The clear divide between the top half of the Plunket Shield ladder and the bottom half was live in full effect last week with Auckland, Canterbury and Wellington all grabbing wins. Auckland beat Central Districts by 47 runs, Canterbury beat Otago by 5 wickets and Wellington beat Northern Districts by 4 wickets, which has Auckland still sitting pretty, almost 20 points clear of Canterbury and Wellington. 

This week we have an interesting contest between Canterbury and Wellington in Christchurch which will be the match of the round. ND and CD face off in Hamilton, that game's intrigue sits in individual performances while Auckland face bottom of the table Otago in Dunedin. 

Sizzle, You're On Fire

Luke Woodcock 

Nowadays Luke Woodcock opens with Michael Papps and the former BLACKCAP is loving his work at the top of Wellington's batting line up. Woodcock hit a century (111) in Wellington's first innings, which came after 70 and 63 against CD last round. 

Daniel Flynn |  BJ Watling

ND's two veteran batsmen enjoyed a strong showing against Wellington, even if it wasn't enough to give them the win. Daniel Flynn hit 43 and 110 with his 110 coming off only 86 balls, including 20 fours, while BJ Watling went back to back with 70s (77 and 76).

Scott Borthwick

Englishman Scott Borthwick continues to enjoy his kiwi summer, this time he hit 71 and 94 for Wellington, top-scoring in Wellington's chase of 378. Borthwick has found a home at No.4  and the 25-year-old now has a century and three 50s in only four Plunket Shield games.

Neil Broom

Neil Broom has enjoyed a lovely summer with the willow, which continued with 117 against Canterbury. Broom struggled to take his strong Ford Trophy form into the Plunket Shield however he's now got 84, 117 and 31* in his last three innings so watch out.

Mark Craig

I'm not sold on Mark Craig as the BLACKCAPS' Test spinner, however it's hard to argue with his domestic form. Craig took 4/40 off 23 overs and 3/152 off 37 overs against Canterbury wihch more importantly only came at 1.73 and 4.10 runs an over. 

Ken McClure

Otago set Canterbury 397 to win and the Cantabs have Ken McClure to thank after the 21-year-old hit 193*. McClure scored at a good clip (72.55) and took Canterbury from a tough spot (57/3) to victory. In his past four Plunket Shield games, McClure has scores of 26, 66*, 11, 46, 96, 0 and 193* which isn't too shabby for a youngster.

Michael Guptill-Bunce | Jeet Raval | Rob O'Donnell | Colin de Grandhomme

It's not too hard to see why Auckland are head and shoulders above the rest of the competition in games like their win over CD. Michael Guptill-Bunce hit his fourth 50+ score in his past seven innings' with 112 off only 103 balls in Auckland's first innings before Jeet Raval and Robbie O'Donnell both went large in the second innings. A second innings in which Guptill-Bunce also hit 57.

Raval hit 139, which keeps him in the mix for a BLACKCAPS Test opening spot after a double-hundy in his previous outing while O'Donnell continues to make waves as a young batsmen with plenty of potential, hitting 100 in tandem with Raval's knock.  

Colin de Grandhomme couldn't match these innings' however he's certainly on fire. CDG hit 55 and 69 with both innings' coming at quicker than a run-a-ball and he's enjoying a strong start to 2016 as he's hit four 50+ scores in his past four Plunket Shield outings.

Ajaz Patel | Tarun Nethula

I feel bad for lumping opponents together, however it's hard not to celebrate the spinning efforts of two kiwi-Indian tweakers. CD's left-armer Ajaz Patel took 6/117 off 30 overs and 5/148 off 36 overs while Auckland's leggy Tarun Nethula matched Patel with 6/132 off 33 overs and 5/140 off 28.1 overs

Will Young

CD have in my opinion the premier young batsman of Aotearoa, even enough he couldn't quite keep up with O'Donnell. Will Young hit 85 and 62 against Auckland and he's now hit four 50+ scores in his past six innings' and has a healthy First Class average of 41.67 ... and 18 half-centuries at only 23-years-old.

Kudos

Dean Brownlie | Daryl Mitchell | Scott Kuggeleijn | Tim Seifert | Anton Devcich

ND had a bunch of players hit 50s with Dean Brownlie (57), Daryl Mitchell (51), Scott Kuggeleijn (71) and Tim Seifert (60) chipping in with half-centuries in the first innings. Anton Devcich then hit 83 off 56 balls in their second innings as ND scored at 6.76 runs an over, setting Wellington a competitive total. 

Brent Arnel

Brent Arnel was Wellington's leading bowler in their first innings, taking 3/114 off 32 overs in a strong team effort that saw all five Wellington bowlers take a wicket.

Joe Walker | Joel Baker

Scott Kuggeleijn is the Plunket Shield's best bowler, however Joel Baker isn't too far behind him for ND with the right-arm-medium-pacer taking 2/82 off 27.1 overs and 3/84 off 19 overs. Baker was overshadowed in the first innings though by Joe Walker with the 23-year-old offie taking 3/80 off 28 overs. Anton Devcich also enjoyed success with his spin as Walker couldn't back his first innings up. Devcich took 3/139 off 28 overs while Walker went wicket-less in the second innings.

Tom Blundell | Stephen Murdoch | Fraser Colson

Michael Pollard hit 62 in Wellington's first innings, but it was half-centuries from Stephen Murdoch (72), Tom Bludnell (78) and Fraser Colson (51) in the second innings that guided Wellington to victory. Blundell's knock was especially entertaining, coming off 58 balls as the 25-year-old backed up his 92 last week strongly.

Derek de Boorder | Jimmy Neesham

Otago's middle order saved their blushes in the first innings with Broom's century coming alongside 50s to Jimmy Neesham (75) and Derek de Boorder (69). Neesham also hit 48* in the second dig as he continues to flow through an up and down summer for the Volts.

Matt Henry | Kyle Jamieson

Kyle Jamieson has been a strong performer with the ball for Canterbury and he's now forming a dangerous new-ball combination with Matt Henry who returns to Plunket Shield cricket after a healthy dose of international cricket. Henry took 3/99 off 25 overs and Jamieson took 3/54 off 25 overs in the first innings.

Anaru Kitchen | Michael Bracewell

Henry and Jamieson were kept quiet in the second innings thanks to Anaru Kitchen (61) and Michael Bracewell (53). Along with Neesham's 48, they helped Otago push the game along as they declared on 225/3 setting Canterbury 397 to win.

Peter Fulton

37-years-old and still helping the Cantabs win cricket games. Peter Fulton hit 70 in conjunction with McClure's epic knock and don't sleep on Fulton sneaking past 10,000 First Class runs this season.

Donovan Grobbelaar

Auckland's second highest scorer in their first innings was Donovan Grobbelaar who hit 63 batting at No.7 in Auckland's all-African middle order featuring Shawn Hicks, Brad Cachopa, CDG and Grobbelaar.

Tom Bruce | Mitch Renwick | Dane Cleaver | Ben Smith

CD didn't have a centurion against Auckland, they did get solid contributions from their batsmen though, all from young batsmen. Tom Bruce is 24yo and hit 80, Mitch Renwick is 23yo and hit 85, Dane Cleaver's 24yo and hit 62 and 58 while Ben Smith is 25yo and he hit 50 in the second dig.