All the home teams had a win in Plunket Shield's round three with Auckland winning in the big city, Central Districts winning in Napier and Northern Districts winning in Hamilton.

Auckland

Win vs Wellington | 3-0-1 | 1st | 47 points

Best Performers vs Wellington

Cameron Fletcher: 79 runs | 85 runs
Sean Solia: 68 runs
Bevon Jacobs: 58 runs | 125 runs
Simon Keene: 4w @ 2.1rpo | 2w @ 2.9rpo
Rohit Gulati: 3w @ 3rpo | 3w @ 2.2rpo
Adithya Ashok: 1w @ 2.7rpo | 2w @ 3.5rpo
Ryan Harrison: 50*

Best Performers This Season

Bevon Jacobs: 369 runs @ 73.8avg/84sr
Lachlan Stackpole: 279 runs @ 55.8avg/109sr
Cameron Fletcher: 258 runs @ 64.5avg/43sr
Rohit Gulati: 21w @ 18.6avg/2.4rpo
Simon Keene: 12w @ 19.5avg/2.8rpo

Notebook

Jacobs' scores this season: 67*, 1, 30, 0, 32, 94, 26, 66, 58, 125.

Jacobs is second for the most fours hit in Plunket Shield (46) and second for most sixes (10).

Fletcher is averaging 40+ in his last two FC seasons.

Stackpole is the only batter in Plunket Shield over 100sr and he is first for most sixes (18). He scored less than 20 runs in each of his three Ford Trophy games and has scored 20+ runs in all five of his Plunket Shield innings.

Harrison's all-round mahi this season

Scores: 16, 79, 14, 22, 1, 54*, 31*, 50*.

Wickets: 1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0.

Gulati's wickets this season: 2, 2, 0, 5, 6, 4, 3, 3. He is now averaging 22.7 in FC bowling.

Keene's wickets this season: 2, 3, 2, 1, 1, 3, 1, 1, 1, 4, 2. That's a wicket in all five Ford Trophy games and all six Plunket Shield innings.

Lister took 4w @ 25.7avg in Ford Trophy and returns to Plunket Shield action with 3w @ 25.6avg. He has a FC bowling average of 26.2.

Northern Districts

Win vs Otago | 1-1-1 | 5th | 28 points

Best Performers vs Otago

Bharat Popli: 91 runs
Henry Cooper: 60 runs | 45 runs
Joe Carter: 52 runs | 119*
Brett Hampton: 3w @ 3.1rpo | 60 runs
Kristian Clarke: 2w @ 2.7rpo
Zak Gibson: 2w @ 2.2rpo | 4w @ 2.8rpo
Joshua Brown: 2w @ 3.6rpo

Best Performers This Season

Henry Cooper: 421 runs @ 84.2avg/49sr
Bharat Popli: 291 runs @ 48.5avg/58sr
Joe Carter: 289 runs @ 57.8avg/47sr
Joshua Brown: 11w @ 25avg/3.1rpo
Tim Pringle: 11w @ 36.5avg/2.9rpo
Zak Gibson: 7w @ 15.1avg/2.4rpo

Notebook

Cooper (35.07), Raval (37.91), Popli (40.63) and Carter (36.99) have FC batting averages over 35.

Gibson has a wicket in all three of his Plunket Shield innings bowled and is in his best season of FC bowling.

Brown has 2+ wickets in four of six Plunket Shield innings bowled this season with a FC average of 28.

Pringle has a wicket in five of his six Plunket Shield innings bowled.

Central Districts

Win vs Canterbury | 2-1 | 2nd | 37 points

Best Performers vs Canterbury

Curtis Heaphy: 119 runs
Josh Clarkson: 4w @ 2.4rpo | 2w @ 2.7rpo
Ray Toole: 3w @ 2.9rpo | 2w @ 2.2rpo
Ajaz Patel: 2w @ 2.8rpo | 3w @ 1.2rpo
Taylor Bettelheim: 50 runs
Brad Schmulian: 93 runs
Will Clark: 70 runs

Best Performers This Season

Brad Schmulain: 383 runs @ 76.6avg/64sr
Curtis Heaphy: 273 runs @ 68.2avg/49sr
Dean Foxcroft: 164 runs @ 41avg/67sr
Josh Clarkson: 13w @ 17.1avg/3.1rpo
Ajaz Patel: 9w @ 26avg/2.8rpo
Ray Toole: 9w @ 30.4avg/3.6rpo

Notebook

Schmulian is averaging 40+ in FC and LA batting. He has a FC century in six consecutive seasons and has scored 30+ runs in five of his six Plunket Shield innings.

Heaphy has three centuries in his last six games and has scored less than 30 runs in just two of his last 13 innings.

