Plunket Shield Summary. Round 4
0The round that wasn’t really a round.
While the country dealt with one of its biggest earthquakes ever, the aftermath and the aftershocks, there was a little bit of cricket played. But there were also some storms thrown into the mix to ensure that cricket consisted of less than 4 days out of a possible 12.
There was the rarity of “Match abandoned; earthquake” in Wellington. And if you think hosting a match in Christchurch in November is risky, it’s probably not as risky as hosting one in Invercargill.
Opening Batsmen
They have sent Martin Guptill back to domestic cricket to work on his game, and he now has consecutive centuries. His knock of 151 off 138 bodes well for the Chappell-Hadlee series in a few weeks.
Fellow former test player Dean Brownlie continues to hint away in the background. He also brought of his second ton of the season (143) in batting through an entire day.
Other Batsmen
Former New Zealand rep, Canterbury’s Andy Ellis (the cricket one) made 196 off 159 balls to notch his highest first class score.
Cole McConchie also made his maiden first class century.
Colin Munro’s vaunted return to first-class cricket saw him score 32 off 22 before getting caught on the leg-side boundary. Has he not noticed the test side middle order is a little fluid?
All Rounders
It’s hard to know where to mention Corey Anderson this week. His match return of contrasting knocks of 103 (131) and 46* (96) were impressive, but he didn’t bowl.
Darryl Mitchell started his journey as an all-rounder with career best figures of 4/39. Ellis didn’t get to bowl.
Bowlers
There was not a lot to talk about in this high scoring semi-round. Lachie Ferguson continued to indicate the hype might be right with a tidy return of 3/70 and 3/19.
Sodhi’s 2/115 wouldn’t have been what he wanted. But leg spinners in New Zealand in November…..
This series of Plunket Shield wraps is for those who like to follow casually, particularly with an eye to national selection. Given the tournament has no radio coverage anymore someone has to do it. However, it is almost exclusively done by reading scoreboards and NZC Press Releases. If you happen to go to any of the matches and have some observations to make please e-mail freak@sportsfreak.co.nz with feedback. Cheers