McConchie has been a steady presence in Canterbury's team and has played seven First-Class games since making his FC debut in 2012. This was his first century in domestic cricket and he's got a FC average of 24.54 while also offering some off-spin at an average of 33. 

Michael Rae is another joker who I hadn't heard too much about and he took 4 of Canterbury's top-5 wickets. He's 21-years-old and offers right-arm-seam, with this 4-wicket performance his first appearance this summer, there's also the fact that he joined 22-year-old Jacob Duffy as Otago's new-ball combo.

Don't sleep on Christi Viljoen either, with the former Namibian international continuing his solid bowling form from last season, into this season. Viljoen has taken at least a wicket in all but one of the six innings he's bowled in this season and we can extend that out to taking a wicket in 10 of his past 12 innings.

Leaders

Bowling

Tarun Nethula (Aux): 20 wickets off 149 overs, 26.30avg, 3.53rpo.

Ajaz Patel (CD): 19 wickets off 194 overs, 31.57avg, 3.09rpo.

Scott Kuggeleijn (ND): 17 wickets off 113 overs, 24.76avg, 3.72rpo.

Batsmen

Luke Woodcock (Welly): 427 runs from 5 inns, 106.75avg, 2 x 100, 1 x 50.

Brad Wilson (Otago): 400 runs from 6 inns, 80avg, 2 x 100, 1 x 50.

Hamish Rutherford (Otago): 359 from 6 inns, 59.83avg, 2 x 100, 1 x 50.

Blackcaps Context

A few big innings from fringe Blackcaps who aren't playing against Pakistan with Corey Anderson hitting 103 and Martin Guptill 151 off just 138 balls. Guptill's gone back to back with centures since being dropped from the Blackcaps, going past 50 in all three innings which will keep pressure on the Blackcaps batsmen. You've got to wonder what'll happen if Guptill can bang out another century in Plunket Shield cricket because he's basically doing what is being asked of him, which when combined with how silly it would be to drop Jeet Raval after two Test matches, offers a complex situation.

Guptill is 4th in runs so far this season; 335 runs from 3 inns, 167.5avg, 80sr.

It was interesting to see that Anderson wasn't used as a bowler for ND as he's being kept in domestic cricket to build up his bowling loads. You could make the case that Anderson is currently the third best all-rounder, fourth if you include Mitchell Santner's spin and fifth if we consider Todd Astle an all-rounder and not just a spinner. Anderson is behind Jimmy Neesham who is in the Blackcaps squad and obviously Colin de Grandhomme who's nippin' the ball all over the show for the Blackcaps.