DAY FOUR
The Wellington Firebirds claimed a thrilling three-wicket win despite a dashing century from SKYCITY Northern Knights captain Daniel Flynn — and with just six balls left in the match.
Lively declarations and thundering bats made for an exciting last day at the Basin.
Flynn had smashed his 110 off 86 balls (getting the second half of his ton in just 34 balls), yet ultimately such a blistering knock went in vain.
He had given the orders to go for it, BJ Watling assisting with 76 off 99 and Anton Devcich smashing an unbeaten 83 off 56 in his wake.
Anton Devcich pumped four sixes
Then came the swift declaration of 291/3 to set the Firebirds a fair chase of 378, against a now Kuggeleijnless attack.
Luke Woodcock had made his seventh first-class ton in the first innings and departed for a duck in the second, such is cricket, yet a solid team effort (County pro Scott Borthwick top-scoring with 94 and sharing a stand worth 130 runs with Stephen Murdoch) got the Firebirds home to keep them in the right half of the table, with an important clash against second-placed Canterbury coming up.
They had held their nerve to hunt down the last 76 needed off the final 10 overs, Fraser Colson (an unbeaten 51 off 66 balls) and Tom Blundell (78 off 58) putting Firebirds supporters on the edge of their seats before Blundell was dismissed in gutting fashion, with the tally on 343, chasing 378.
But Jeetan Patel (13 off eight) joined forces with Colson to finish the job off in a thriller.
DAY THREE
Stumps score: SKYCITY Northern Knights 85/1 second innings (Daniel Flynn 58), leading by 171 runs. Earlier: Wellington Firebirds 352/7 declared (Luke Woodcock 111, Scott Borthwick 71, Michael Pollard 62, Jeetan Patel 37 not out; Joe Walker 3-80) at the Basin Reserve, 10 March 2016
A quick unbeaten half century from SKYCITY Northern Knights captain Daniel Flynn in the last session took the polish off a fighting day from the Firebirds.
The Northern opener had slammed and carved 58 from 53 by stumps, on a day when local veteran opener Luke Woodcock had earlier ground away for almost six hours to get the Firebirds back in the game.
Having been set on 51 overnight, Woodcock’s century in the middle session was his seventh in first-class cricket and had helped the Firebirds bag maximum first-batting bonus points as the two sides jockey for position on the table.
The spinner/batsman had taken a shine to the Knights’ spinner Josef Walker, blasting a pair of sixes off the youngster before ticking off his century with an off drive, the three figures having arrived in 190 balls, 14 boundaries in all alongside the two sixes.
Walker would also be his undoing, top-edging to Zak Gibson who, as sub, collected his first catch in first-class cricket.
The Knights were without an injured Scott Kuggeleijn, putting the onus on the rest of the attack to make the breakthroughs in windy conditions. Part-timer Daryl Mitchell had managed to stop Scott Borthwick’s efforts on 71 before lunch, but the much missed Michael Pollard (62 off 118) would add another half century to the tally before tea and allowed the Firebirds to ultimately declare 87 runs behind on the first innings.
Before Flynn started his brutal assault late in the afternoon, there had then been some early cheer for the hosts as they quickly got rid off Dean Brownlie, who fell to Dane Hutchinson in the second over, but it may well be spinners to the fore again on day four.
DAY TWO
Stumps score: Wellington Firebirds 94/2 (Luke Woodcock 51 not out). Earlier: SKYCITY Northern Knights 438/8 declared (BJ Watling 77, Anton Devcich 31, Daryl Mitchell 51, Scott Kuggeleijn 71 not out, Tim Seifert 60; Brent Arnel 3-114) on 9 March 2016
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The SKYCITY Northern Knights did their darndest to make up for lost time on the second day of the Basin’s round seven encounter — capitalising on an overnight platform of 133/2 with a lower order blitzkrieg to declare in the last session.
Young guns Tim Seifert and Scott Kuggeleijn had smashed 120 off 135 balls for the seventh wicket, and this after BLACKCAP BJ Watling’s 77 had guided the Knights into a good launching position at 285/5.
Watling was capably assisted by Anton Devcich and Daryl Mitchell — the latter marching past 50 for the fourth Plunket Shield game in succession this year.
To add to Wellington’s worries, it took just 5.2 overs for the Knights to make their first breakthrough in reply with the ball, seamer Jimmy Baker blasting out Firebirds skipper Michael Papps on seven before Scott Kuggeleijn added Stephen Murdoch caught behind.
Joined by County pro Scott Borthwick, opener Luke Woodcock settled the Firebirds down, posted his 6000th first-class run, and went on to bring up his half century with a boundary off spinner Joe Walker to end the day on a positive note at 94/2.
DAY ONE
Stumps score: SKYCITY Northern Knights 133/2 in 37 overs (Daniel Flynn 43, Dean Brownlie 57) at the Basin Reserve, Wellington 8 March 2016
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The Basin Reserve drew the short straw from the weather lottery as the Plunket Shield, brought to you by Budget Rental, resumed around the country, after a week’s break.
Rain with no play saw an early lunch taken in the capital clash before 24-year-old Firebirds right-armer Iain McPeake finally got to step over the rope to make his first-class debut that afternoon.
Unsurprisingly, the Firebirds had elected to bowl and McPeake would claim Daniel Flynn (43) as his maiden wicket — the SKYCITY Northern Knights captain brilliantly caught by Fraser Colson to break a 92-run opening stand with Dean Brownlie.
Brownlie carried on to a half century before falling victim to Brent Arnel, the Knights 133/2 when bad light ended play on a truncated day.
