Otago romped into the Ford Trophy finals, whether they can do the same in the Plunket Shield or not is the question. Otago got their first win of their Plunket Shield campaign, beating Northern Districts with Otago batting first, putting 237 on the board before ND grabbed a lead scoring 324 to which Otago responded with 287, setting ND 201 to win. Otago snatched a win, bowling ND out for 139 which took them 7 points ahead of Central Districts who are rooted to the bottom of the ladder.

CD and Canterbury played out a draw with CD fighting hard to seal the draw, chasing 376 and they finished up 278/9 with Seth Rance hobbling on one leg for 20*. Auckland demolished Wellington in a top of the table clash with the jaffas skittling Wellington for 174, to which they responded with 512 and then rolled Wellington for 219.

Sizzle, You're On Fire

Colin de Grandhomme

After a century and a few wickets against Canterbury, Colin de Grandhomme once again chipped in with the ball. CDG took 4/31 off 13.1 overs in Wellington's first innings, helping the jaffas restrict Wellington to just 174 as CDG ripped through Wellington's middle order picking up the wickets of Tom Blundell, Fraser Colson and Jeetan Patel in quick succession.

Rob O'Donnell

Auckland found themselves with a big lead after both first innings' thanks to 167 from young Rob O'Donnell. 21-year-old O'Donnell backed up a 52 in his previous outing and then put together a composed and patient near double-hundy, with his 167 coming off 325 balls.

Michael Guptill-Bunce

Supporting O'Donnell was Michael Guptill-Bunce, who is putting together a low key impressive season. MGB scored 89, which came after 93 against Canterbury last round and this was his third 50+/80+ score in 4 innings.

Tarun Nethula

A spinner who rarely gets mentioned as being in contention for a BLACKCAPS spot, leggy Tarun Nethula took 2/36 off 18 overs and 4/77 off 29 overs to help Auckland skittle Wellington twice.

Patels x2 (Navin Patel and Ajaz Patel, not related)

Central Districts two Patels have a very solid game against Canterbury, with medium-pacer Navin Patel taking 4/37 off 18 overs and 1/55 off 21 overs while Ajaz Patel and his left-arm spin took 2/81 off 24.1 overs and 6/152 off 39.5 overs.

Kyle Jamieson

It's been brewing for Kyle Jamieson as he has consistently been taking wickets for Canterbury and the lanky medium-pacer dined out on Stags' in their first innings, taking 5/47 off 20 overs. Jamieson backed that up with 2/52 off 21 overs in the second innings and Jamieson has now taken at least 2 wickets in his last 3 innings.

Andrew Ellis

The Vet, OG and allround allrounder Andrew Ellis continues to deliver the goods for Canterbury, scoring a second innings 63 followed by 5/52 off 21 overs as Canterbury chased a win.

Will Young

Any time Will Young scores runs, I take notice as he's the best young batsmen in domestic cricket and against Canterbury he went back to back, hitting 84 and 66* with his second innings effort helping the Stags claim a draw.

Ish Sodhi

After impressing with the white ball, Ish Sodhi has slotted back nicely into Plunket Shield cricket. Sodhi took 7/102 off 27.3 overs in Otago's second innings, which couldn't help the Knights get the W but the calibre of players that Sodhi dismissed is impressive: Rutherford, Bracewell, Broom, de Boorder, McCullum and Wells.

Daryl Mitchell

After 100* in the previous fixture, Daryl Mitchell hit 73 batting at No.7 for ND.

Brad Wilson

Former ND Knight Brad Wilson dined out against his former team, with back to back half-centuries as he scored 97 and 64 to help steer Otago to victory.

Kudos

Luke Ronchi

BLACKCAPS keeper Luke Ronchi bounced back from a lean patch in international cricket with 50 off 53 balls.

Brad Cachopa

Auckland's wicket-keeper Brad Cachopa's season is following a bit of a trend where he'll score runs in one game, have a few quiet innings' and then score runs again. Cachopa hit 60 after dual 9s in his previous outing.

Dane Hutchinson

While Auckland went large with the runs, Wellington bowler Dane Hutchinson took 4/89 off 31.5 overs.

Scott Borthwick

The Englishman is adjusting to kiwi cricket nicely as he hit 55, his second 50+ score in four innings and also took 2/61 with his leggies.

A quick search reveals Scott Borthwick is the 5th Englishman in NZ first-class cricket since 2009/2010.
— strangepasserby (@strangepsbcric) February 5, 2016

Peter Fulton

Only one bloke scored more than 23 runs in Canterbury's first innings and that was Peter Fulton and his 89.

Leo Carter

Not an instantly recognisable name, Leo Cater has quietly been going about his business at the top of the order for Canterbury and after a lean Ford Trophy campaign, the 21-year-old hit 82 in Canterbury's second innings. Carter has only played 8 FC games and already has 5 half-centuries to his name, along with a century and an average of 37.12.

Ben Smith

With a gritty 78 off 181 balls, Ben Smith now has 11 half-centuries from 31 FC games and is quickly becoming a low key opener to keep an eye on.

Tony Goodin

With 4/50 off 14.1 overs, Tony Goodin is showing that ND's bowling stocks are healthy, especially with their internationals constantly away.

Dan Flynn

Knights veteran and skipper Daniel Flynn hit 92 in ND's first innings, his 24th half-century.

Mike Bracewell

After a strong finish to Otago's Ford Trophy run, Michael Bracewell bounced back from scores of 2, 2 and 0 to hit 96 in Otago's second innings.