After three rounds of the Plunket Shield the Mitre 10 MVP competition is starting to take shape.
Wellington Firebirds and BLACKCAPS spin bowler Jeetan Patel leads the overall Mitre 10 MVP rankings. He was a key part of Wellington’s success against Northern Districts in the third round, taking seven wickets during the match.
“It’s nice to be leading this competition, but to me it’s a reflection on how the whole team is going after beating the Aces and the Knights,” Patel said. “I don’t strive for these sorts of things, as long as I can get us over the line as a team then that’s what I am most interested in.”
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Currently the Northern Knights lead the overall Plunket Shield competition, with a number of Knights players featuring in the top 10 rankings of the Mitre 10 MVP. Brent Arnel, Graeme Aldridge and Joseph Yovich have made an impact with the ball and sit fourth, fifth, and seventh respectively.
Graeme Aldridge was sitting at the top of the table after two rounds, and is thrilled with the way things have gone so far.
“The season started with some really good performances from both batsmen and bowlers, so it was great to be on top of the MVP rankings after the first two matches,” he said. “I was particularly pleased that my performances have been able to assist the Knights to strong wins to kick-start their season.”
There have been a number of big batting scores over the last few weeks, including 196 from Neil Broom, 172 from recalled BLACKCAP Peter Fulton against Otago, and centuries from experienced players Scott Styris and Chris Harris.
Fulton was in the top ten of the Mitre 10 MVP before taking some time away from domestic cricket after his call up to the BLACKCAPS. Although he has spent a week away, he is still sitting nicely in the top 25 overall.
“MVP was fantastic last season and it especially exciting that players will be ranked through the BLACKCAPS matches this season,” he said. “Obviously we hope someone from the BLACKCAPS will be on top of the Mitre 10 MVP table at the end of the summer.”
The women’s season starts this week and will also be included in the MVP along with the international players.
