ROUND EIGHT
Seven down, one to go. This summer's edition of the Plunket Shield championship — and the NZC Domestic season — is all boiling down to the last round.
Fate - or the points table at least, has scripted the perfect scenario for two teams who both have the opportunity to control of their own destiny, going head-to-head at Hamilton's Seddon Park from tomorrow.
Whoever finishes top of the Plunket Shield points table is the season’s winner. Tom Blundell’s Wellington Firebirds will head in as the leader, with five wins from seven rounds, but just a handful of points ahead of former frontrunner, Jeet Raval’s Northern Districts (four wins from seven).
Elsewhere, the Central Stags host the Otago Volts in Napier and the Auckland Aces host Canterbury at Eden Park’s Kennards Hire Community Oval at the same time - with all those teams now playing for the best ranking they can squeeze out the last hurrah.
Ahead of the last round, let’s take a quick lock at some of the top performers and performances of the New Zealand championship season.
STAT CHAT
MOST RUNS
(all from 7 matches unless otherwise stated)
All images: PHOTOSPORT
576 Nick Kelly, Wellington Firebirds, and Gareth Severin, Wellington Firebirds
568 Joe Carter, Northern Districts
542 Dale Phillips, Otago Volts
514 Sean Solia, Auckland Aces
500 Mitch Hay, Canterbury
470 Will O’Donnell, Auckland Aces
464 Greg Hay, Central Stags
428 Muhammad Abbas, Wellington Firebirds (6)
426 Henry Nicholls, Canterbury (4)
423 Max Chu, Otago Volts
419 George Worker, Auckland Aces
MOST WICKETS
(s = spinner)
30 Jacob Duffy, Otago Volts
30 Nathan Smith, Wellington Firebirds
29 Scott Kuggeleijn, Northern Districts
27 Kristian Clarke, Northern Districts
26 Peter Younghusband (s), Wellington Firebirds
25 Ajaz Patel (s), Central Stags
22 Brett Hampton, Northern Districts
22 Zak Foulkes, Canterbury
21 Louis Delport (s), Auckland Aces
21 Danru Ferns, Auckland Aces
21 Matt Fisher, Northern Districts
21 Michael Rae, Canterbury
21 Blair Tickner, Central Stags
18 Doug Bracewell, Central Stags
18 Ray Toole, Central Stags
BIGGEST CENTURIES
Quirky fact: Central Stags have had just one century (by ND’s Bharat Popli) and one bag (Ace Jordan Sussex) taken against them all season
206 Sean Solia, Auckland Aces v Wellington Firebirds
186 Brad Schmulian, Central Stags v Wellington Firebirds
174 Dean Foxcroft, Otago Volts v Auckland Aces
151* Robbie O’Donnell, Auckland Aces v Otago Volts
146 Mitch Hay, Canterbury v Northern Districts
145 Sandeep Patel, Northern Districts v Otago Volts
145 Rhys Mariu, Canterbury v Wellington Firebirds
143 Gareth Severin, Wellington Firebirds v Auckland Aces
138 Nick Kelly, Wellington Firebirds v Canterbury
131 Curtis Heaphy, Central Stags v Wellington Firebirds
127 Dale Phillips, Otago Volts v Wellington Firebirds
124 Henry Nicholls, Canterbury v Otago Volts
124 Joe Carter, Northern Districts v Auckland Aces
123 Mark Chapman, Auckland Aces v Otago Volts
120 Henry Nicholls, Canterbury v Auckland Aces
BAGS OF STYLE
8/41 Michael Bracewell, Wellington Firebirds v Otago Volts
7/41 Brett Hampton, Northern Districts v Otago Volts
7/78 Ajaz Patel, Central Stags v Northern Districts
7/103 Adithya Ashok, Auckland Aces v Northern Districts
6/36 Nathan Smith, Wellington Firebirds v Canterbury
6/45 Matt Fisher, Northern Districts v Auckland Aces
6/45 Kristian Clarke, Northern Districts v Auckland Aces
6/46 Jordan Sussex, Auckland Aces v Central Stags
6/60 Scott Kuggeleijn, Northern Districts v Otago Volts
6/62 Danru Ferns, Auckland Aces v Northern Districts
6/77 Kristian Clarke, Northern Districts v Wellington Firebirds
6/79 Scott Kuggeleijn, Northern Districts v Canterbury
6/84 Dean Foxcroft, Otago Volts v Wellington Firebirds
6/89 Jacob Duffy, Otago Volts v Northern Districts
6/90 Ray Toole, Central Stags v Canterbury
6/98 Louis Delport, Auckland Aces v Wellington Firebirds
SAFE HANDS: MOST FIELD CATCHES
13 Robbie O’Donnell, Auckland Aces
13 Jeet Raval, Northern Districts
10 Jacob Cumming, Otago Volts
10 Nick Kelly, Wellington Firebirds
9 Bharat Popli, Northern Districts
9 Peter Younghusband, Wellington Firebirds
8 Ajaz Patel, Central Stags
7 Henry Nicholls, Canterbury
7 Tom Bruce, Central Stags
7 Will O’Donnell, Auckland Aces
7 Joe Carter, Northern Districts
7 Zak Foulkes, Canterbury
KEEPING WELL: DISMISSALS
35 Dane Cleaver, reaching Central Stags all-time dismissals record of 233
31 Mitch Hay, Canterbury
28 Callum McLachlan, Wellington Firebirds
24 Cam Fletcher, Auckland Aces
22 Max Chu, Otago Volts
BETTER TOGETHER: HIGHEST PARTNERSHIPS
209 Sean Solia/Will O’Donnell, Auckland Aces v Wellington Firebirds
197 Chad Bowes/Rhys Mariu, Canterbury v Wellington Firebirds
199 Sandeep Patel/Joe Carter, Northern Districts v Otago Volts
191 Curtis Heaphy/Brad Schmulian, Central Stags v Wellington Firebirds
166 Gareth Severin/Peter Younghusband, Wellington Firebirds v Otago Volts
163 Will O’Donnell/George Worker, Auckland Aces v Northern Districts
159 Dean Foxcroft/Luke Georgeson, Otago Volts v Auckland Aces
159 Cole McConchie/Mitch Hay, Canterbury v Northern Districts
144 Gareth Severin/Nick Kelly, Wellington Firebirds v Central Stags
148* Nathan Smith/Muhammad Abbas, Wellington Firebirds v Canterbury
145 Cole McConchie/Mitch Hay, Canterbury v Otago Volts
THAT'S BIG: LARGEST TEAM TOTALS
MBUTCHER
572/9 declared Central Stags v Wellington Firebirds
526 Canterbury v Wellington Firebirds
509/8 declared Central Stags v Auckland Aces
500/8 declared Auckland Aces v Wellington Firebirds
427 Central Stags v Northern Districts
421 Wellington Firebirds v Otago Volts
413/9 declared Canterbury v Auckland Aces
410 Auckland Aces v Otago Volts
398 Canterbury v Northern Districts
COMPREHENSIVE: THE INNINGS VICTORIES
Round 1 Central Stags v Auckland Aces by an innings & 77 runs
Round 1 Northern Districts v Otago Volts by an innings & 32 runs
Round 7 Wellington Firebirds v Otago Volts by an innings & 42 runs
And the big one…. MOST POINTS!
ROUND EIGHT
10.30am, Sunday 24 to Wednesday 27 March, 2024
FREE admission all venues
