The white balls have been put away. Now it’s time for New Zealand’s six first-class teams to show they’re ready to hit the ground running as the second half of the 2016/17 season’s Plunket Shield championship begins.
The Central Stags and Otago Volts are still winless, both teams having been hit hard by injury this season, and have the most ground to make up over the next few weeks as the national first-class competition resumes for the first time since December and hurtles into its intense final five rounds.
Currently at the foot of the table, the Volts will go up against the current leaders ND (52 points) from this Saturday in round six, while the fifth-placed Stags can close the gap on the Aces (on 41 points after a win and two losses) with a strong performance away at Colin Maiden Park — the Aces sitting one rung higher than them with a 13-point advantage.
The new-look Aces, however, are hungry for revenge, after a disappointing white ball season in which they were shut out of the McDonald’s Super Smash Grand Final after having headed in as champions, then narrowly failed to progress to The Ford Trophy playoffs after a crucial loss against the Stags.
Now, along with the Wellington Firebirds (47 points) and Canterbury (49 points), they have their goals set on overtaking ND to claim the Plunket Shield leadership in the upcoming round — which will also see the Firebirds and Canterbury going head to head at the Basin Reserve from Sunday in a rematch of last weekend’s Ford Trophy Grand Final.
The Wellington match begins and ends one day later than the other two four-day matches; all games are free entry and start at 10.30a.m.
Round six, Saturday 25 February to Tuesday 28 February 2017
Auckland Aces v Central Stags at Colin Maiden Park, Auckland
Match referee: Gary Baxter
Umpires Tim Parlane and Tony Gillies
Scorers Claire Hayne and Toni Hill
AUCKLAND ACES: Rob Nicol (c), Donovan Grobbelaar, Michael Guptill-Bunce, Ben Horne, Colin Munro, Tarun Nethula, Robbie O’Donnell, Anikhet Parikh, Glenn Phillips, Jeet Raval, Raja Sandhu, Sean Solia
If selected in the playing XI, former NZ U19s teammates Anikhet Parikh and BLACKCAP Glenn Phillips will be on first-class debut, as will Raja Sandhu and Ben Horne
CENTRAL STAGS: Will Young (c), Tom Bruce, Dane Cleaver (w), Greg Hay, Jesse Ryder, Stefan Hook-Sporry, Ajaz Patel, Navin Patel, Seth Rance, Ben Smith, Blair Tickner, George Worker.
If selected in the playing XI, tall 21-year-old Wairarapa seamer Stefan Hook-Sporry will be on first-class debut
Northern Districts v Otago Volts at Cobham Oval, Whangarei
Match referee: Kevin Earl
Umpires Billy Bowden and Shawn Craig (umpire exchange programme with Cricket Australia)
Scorers Bill Andersson and Braedon Makgill
NORTHERN DISTRICTS: Daniel Flynn (c), Corey Anderson, James Baker, Zak Gibson, Brett Hampton, Nick Kelly, Daryl Mitchell, Bharat Popli, Tim Seifert (w), Josef Walker, Freddy Walker, BJ Watling
If selected in the playing XI, left-arm orthodox spinner Freddy Walker will be one first-class debut; he is the younger brother of Josef (Joe) Walker
OTAGO VOLTS: Brad Wilson (c), Michael Rippon, Michael Bracewell, Sean Eathorne, Derek de Boorder (w), Sam Wells, Anaru Kitchen, Nathan Smith, Christi Viljoen, Jacob Duffy, Michael Rae, Rhys Phillips
Round six, Sunday 26 February to Wednesday 1 March 2017
Wellington Firebirds v Canterbury at Basin Reserve, Wellington
WELLINGTON FIREBIRDS: Michael Papps (c), Brent Arnel, Hamish Bennett, Tom Blundell, Scott Borthwick, Hamish Marshall, Matt McEwan, Iain McPeake, Stephen Murdoch, Luke Woodcock, Anurag Verma, Jeetan Patel
CANTERBURY: Andrew Ellis (c), Chad Bowes, Cameron Fletcher, Kyle Jamieson, Cole McConchie, Henry Shipley, Todd Astle, Jack Boyle, Peter Fulton, Tim Johnston, Henry Nicholls, Logan van Beek
Match referee: Kevin Pulley
Umpires Ash Mehrotra and Derek Walker
Scorers Ian Smith and Cheryl Styles
• All four-day matches begin at 10.30am
• All matches are FREE ENTRY, gates open 10am
• All matches are livescored at www.blackcaps.co.nz
• The livescoring features LIVE VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS so you can see the key action as it happens
• Social hashtag: #PlunketShield
Plunket Shield points table
2016/17 Plunket Shield Season Calendar
