2023/24 Plunket Shield: Northern Districts Winning Mahi & More Notes
Two rounds of Plunket Shield are left for the summer and Northern Districts head into the final stage on top of the ladder. ND defeated Auckland in a funky affair and this gives them four wins, no losses and three draws. Wellington and Central Districts played out a draw while Otago got their first win of the season against Canterbury. Here's how the ladder looks...
ND: 4-0-2 | 80 points
Wellington: 3-0-3 | 67 points
CD: 2-1-3 | 58 points
Canterbury: 1-3-2 | 48 points
Otago: 1-3-2 | 43 points
Auckland: 0-4-2 | 29 points
For this breakdown of Plunket Shield cricket here are a few key notes...
ND are the best team thanks to strong performances across their roster. Henry Cooper took key wickets late against Auckland and is one of five ND batters who have scored 250+ runs along with Jeet Raval, Bharat Popli, Joe Carter and Brett Hampton. Scott Kuggeleijn's 22w @ 16avg/2.9rpo still looks fantastic despite him not playing much recently, while ND's young seamers in Kristian Clarke and Matt Fisher are in fabulous form.
Carter, Hampton, Fisher and Clarke are the most interesting ND troopers and right now they are their best players. Carter had scores of 124 and 58 against Auckland, now sitting alongside Nick Kelly as the only batters with 500+ runs this season. Hampton also scored a century against Auckland but his 100* came off 100 deliveries and of the 16 batters with 300+ runs, Hampton's strike-rate of 78.2 is the highest.
No other batter has 300+ runs and a strike-rate over 70. Hampton has hit the most sixes this season (14). Hampton is also snaring wickets and his bowling average of 16 is second only to Nathan Smith (28w @ 15.9avg) for the 22 lads with 10+ wickets. Hampton is the only bloke in Plunket Shield with 20+ wickets and 300+ runs.
Keen kiwi cricket folks will enjoy how Clarke and Fisher are flourishing this season. Clarke is now third for wickets after 3 wickets in each innings against Auckland and he has 8w in the two games of Plunket Shield's second stanza. Fisher took 3w and 2w against Auckland, taking him to 10w in the last two games. Clarke has a First-Class bowling average of 27.4 and Fisher is averaging 23.9.
Northern Districts' best players...
Joe Carter: 512 runs @ 64avg/49sr
Brett Hampton: 324 runs @ 46avg/78sr | 20w @ 16avg/2.5rpo
Bharat Popli: 298 runs @ 42avg/49sr
Henry Cooper: 259 runs @ 28avg/53sr
Jeet Raval: 252 runs @ 28avg/49sr
Kristian Clarke: 25w @ 21avg/3.5rpo
Scott Kuggeleijn: 22w @ 16avg/2.9rpo
Matt Fisher: 19w @ 21avg/3.4rpo
Two things from the draw between CD and Wellington...
Nathan Smith was 12th-lad for Wellington and that's interesting (not fussed about why) because Smith is their best bowler by a hefty margin. Smith was overtaken by Jacob Duffy as the leading wicket-taker in the last round and while Smith has 28w, no other Wellington seamer has 10+ wickets. Ben Sears is next best on 9w and leggy Peter Younghusband is second for Wellington wickets on 19w.
CD only batted once (572/9dec) with Logan van Beek and Iain McPeake taking 2w each. Spinners Younghusband and Jesse Tashkoff took 2w each which is part of a spin takeover in all Plunket Shield teams last round. Most teams gave overs to two spinners last round...
ND: Joe Walker, Freddy Walker
Auckland: Louis Delport
CD: Ajaz Patel, Brad Schmulian
Wellington: Peter Younghusband, Jesse Tashkoff
Canterbury: Ish Sodhi, Michael Rippon
Otago: Ben Lockrose, Dean Foxcroft
Brad Schmulain scored 186 runs vs Wellington and he has three centuries in his last five games after finishing Ford Trophy with two centuries in three games. Schmulian is averaging 40+ in FC and List-A cricket, while 20-year-old Curtis Heaphy isn't far behind that marker with 41.8avg in FC and 39.5avg in LA.
Heaphy had a knock of 131 against Wellington, his third consecutive 50+ score in Plunket Shield. Despite only playing three games this season, Heaphy is third for CD runs and he is their only batter averaging 50+ having played at least two games. This flows on from his first Ford Trophy campaign where he had three 50+ knocks in eight games and in a CD team full of grizzly veterans, Heaphy's consistency is commanding buzz.
How did Otago get their first win of the Plunket Shield campaign?
Luke Georgeson took 5w in the first innnings, Jacob Duffy snared 4w in the second inning and Dale Phillips finished on 70*. Georgeson and Duffy took 2w each in the other innings, which bolsters their season tallies and Duffy's dominance is especially intriguing given how Blackcaps seamers are being given opportunities.
Duffy has 8w in the last two games, so most of his wickets came in the first stanza. Georgeson took half of his 14w in the win over Canterbury and he now has three 5-wicket baggies in his last six games, as well as two 50+ scores featuring a century. Below are stats across all three formats for these two and Phillips...
Luke Georgeson
Plunket Shield: 292 runs @ 29avg | 14w @ 32avg/3.4rpo
Ford Trophy: 253 runs @ 28avg/80sr | 16w @ 15avg/4.3rpo
Super Smash: 22 runs @ 22avg/95sr | 1w @ 32avg/8rpo
Jacob Duffy
Plunket Shield: 29w @ 19avg/2.7rpo
Ford Trophy: 12w @ 29avg/4.6rpo
Super Smash: 10w @ 17avg/6.7rpo
Dale Phillips
Plunket Shield: 411 runs @ 37avg
Ford Trophy: 231 runs @ 28avg
Super Smash: 59 runs @ 11avg/105sr
Sean Davey deserves a salute for Canterbury as well. Davey took 5w in the first innings against Otago and he now has 9w @ 26avg/2.9rpo in three games this season, which is part of a fabulous FC career record of 50w @ 19.1avg/2.5rpo after 13 games. Having only played 13 games at 30-years-old, Davey has been on a tricky journey and he didn't play any Ford Trophy for Canterbury this season despite averaging 20 in LA cricket.
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