A 100th first-class match between old foes the Central Stags and Wellington Firebirds and a 150th first-class match in the great rivalry between Canterbury and the Auckland Aces are just two of the features of the big fourth round of the Plunket Shield, underway today in Christchurch, Palmerston North and Dunedin.
It's the last first-class round of the year, and with it comes the urgency to secure a good position at the midpoint of the eight-round New Zealand first-class championship - which will resume in February 2023 for the last four rounds, following The Ford Trophy and Dream11 Super Smash competitions.
The Central Stags are bowling first against the Wellington Firebirds in the 100th first-class match between the two sides in Palmerston North.
These sides first met in Central's very first match, at the Cello Basin Reserve in December 1950.
Wellington has won 34 and lost 22 of the matches between the two sides, with a balance of 43 drawn results and two abandonments, including a Plunket Shield fixture abandoned in November 2016 due to a 7.5 magnitude earthquake.
History made today | PHOTOSPORT
At Hagley Oval, Canterbury is out to extend its slender advantage at the top of the table against defending champion the Auckland Aces, who have won the toss and will bat first.
The two great rivals are playing each other for the 150th occasion since Auckland's entry into New Zealand first-class cricket on 18 November 1873 which was also at Hagley Park, a seven-run win to Auckland.
That match was Canterbury's 11th first-class fixture, and they head in today with a record of 48 wins, 54 losses, 47 draws and one abandonment in this great traditional rivalry.
In Dunedin, the Otago Volts have won the toss and will bat first in their first home match of the summer, against Northern Districts. ND is the only team yet to get a win heading into today's Round Four, despite impressive individual performances including Jeet Raval, Bharat Popli and captain Joe Carter all having posted early season centuries.
Spinner Tim Pringle, now a Netherlands international, and the son of former BLACKCAP Chris Pringle, is on first-class debut for ND.
Leading the batting statistics heading into this round is Central Stags batsman Tom Bruce who how averages an astounding 112.00 for the 2022 calendar year.
Bruce has 365 runs (including one century and three half centuries from five innings) at 73.00 for the current 2022/23 season, just ahead of Canterbury BLACKCAP Tom Latham with 361 at 120.33 after his two big centuries in the first three rounds.
Leading the bowling charts is Canterbury BLACKCAP Matt Henry with 23 at a class 11.69 average. Henry is followed by Otago's Jacob Duffy (18 at 19.88), Central Stags allrounder Doug Bracewell (15 at a lean 13.33) and Wellington Firebirds Iain McPeake (15 at 21.26).
Follow the battles live at www.nzc.nz or on the NZC app with our free livestreams and livescoring, or head to the NZC YouTube channel to watch.
