2022/23
ROUND FIVE
NORTHERN DISTRICTS lost to CANTERBURY by 4 wickets
Seddon Park, Hamilton
25-28 February, 2023
First innings bowling bonus points: Canterbury 4, ND 4 (maximum achieved)
First innings batting bonus points: ND 2, Canterbury 3 (completed)
Total points this round: Canterbury 19, ND 6
Milestones
Rhys Mariu: first-class debut
Ish Sodhi: first-class Canterbury debut
Zak Foulkes: career-best first class bowling
Brett Hampton: maiden first-class five-wicket bag
Scott Johnston: maiden first-class five-wicket bag
Rhys Mariu had made a name for himself in Under 19 cricket | PHOTOSPORT
DAY FOUR
Plunket Shield leaders Canterbury began the day needing a further 175 runs for an outright win, but Northern made them work for it - with Scott Johnston becoming the second ND bowler in the match to claim a maiden five-wicket bag.
Johnstone removed opener Chad Bowes at 22/1 in the eighth over, then delivered an explosive 32nd over in his second spell, ripping out the wickets of Leo Carter, Zak Foulkes and Mitch Hay in the space of five balls.
Canterbury had nose-dived from 114/2 (Kristian Clarke having also dismissed Cole McConchie caught behind) to 11/5 in the same breath.
Debutant opening batsman Rhys Mariu was still there and batting beyond his years to hold the fort with Henry Shipley, now.
Shipley was unperturbed as well, slamming a six off Johnston, but becoming his fifth victim a couple of overs later.
Ish Sodhi (27 not out) replaced Shipley in the hope of forming the winning partnership while his old team, ND, desperately hunted the last four wickets they needed for an upset outright.
Canterbury had needed a further 42 runs for victory when Johnston had taken his bag after lunch, but they had all the time in the world to settle things down and get them.
Impressive Mariu finished his first match unbeaten on 78*, Sodhi hitting the winning boundary in the 50th over, with a few hours to spare.
Canterbury had extended their lead at the head of the table, albeit with two teams still waiting to play their fifth round match.
DAY THREE
After a ground delay with showery weather lurking about, it turned out to be a fine day for Brett Hampton in Hamilton.
As Kane Williamson was on the cusp of becoming the BLACKCAPS leading Test run-scorer, one of his old schoolmates was savouring his own special milestone in first-class cricket.
The connection between Northern Districts allrounder Hampton and Williamson - who both represent ND in New Zealand Domestic cricket - goes back to their Tauranga Boys' College days when Hampton was a standout schoolboy tennis player.
Cricket wasn't Hampton's number one sport, but First XI captain Williamson encouraged him to give cricket a go during Hampton's penultimate year at high school in 2007.
Hampton's big-hitting strength and elite fitness has been evident in his white-ball career that began as a T20 pinch-hitter back in January 2012, breaking into ND's first-class squad four years later at the end of 2015.
He took a haul of 4-78 against Canterbury in his first season of Plunket Shield but, having been utilised sporadically by ND across his red-ball career, it had remained his best haul until yesterday when he achieved the primary benchmark of any first-class bowler: a maiden five-wicket bag.
Hampton's 5/67 was also against Canterbury, helping restrict their first innings lead in Hamilton to 62, the visitors all out for 335 in response to ND's declaration of 273/9.
Canterbury then rolled ND for 239 in 72.1 overs on an action-packed Monday, meaning Northern will need another big effort with the ball on the last day today to stop the Plunket Shield leaders from ticking off the 175 runs they need for an outright win.
Young swing bowler Zak Foulkes (above) had proven a handful with 4/65, quick Ed Nuttall backing up with 3/44 before Ish Sodhi wrapped up the last wicket.
DAY TWO
Having resumed on 12/0 in their first dig, Canterbury survived a middle order collapse to end the second day at 299/7: a fragile, 26-run overnight lead halfway through the game.
Earlier, Chad Bowes (an audaciously quick 30), last-minute debutant Rhys Mariu (68 in his first knock) and Cole McConchie (22 from an hour and a half of occupation) had tried to get Canterbury's scoreboard moving at the top.
Opener Mariu's debut innings would be vital as the young Canterbury Country opener composed his maiden firs-class half century over three hours in the first two sessions.
His 50 came off just 76 balls, helping get Canterbury to 123/2 by lunch.
When new partner Leo Carter fell soon after the break, ND allrounder Brett Hampton had the first victim in a brutal spree that was also to claim Mariu in the 40th over.
Hampton then routed the sagging middle of Canterbury's innings to have the visitors 137/6, the ever-handy cricketer finishing his day with 4-17 off 17 overs and three Canterbury wickets left to hunt.
Ish Sodhi's unbeaten 65* in his first Plunket Shield appearance for Canterbury had been a huge factor at eight, and he spent almost four hour locking down the hatches with it.
He had had assistance from Henry Shipley (42) in a century-stand for the seventh wicket. Following Shipley's loss at 238/7, Sodhi and Fraser Sheat (33 not out at stumps) had put on a further 61 for the eighth to edge into the lead.
DAY ONE
An early lunch was taken following damp weather, but the resumption of the 2022/23 first-class season would eventually get started - with hosts Northern Districts looking for a big back half of the campaign, and starting off against current leaders Canterbury.
Visiting captain Cole McConchie won the toss and bowled, Rhys Mariu having been whistled up from Canterbury Country into his playing XI as a late replacement for ill wicketkeeper Cam Fletcher.
The NZU19 rep came in on first-class debut, while BLACKCAP Ish Sodhi was also playing his first-red-ball match for Canterbury, ironically at his old home ground against his former side.
Fraser Sheat opened the attack and had success almost immediately with Henry Cooper trapped in the first over. It was just the start of a tough first hour for ND, as Bharat Popli and Tim Seifert followed him back in - all three top batsmen dismissed for ducks.
Henry Shipley (3/44) had claimed the latter pair off the last two deliveries of his very first over, and from a position of 1/3 after just two overs, the host side had a significant repair job to do on their first innings.
All images | PHOTOSPORT
But repair it they did, to the point where captain Jeet Raval felt he could declare the innings and put Canterbury in for a trcky bit before stumps.
Raval had helped lead the recovery himself with a restrained knock of 47, albeit letting loose with a couple of sixes off Sheat when the opportunity arose.
He shared an 82-run stand for the fourth with Mitch Santner (a breezier knock of 44) that put ND back on stable ground, in what would prove the highest partnership of the first innings.
Santner's cameo was a treat - he even had the audacity to slap slippery Will O'Rourke for a couple of sixes, but he was living on the edge, and soon fell at 83/4 in just the 20th over.
Katene Clarke at six was in the same mould, cracking his quick 58 at run-a-ball pace. Northern had clearly looked to be aggressive while they could in the conditions, batting around the Raval rock.
Raval himself was a big wicket for young Zak Foulkes in the 30th over and Canterbury began to chip away.
Ish Sodhi picked up his first for his new team when he had young Fergus Lellman, making just his second appearance, caught behind at 229/8, and in the meantime Kristian Clarke was slamming an audacious unbeaten 44* off just 35 balls.
Raval declared at 273/9 after 58 action-packed overs of adventure, putting Canterbury in for the last three overs of a humid evening. Chad Bowes and Mariu negotiated them without event, and will resume at 12/0 on the second morning.
