Wellington Firebirds vs Northern Districts Knights | Draw

Notables

ND 285

Joe Carter - 63, Scott Kuggeleijn - 112.

Hamish Bennett - 4/54 off 17.1 overs @ 3.15rpo, Brent Arnel - 2/53 off 22 @ 2.41rpo, Ian McPeake - 3/58 off 18 @ 3.22rpo.

Wellington 376/8dec

Luke Woodcock - 120, Michael Pollard - 68, Tom Blundell - 69.

Scott Kuggeleijn - 3/99 off 28 @ 3.54rpo, Joel Baker - 3/90 off 29 @ 3.10rpo.

ND 156/6

Nick Kelly - 40.

Ian McPeake - 2/16 off 12 @ 1.33rpo, Luke Woodcock - 2/17 off 14 @ 1.21.

Notes

How are we all feeling about Scott Kuggeleijn? There's a niggly off-field situation that should please no one involved, however Kuggeleijn can clearly play cricket and do so at a fairly high level. Kuggeleijn hit a big ol' century and also chipped in with a few wickets, with some clean-striking in his 112 off 130 balls catching the eye. Last season finished with Kuggeleijn near the top of the wicket-takers rankings and in his two games to start this season, Kuggeleijn has taken 11 wickets (3/130, 6/60, 3/99) and put up scores of 34, 112 and 8* with the bat. 

Wellington have an asset in Luke Woodcock, given that he can open the batting (and stick around long enough to anchor the innings) while also bowling 9 and 14 overs. Woodcock finished with 3 wickets for the match and Jeetan Patel snared just a single wicket, along with a seam-bowling unit that is perfectly designed for kiwi conditions with Hamish Bennett, Brent Arnel and Ian McPeake all nibbling it around and Wellington have skillful versatility in abundance.

There's a grizzly group of veterans in this Wellington side, however 60's from Michael Pollard (26yrs) and Tom Blundell (26yrs) supported Woodcock's century. Pollard has hit three 60's in his past six games while Blundell got the edge over Tim Seifert in the young wicket-keeper battle. Seifert hit 42 and 22, with Blundell hitting 69 in his only chance at the crease and this came on the back of a 42 from Blundell last round.

Canterbury vs Central Districts | Canterbury win (71 runs)

Notables

Canterbury 202

Todd Astle - 53.

Seth Rance - 4/41 off 15 @ 2.73rpo, Ajaz Patel 5/41 off 20 overs @ 2.05rpo.

CD 399

Greg Hay - 89, Will Young - 52, Dane Cleaver - 104, Ben Wheeler - 58.

Kyle Jamieson - 3/72 off 20 @ 3.60rpo, Todd Astle - 2/84 off 20.3 @ 4.09rpo, Tim Johnston 3/62 off 21 @ 2.95rpo.

Canterbury 354

Henry Nicholls - 98, Peter Fulton - 40, Cameron Fletcher - 58, Kyle Jamieson - 40.

Ajaz Patel - 5/118 off 53 @ 2.22.

CD 86

Mitch Renwick - 37.

Todd Astle - 5/36 off 12 @ 3rpo, Tim Johnston - 3/33 off 9 @ 3.66.

Notes

Not enough can be said about Canterbury's spin-combo of Todd Astle and Tim Johnston, who accounted for 13 of the 20 wickets Canterbury took here and 6/20 last round. Astle is simply on fire having hit 195 last round and 53 along with 7 wickets against CD, giving Canterbury a handy middle order batsman and some attacking leg-spin bowling. Astle's 5-for and 3 wickets to Johnston led Canterbury to victory, with 7/8 wickets either bowled or lbw and the way they spun the ball through the defences of CD's batsman was glorious.

In saying that, Ajaz Patel was once again the star of the show with 5-fors in either innings. Ponder that for a moment as Patel offers left-arm spin, Johnston bowls offies and Astle rips leggies and they were all hugely effective. What stands out about Patel's bowling is his efficiency as he only conceded 2.05rpo and 2.22rpo, building pressure until the batsmen cracks. The lowest runs-per-over from Astle or Johnston in this game was Johnston's 2.95rpo in the first innings.

At this stage, Seifert and Blundell are leading the young wicket-keeper rankings, however this game featured Dane Cleaver and Cam Fletcher who both scored runs. Fletcher was the third-wheel up to this point, sitting just behind Seifert and Blundell but he showed some serious grit in scoring 58 off 197 balls. Cleaver wasn't really on my radar and he definitely is now as the 24-year-old hit 104 batting at No.6; the more the merrier in this party and to have four young wicket-keepers scoring runs is fantastic.

Will Young hit his first 50 of the season and his 21st half-century of his career; there should be a few of those coming.

