2023/24 Plunket Shield: Hearty Seniors & Fringe Blackcaps
After rolling through some of the best youngsters in Plunket Shield, now we tap in with the hearty domestic troopers who hold things down as the best players in domestic cricket. That starts with Auckland's Rob O'Donnell who is in a fabulous form groove with three centuries in his last seven innings and two other 50+ scores, meaning a 50+ score in six of his last seven innings.
O'Donnell scored 8 runs in the first innings of Auckland's draw with Otago before 151* in the second innings. This was O'Donnell's first century of the Plunket Shield season and all three of his centuries this summer have come since the start of February. O'Donnell now averages 36 in all three formats which is bonkers in T20 cricket and super solid in the longer formats. Interestingly, O'Donnell scored two of his three List-A centuries in the last phase of Ford Trophy.
Also in the runs for Auckland were Sean Solia (62 runs) and Mark Chapman (123 runs) who both put up scores in the first innings. George Worker chimed in with 52 runs alongside O'Donnell in the second innings and he has passed 50 runs in four of his nine innings this season.
Rob O'Donnell
Plunket Shield: 324 runs @ 54avg, 1 x 100, 2 x 50
Ford Trophy: 635 runs @ 70avg/82sr, 2 x 100, 4 x 50
Sean Solia
Plunket Shield: 470 runs @ 52avg, 1 x 100, 3 x 50
Ford Trophy: 168 runs @ 21avg/78sr, 1 x 50
Mark Chapman
Plunket Shield: 125 runs @ 62avg, 1 x 100
Ford Trophy: 136 runs @ 34avg/71sr, 1 x 50
George Worker
Plunket Shield: 312 runs @ 34avg, 4 x 50
Ford Trophy: 236 runs @ 26avg/63sr, 2 x 50
Chad Bowes (114 runs) and Nick Kelly (138, 56) both churned out runs in Wellington's win over Canterbury. The century for Bowes was his first of the summer and along with a knock of 74 runs in Ford Trophy, Bowes has two 50+ scores in 16 innings across Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy. Both those scores have come since the start of February which highlights Bowes' slow start to the summer before finding form.
Kelly is first for runs in Plunket Shield and the only batter with 500+ runs. This was Kelly's first Plunket Shield century of the season and comes a few games after his Ford Trophy century, which fits into the theme of lads stacking up runs later in the summer. Kelly is the only lad in Plunket Shield with five 50+ scores and he has the highest strike-rate (64) of the 12 batters with 310+ runs.
Nick Kelly
Plunket Shield: 510 runs @ 56avg, 1 x 100, 4 x 50
Ford Trophy: 252 runs @ 27avg/77sr, 1 x 100, 1 x 50
Chad Bowes
Plunket Shield: 142 runs @ 23avg/86sr, 1 x 100
Ford Trophy: 334 runs @ 33avg/94r, 1 x 50
Cole McConchie scored 82 runs in the first innings against Wellington, while Peter Younghusband snared 3 wickets in that innings before another wicket in the second outing. McConchie is in the upper echelon of domestic cricketers and a strong finish to the season could see him add to his Blackcaps appearances. Younghusband has snuck up the Plunket Shield wicket-taking charts and is now second behind Ajaz Patel for spin wickets.
Cole McConchie
Plunket Shield: 272 runs @ 30avg, 1 x 100, 1 x 50
Ford Trophy: 187 runs @ 26avg/86sr, 2 x 50 | 6w @ 23avg/4.3rpo
Peter Younghusband
Plunket Shield: 140 runs @ 23avg | 17w @ 25avg/3.1rpo
Ford Trophy: 65 runs @ 32avg/91sr | 9w @ 35avg/5.5rpo
In the draw between Central Districts and Northern Districts Greg Hay scored 53 runs before knocks of 83 runs from Henry Cooper and 111 runs from Bharat Popli. The funkiest knock is Popli's as he has only batted five times in Plunket Shield for a century and a 50+ score, which keeps his First-Class batting average just over 40 (40.81)
Bharat Popli
Plunket Shield: 231 runs @ 46avg, 1 x 100, 1 x 50
Ford Trophy: 20 runs @ 20avg/62sr
Henry Cooper
Plunket Shield: 236 runs @ 33avg, 2 x 50
Ford Trophy: 223 runs @ 27avg/65sr, 1 x 100
Patel took 7w @ 1.9rpo for CD and that's a better haul than his entire Ford Trophy campaign where he took 5w. This takes Patel into a group of four bowlers who have 20+ wicket alongside Nathan Smith, Scott Kuggelein and Jacob Duffy. Duffy only took 2w for Otago against Auckland and that adds to his impressive mahi this season; Patel and Duffy both average 32 in 90+ FC games.
Jacob Duffy
Plunket Shield: 23w @ 21avg/2.8rpo
Ford Trophy: 12w @ 29avg/4.6rpo
Ajaz Patel
Plunket Shield: 20w @ 24avg/2.9rpo
Ford Trophy: 5w @ 44avg/4.9rpo
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