Clarkson has taken 2+ wickets in eight of his 10 innings bowled this season. He is averaging below 20 in Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy.

Patel has a wicket in all five Plunket Shield innings bowled and 2+ wickets in his last three innings. He took 3w for the first time this season in the second innings vs Canterbury.

Clark scored less than 20 runs in seven innings before his 70 runs in the second innings vs Canterbury.

Wellington

Loss vs Auckland | 0-3 | 6th | 14 points

Best Performers vs Auckland

Liam Dudding: 5w @ 4.4rpo | 2w @ 1.9rpo
Peter Younghusband: 2w @ 3.3rpo | 2w @ 4.2rpo
Callum McLachlan: 89* | 85 runs
Peter Younghusband: 61 runs
Tim Robinson: 106 runs
Nick Kelly: 59 runs

Best Performers This Season

Tim Robinson: 347 runs @ 86.7avg/83sr
Nick Kelly: 269 runs @ 44.8avg/71sr
Gareth Severin: 243 runs @ 40.5avg/51sr
Liam Dudding: 13w @ 20.4avg/3rpo

Notebook

Different opening combos for Wellington in each Plunket Shield game...

vs Otago: Sam Mycock, Nick Greenwood

vs CD: Sam Mycock, Jesse Tashkoff

vs Auckland: Nick Greenwood, Michael Snedden

Of these four batters, Tashkoff is the only one averaging over 15.

Robinson is averaging 86.7 in Plunket Shield and 69.3 in Ford Trophy this season. His scores in Plunket Shield: 87*, 1, 108, 27*, 18, 106.

Robinson's strike-rate of 83.2 makes him the only Welington batter with a strike-rate over 76.

Kelly's last three FC seasons...

2023/24: 605 runs @ 46.5avg

2024/25: 749 runs @ 57.6avg

2025/26: 269 runs @ 44.8avg

McLachlan is now averaging 29.3 in FC batting. He hit two of his six 50+ scores in the loss vs Auckland.

Dudding is Wellington's only bowler averaging below 30. No Wellington bowler is below 3pro this season.

Canterbury

Loss vs Central Districts | 1-1-1 | 4th | 28 points

Best Performers vs Central Districts

Michael Rae: 3w @ 3.8rpo
Kyle Jamieson: 2w @ 2.1rpo | 3w @ 2.2rpo
Sean Davey: 2w @ 3.1rpo
Ish Sodhi: 1w @ 1.9rpo | 2w @ 3rpo
Chad Bowes: 33 runs
Cole McConchie: 3w @ 4rpo
Jesse Frew: 30 runs

Best Performers This Season

Matthew Boyle: 269 runs @ 53.8avg/58sr
Henry Nicholls: 241 runs @ 80.3avg/73sr
Chad Bowes: 231 runs @ 38.5avg/67sr
Ish Sodhi: 12w @ 39.4avg/3.4rpo
Michael Rae: 10w @ 28avg/2.7rpo
Angus McKenzie: 7w @ 33.1avg/3rpo

Notebook

Jamieson has a FC bowling average of 21.96.

Mariu's scores in Plunket Shield: 5, 2, 14, 2, 0, 12.

Frew is a 24-year-old wicket-keeper who has played six FC games.

The last FC season in Aotearoa Sodhi took 10+ wickets was 2022/23 with 11w @ 25.2avg.

Otago

Loss vs Northern Districts | 3rd | 1-1-1 | 32 points

Best Performers vs Northern Districts

Toby Hart: 6w @ 3.4rpo
Luke Georgreson: 2w @ 2.2rpo | 74 runs | 2w @ 2.2rpo | 49*
Ben Lockrose: 70 runs | 2w @ 6.4rpo
Troy Johnson: 61 runs
Jacob Cumming: 57 runs
Max Chu: 60 runs

Best Performers This Season

Jacob Cumming: 302 runs @ 60.4avg/62sr
Luke Georgeson: 240 runs @ 120avg/39sr | 9w @ 29.3avg/3.5rp
Danru Ferns: 9w @ 31.5avg/3.2rpo

Notebook

Chu scored 300+ runs and averaged 30+ in four consecutive FC seasons, now he's slightly below that mark this summer but should keep the streak alive.

Georgeson's all-round mahi in Plunket Shield this season...

Scores: 14, 59*, 44*, 74, 49*

Wickets: 0, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2

Hart is a 22-year-old seamer currently averaging 27.2 after two FC games. He has a wicket in all six innings bowled at the domestic level.

Cumming is in his best season of FC batting and is on track to pass last summer's 411 runs @ 31.6avg.

Lockrose hit his first 50+ score in Plunket Shield and has three 30+ scores in his last three innings.

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