Bad news for the Pakistan v New Zealand A fixture is good news for round four of the Plunket Shield, starting this Monday in Invercargill, Wellington and Mount Maunganui, the weather-enforced abandonment of the Pakistan tour match releasing a host of leading NZA players back into the domestic first-class competition just as thre pre-Christmas pressure builds.
The return of Central Stag Jesse Ryder to red ball cricket will be one of the other talking points as the top teams look cement a pre-Christmas lead in the first half of the 10-round 2016/17 competition.
The Basin Reserve is the stage for Ryder’s first Plunket Shield appearance since March 2015, when he scored 92 and 25 for the Otago Volts against Northern Districts in Hamilton. Ryder has played 23 first-class matches for Essex in the intervening seasons, with his most recent red ball County appearance in June this year. It’s also his first first-class appearance for the Central Stags since December 2003.
The Basin Reserve also looms as a home setting for what is likely to be Luke Woodcock’s record-breaking 121st first-class cap for the Wellington Firebirds — and, with 6557 first-class runs for Wellington heading into the match, the opener known ubiquitously as “Woody" needs just nine runs in round four to surpass Matthew Bell’s all-time Firebirds record of 6565.
Round FOUR, Monday 14 to Thursday 17 November 2016
• 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
• Livescoring LIVE VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS, see action as it happens
• Social hashtag: #PlunketShield
• Plunket Shield points table
Selected Statistics
• Firebirds pace bowler Brent Arnel requires one more wicket to reach 350 first-class wickets
• Derek de Boorder requires 8 runs to reach 4000 first-class career runs; and 171 runs to reach 4000 first-class runs for the Otago Volts
• Last season’s leading Plunket Shield wicket-taker, Central Stags left-arm off-spinner Ajaz Patel, remains top of the Plunket Shield bowling table with 19 wickets in 2016/17
• Following his double century in Auckland, Firebirds opener Luke Woodcock has moved ahead of Otago Volts opener Brad Wilson (400 runs) as the leading run-scorer after three rounds; if selected in the playing XI it will be Woodcock’s 121st cap — breaking Evan Gray’s long-standing Wellington record.
Northern Districts v Auckland Aces at Bay Oval, Mt Maunganui
Northern Districts: Anton Devcich (c), Corey Anderson, James Baker, Dean Brownlie, Joe Carter, Zak Gibson, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Bharat Popli, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi, Josef (Joe) Walker. Coach: James Pamment
Auckland Aces: Rob Nicol (c), Cody Andrews, Brad Cachopa (wk), Mark Chapman, Donovan Grobbelaar, Martin Guptill, Michael Guptill-Bunce, Shawn Hicks, Dane Hutchinson, Colin Munro, Sean Solia, Tarun Nethula. Coach: Mark O’Donnell
Wellington Firebirds v Central Stags at Basin Reserve, Wellington
Wellington Firebirds: Michael Papps (c), Brent Arnel, Hamish Bennett, Tom Blundell (wk), Matt McEwan, Iain McPeake, Hamish Marshall, Stephen Murdoch, Jeetan Patel, Michael Pollard, Luke Ronchi, Matt Taylor, Luke Woodcock. Coach: Bruce Edgar
Central Stags: Will Young (c), Doug Bracewell, Tom Bruce, Dane Cleaver (wk), Liam Dudding, Greg Hay, Ajaz Patel, Seth Rance, Mitch Renwick, Jesse Ryder, Ben Smith, Blair Tickner, Ben Wheeler. Coach: Heinrich Malan
Otago Volts v Canterbury at Queen’s Park, Invercargill
Canterbury: Andrew Ellis (c), Chad Bowes, Michael Davidson, Cam Fletcher (wk), Peter Fulton, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Johnston, Ken McClure, Cole McConchie, Ed Nuttall, Logan van Beek, Theo van Woerkom. Coach: Gary Stead
Otago Volts: Brad Wilson (c), Michael Bracewell, Neil Broom, Derek de Boorder (wk), Jacob Duffy, Sean Eathorne, Josh Finnie, Jack Hunter, Michael Rae, Hamish Rutherford, Rhys Phillips, Christi Viljoen, Sam Wells. Coach: Rob Walter
