2023/24 Plunket Shield: Michael Bracewell Explodes & More From Wellington vs Otago
Michael Bracewell's 8-wicket haul has propelled Wellington to victory over Otago and maybe a late push towards Plunket Shield glory. The other two games are still in action at the time of writing as Wellington grabbed their win with a day to spare and while we'll wait to see how results sort out the ladder, there is plenty of cricketing funk to explore from Wellington v Otago.
Bracewell's wickets serve as the headliner and rightly so given that was the main wicket-taker to roll Otago for 99. The real juice started on the first day though as Peter Younghusband took 5w @ 3.4rpo as Otago worked their way to 280 runs. Dale Phillips hit 127 runs as the leading run-scorer for Otago and he had support from opener Thorn Parkes who scored 62 runs.
Wellington responded with 421 runs led by Gareth Severin's knock of 105. Nightwatcher Younghusband score 80 runs and Logan van Beek finished on 50* down the order, while Dean Foxcroft took 6w @ 3.1rpo for Otago.
A few weeks ago, Nathan Lyon took 10w in Australia's Test win over Aotearoa in Wellington. Glenn Phillips also took 5w for the Blackcaps. In a Plunket Shield game played on the same Basin Reserve facilities, three spinners took 5+ wickets and no seamer took 3+ wickets from either team.
To add to the craziness, Bracewell was playing his first Plunket Shield game of the summer. Bracewell returned from injury to play six Super Smash games which includes the elimination final vs Canterbury where he blasted 54* @ 225sr.
Plunket Shield: 40 runs @ 40avg/85sr | 8w @ 11avg/3.6rpo
Super Smash: 151 runs @ 30avg/167sr | 5w @ 28avg/8.1rpo
With Younghusband moving up the order for Wellington, Bracewell was bumped down a spot but was still listed behind Tom Blundell and Muhammad Abbas. This is intriguing because it's a similar zone to the Glenn Phillips Test role for Blackcaps, which was previously Bracewell's role. Mitchell Santner plays this role as well and Rachin Ravindra graduated from this role to his top-order batting spot, highlighting New Zealand's depth in the spinning all-rounder silo.
Bracewell scored 40 runs @ 85sr (including a six) and this may be a where Bracewell shines. All of which is amplified by Test tours to spinning nations this year and a T20 World Cup in which Aotearoa will play most of their games in the Caribbean. Bracewell averages 38+ with the ball in Tests, ODIs, First-Class and List-A. This switches to 10.4 in T20Is and 18.1avg in T20s. Add in 100+ strike-rates in ODIs and T20Is for a basic overview of the Bracewell package in 2024.
The overall career stats don't suggest that Bracewell is an enticing Blackcaps cricketer, but Bracewell has played a variety of roles across all formats since his debut in 2011. Like Phillips, Bracewell has zoned in on his bowling over the past five years and his current role is different to when he was settling into domestic cricket. At the very least his match-winning effort against Otago is a reminder of Bracewell's ability and that he is still in the Blackcaps mixer.
Gareth Severin: 576 runs @ 48avg/50sr, 2 x 100, 3 x 50
Peter Younghusband: 227 runs @ 25avg/36sr, 1 x 50 | 26w @ 26avg/3.2rpo
If you weren't aware of Severin's excellence, tap in. Severin hit his second century in this game and the only other lads with two centuries in Plunket Shield are Henry Nicholls and Cole McConchie. 24-year-old Severin is now averaging 48 in FC cricket with seven 50+ scores in 18 innings, featuring three centuries.
Wellington's best spinner is Younghusband who now has wickets in all five innings of his last three games. Younghusband has a FC batting average of 27 and hit his third 50+ score this round. With the ball he averages 31 in FC and 23 in T20s, with his best mahi coming in the last three seasons of his FC career. Younghusband averaged 40+ or didn't take a wicket in his first four seasons, which has flipped to averaging below 30 in each of the last three seasons. This summer is the first since Younghusband's debut in 2016/17 that he has taken 10+ wickets.
Also big ups van Beek who has batted four times and has been dismissed once, scoring 153 runs @ 153avg/52sr with two 50+ knocks.
Dale Phillips is Otago's best batter this season and their only player with 500+ runs. Phillips now averages 37 in FC and he is joined by Parkes in churning out solid scores for Otago this season. Parkes has a FC average of 32 which is better absorbed by knowing that Parkes opens the batting for Otago and the 24-year-old has two 60-odd scores in his last two games, plus he's got a LA average of 53.
Dale Phillips: 542 runs @ 41avg/67sr, 1 x 100, 4 x 50
Thorn Parkes: 311 runs @ 28avg/48sr, 3 x 50
Dean Foxcroft: 279 runs @ 27avg/63sr, 1 x 100 | 13w @ 31avg/3.3rpo
Foxcroft snared wickets vs Wellington but this summer has seen the Otago skipper dip down from his fringe-Blackcaps efforts from last season. As a spinner, Foxcroft is averaging 31 in Plunket Shield and this rises to 70+ in Ford Trophy and Super Smash. Foxcroft is averaging below 30 with the bat in Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy, while averaging 38 in Ford Trophy.
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