Kyle Jamieson is another youngster to keep an eye on as the lanky Canterbury seamer keeps taking wickets. Jamieson took 3/72 and 1/9 along with a few runs (40*), this means that Jamieson is on a 9-innings-streak of taking wickets and has taken 18 wickets in that time.

Auckland Aces vs Otago Volts | Auckland win (2 wickets)

Notables

Otago 164

Brad Wilson - 56.

Tarun Nethula  - 6/36 off 15.3 @ 2.32rpo, Dane Hutchinson - 2/24 off 14 @ 1.71rpo.

Auckland 145

Brad Cachopa - 43.

Neil Wagner - 5/55 off 15 @ 3.67rpo, Jacob Duffy - 3/21 off 14 @ 1.50rpo.

Otago 353

Neil Broom - 161, Josh Finnie - 60, Neil Wanger - 47.

Lachie Ferguson - 3/83 off 19 @ 4.37rpo, Tarun Nethula - 4/88 off 25 @ 3.52rpo.

Auckland 376

Michael Guptill-Bunce - 70, Rob Nicol - 65, Colin de Grandhomme - 144.

Christi Viljoen - 5/101 off 26.2 @ 3.84rpo, Neil Wagner 3/58 off 17 @ 3.41rpo.

Notes

How about these spinnerz!? While Patel, Astle and Johnston are enjoying a constant flow of wickets, Nethula's leggies are also doing the trick. Nethula bagged a 10-wicket-haul with 6/36 and 4/88, which came in Auckland after he only took 2 wickets in last week's game down at Mount Maunganui (Astle and Johnston have also been enjoying their home turf).

Brad Wilson is on an absolute tear; 111, 117*, 56 and 35 ... and his middle name is Svend.

The Derbyshire lads are back enjoying their time in Aotearoa and after Hamish Rutherford enjoyed some success last round, it was Neil Broom's turn to go big. Broom struggled for runs on the Kiwi County Tour but has come back and hit 93, 27*, 36 and 161 in his first two Plunket Shield games. Rutherford couldn't back up last week's effort, scoring 0 and 15.

Young Otago batsman Josh Finnie is also building nicely with the 19-year-old hitting 60 in this game, on the back of 56 last round. Going back to last season, Finnie's last four Plunket Shield games have seen him hit three 50's and in just nine games, Finne has four 50's (remember he's 19yrs!)

Auckland won this game thanks to CDG's century, hitting 144 off just 147 balls and that included 18 fours and 5 sixes. We call that a typical CDG innings folks. 

Jeet Raval is still struggling somewhat to kick on from his Blackcaps call up with scores of 47, 31, 28 and 35 thus far. The issue for Raval is that he's being put in the shade (in my low key interesting battle of the Auckland openers narrative) by Michael Guptill-Bunce who has a 50 and 70 in two games this season. Guptill-Bunce's last nine games have seen him score five 50's and two centuries.

I'm keeping an eye on Auckland bowler Lachie Fergsuon, because he bowls fast and Ferguson took 1/24 off 13 overs along with 3/83 off 19 overs. Those 3 wickets in the second innings all saw Ferguson rattle the stumps, including Rutherford and Finnies'.

Oh and Christi Viljoen's on a eight-innings streak of taking wickets, in seven of those innings' he has taken more than a single wicket. 

Leaders

Bowling

Ajaz Patel (CD): 13 wickets off 141 overs, 28.61avg, 2.63rpo.

Tarun Nethula (Aux): 12 wickets off 75.1 overs, 20.91avg, 3.33rpo.

Scott Kuggeleijn (ND): 12 wickets off 74 overs, 24.08avg, 3.90rpo.

Batting

Brad Wilson (Otago): 319 runs from 4 inns, 106.33avg, 2 x 100, 1 x 50.

Neil Broom (Otago): 317 runs from 4 inns, 105.66avg, 1 x 100, 1 x 50.

Todd Astle (Cant): 262 runs from 4 inns, 65.50avg, 1 x 100, 1 x 50.

Blackcaps Context

Dominant display from Neil Wagner as the left-arm seamer took 5/55 and 3/58 while he also hit a cheeky 47 in his return to Plunket Shield. You can't ask much more from a Blackcap when they return to domestic cricket and at this level, Wagner's hostile bowling should see him to continue to stack up wickets.

Henry Nicholls bounced back nicely from dual failures last week to hit 98 in Canterbury's second innings against CD. Nicholls came in at No.3 and anchored the innings, with further success in the next game opening the door for a possible return to the Blackcaps Test batting line up. It was frustrating to see the Blackcaps not persist with Nicholls in India, regardless, it's up to Nicholls to knock the door down and demand selection.