How can you not love Plunket Shield cricket!? It's back and the first round since the Ford Trophy swung into gear saw a result in every game. Otago fell to Wellington in Queenstown, sealing their spot at the bottom of the ladder as Wellington controlled each innings, getting things underway with 348 all out to which Otago responded with 240 all out. Wellington then hit 282 to set Otago 391 to win and the Southeners could only manage 288.

In Napier, Northern Districts dismantled Central Districts as they also dominated each innings. ND batted first and got 268, CD responded with 256, ND then went nuts getting 425 which set CD a total of 438 to win. CD managed a woeful 153.

Christchurch hosted the great Canterbury vs Auckland fixture, with my Jaffas doing the job. This time it wasn't the team who batted first who won with Canterbury managing 294 first up, followed by 279 from Auckland which kept things relatively even. Canterbury were all out for 222, setting Auckland 238 to win, which they chased down.

Sizzle, You're On Fire

Steve Borthwick

Most kiwi cricket fans won't recognise the name Steve Borthwick, which is because he's a 25-year-old Englishman who has ventured down under for a bit of kiwi summer action. Borthwick has actually played a Test for England and boasts a First Class average of 36.08 with 32 half-centuries and 11 centuries to his name. He hit 102 for Wellington in their first innings to get his kiwi campaign off to a sizzling start.

Michael Papps

One of the more prolific domestic batsmen of the past decade served up the goods yet again for Wellington as Michael Papps hit back to back half-centuries in Wellington's win over Otago. Papps hit 85 in the first innings folllowed by 60 in the second, playing a supporting role in either innings.

Neil Wagner

Lord Wagnut took 5/101 off 34 overs - typical Neil Wagner really - as the Otago lefty sent two of Wellington's top-three (Woodcock and Murdoch) back to the sheds.

Brent Arnel

The elder statesman of Wellington's bowling attack also took a 5-wicket-haul in Otago's first innings, finishing with 5/59 off 20 overs. Arnel went one better than Wagner though, picking up Otago's top-three batsmen .

Mark Craig

Boy, this game was dishing out 5-fors wasn't it? Mark Craig also chipped in with 5 wickets, taking 5/79 off 35 overs as he opened the bowling for Otago with Wagner and did some hefty damage picking up Papps, Murdoch and Borthwick and Tom Blundell.

Tim Seifert | Bharat Popli | Daryl Mitchell

ND enjoyed three centurions in their win over CD with Tim Seifert saving the day in their first innings with 106 - ND's only score over 46. It was a different story in the second innings though as Bharat Popli hit 133 batting at No.5 and Daryl Mitchell then chipped in with 100 off 119 balls at No.7. 

Bharat Popli's last four Plunket Shield innings: 116, 68, 46, 133. #Yoza

Scott Kuggeleijn

Tim Southee was rolled out for ND, leading their pace attack but it was Scott Kuggeleijn who stole the show with 4/82 off 19 overs and 4/25 off 13.4 overs, giving him 8 wickets for the match. Kuggeleijn continues to impress and must surely be on the radar of BLACKCAPS coach Mike Hesson; Kuggeleijn's last Plunket Shield game before Christmas saw him take 4/108 and 2/63 while also scoring 104*.

Ed Nuttall

My favourite domestic bowler brought his Ford Trophy antics to the Plunket Shield with 5/72 off 17 overs in the first innings against Auckland. Nuttall couldn't lead Canterbury to victory with the ball in the second innings, he did however take 2/24 off 13 overs, he tried his best.

Michael Bates

Auckland had their own lefty take a 5-for with Michael Bates taking 5/48 off 18 overs in Canterbury's second innings, which kept Canterbury in check as they could only set Auckland 238 to win.

Colin de Grandhomme

Far from sizzling this summer, Colin de Grandhomme finally found some runs and did it in style, whacking 106 off 92 balls to make light work of Canterbury's target. CDG also took 3/38 off 16 overs in the first innings along with 1/26 off 14 in the second, yup he does it all.

(shout out to Donovan Grobbelaar who took 3/56 off 15.2 in tandem with CDG along with 2/17 off 7 in the second innings)

Michael Guptill-Bunce

I'll make an exception for Michael Guptill-Bunce who didn't quite get a century, but the 93 he hit against Canterbury was his second Plunket Shield 90 in a row after he hit 92 in the second innings of his last Plunket Shield game back on December 17.

Kudos

Hamish Rutherford | Jimmy Neesham | Derek de Boorder | Sam Wells

With a return to the top of the order after a stint down the order in Ford Trophy cricket, Hamish Rutherford hit 70 as he looks to make a strong case for higher honours. Rutherford was joined by Sam Wells who hit 51 in the first innings before Jimmy Neesham chipped in with a brisk 65 off 62 balls in the second innings along with 50 from Derek de Boorder.

Fraser Colson

Coming close to getting a sizzle nomination, Fraser Colson hit 97 for Wellington in their second innings. Colson is a 25-year-old who has played Under-19s for New Zealand and will be looking to establish himself in Wellington's Plunket Shield side.

Alecz Day | Dane Hutchinson | Mathew Bacon

Wellington enjoyed a few 3-wicket-bags with Alecz Day taking 3/48 off 13 overs in the first innings via his off-spin. Dane Hutchinson (right-arm-mediums) then took 3/60 off 15 overs in the second innings with Mathew Bacon taking 3/27 off 6.3 overs in that innings, a fine return in his first Plunket Shield game along with his 1/25 off 7.4 in the first innings.

Ish Sodhi

Before joining the BLACKCAPS, Ish Sodhi did a fine job for ND with both bat and ball. Sodhi hit 25* in the first innings and backed that up with 62 as a night-watchman in the second to go with 2/72 off 13.5 overs and 1/7 off 4.

Seth Rance | Bevan Small | Blair Tickner

Despite being touched up by ND, the Stags enjoyed a few 3-wicket-bags with Seth Rance (3/61 off 23) and Bevan Small (3/43 off 18) doing a tidy job in the first innings. Blair Tickner followed this up with 3/89 off 18.5 overs in the second

Tom Latham | Tim Johnston | Cam Fletcher

Doing what we want our BLACKCAPS batsmen to do in domestic cricket, Tom Latham hit 65 opening the innings for Canterbury. Tim Johnston also chipped in with a first innings 76 down the order and then continued his fine form with 49 in the second innings along with Cam Fletcher's 77. 

N McAndrew | Rob O'Donnell

N McAndrew, the mystery man hit 65 for Auckland and also took 2/55 off 18 overs + 1/28 off 12 overs. Rob O'Donnell is one of a number of promising young batsmen in Aotearoa and his 52 off 144 balls helped lay a solid platform for CDG to go to work from.