BLACKCAPS Trent Boult and Tim Southee will lead the SKYCITY Northern Knights bowling attack when the Plunket Shield, brought to you by Budget Rental, begins this week with a full round of action.
The domestic four-day competition will see all but one players of the BLACKCAPS Test side (Brendon McCullum) participate in the opening round, when the teams renew their hostilities on Thursday.
Each side will play two of their 10 first-class matches this month, followed by one in December and the rest uninterrupted at the conclusion of the Ford Trophy in February.
The Knights will boast Boult, Southee, Kane Williamson and BJ Watling when they take on the Wellington Firebirds at Seddon Park in Hamilton. It looms as an almighty challenge for the visiting Firebirds, though they will have the services of Luke Ronchi and last season’s top run-scorer, Stephen Murdoch.
At Eden Park Outer Oval in Auckland, 2014/15 runners-up the Mondiale Auckland Aces will clash with last year’s champions Canterbury, who are in the hunt for a rare three-peat. Both sides will be boosted by a BLACKCAPS opening batsman, with Martin Guptill available for the Auckland Aces and Tom Latham likely to partner Peter Fulton at the top for Canterbury.
The other fixture of round one sees the SBS Bank Otago Volts visit the Devon Hotel Central Stags at Nelson Park in Napier. Jimmy Neesham will feature for the Volts, who also have a number of former international representatives in their ranks, as well as last year’s leading wicket taker, Jacob Duffy. They’ll have their work cut out for them though, with last season’s second top run-scorer Will Young joined in the top order by Ross Taylor and Doug Bracewell, complimenting an already talented bowling attack.
It promises to be one of the most exciting rounds of Plunket Shield action in recent years – an excellent way to kick off the 2015/16 First Class season.
Video scorecard highlights will be available at the end of each day’s play, while all matches will be livescored on www.blackcaps.co.nz.
Full team lists are on Major Association websites.
Plunket Shield Round One
All matches start 10.30 on Thursday 15 October
Official hashtag: #plunketshield
Mondiale Auckland Aces v Canterbury
Eden Park Outer Oval, Auckland
Match report here
SKYCITY Northern Knights v Wellington Firebirds
Seddon Park, Hamilton
Match report here
Devon Hotel Central Stags v SBS Bank Otago Volts
Nelson Park, Napier
Full schedule: http://www.blackcaps.co.nz/schedules/fixtures/domestic/all-teams/plunket-shield-brought-to-you-by-budget-rental
