ROUND TWO

NORTHERN DISTRICTS v CENTRAL STAGS

At Bay Oval, Mt Maunganui

30 October - 2 November 2019

TOSS: ND who elected to bowl

Scores

DAY ONE

Close of play: Central Stags 304/5

Bonus Points (in progress): Central Stags 3 batting, ND 2 bowling

Defending Plunket Shield champions the Central Stags have made a solid start at Bay Oval, captain Greg Hay and centurion George Worker reaching lunch for no loss after being sent in by Northern Districts on a fine but blustery morning.

The pair was 31* and 43* respectively at the break after patiently wearing down a challenging ND attack that included BLACKCAPS duo Neil Wagner and Trent Boult.

Wagner removed Hay at 87/1 after lunch, but Worker was in for a solid day's work as he navigated his way through 77.1 overs of the first day.

The left-hander continued on throughout the session, Brad Schmulian assisting him in a 151-stand for the fourth wicket.

Just when it looked like ND's pace attack would be having a long, fruitless afternoon in the dirt, however, the pair fell in quick succession - both to right-armer Brett Randell - in the final session.

Schmulian, who had scored his record double century on first-class debut at this same ground two years earlier, had made a frenetic start to his innings, hooking ND's stellar attack early, before settling down to pick his way to a handy 60 off 111 balls.

Worker meanwhile produced an impressive knock that balanced bloody-minded doggedness with his dashing drives and cut shots, frustrating an attack that had the added irritation of a nagging cross-wind to deal with.

He brought up his ninth first-class century (seventh for the Stags) off 211 balls, in 271 minutes, with his 13th boundary driven, and a six was included for good measure.

The Stags lost a further wicket in Dane Cleaver before stumps, Randell finishing the day as ND's most successful bowler with a career best 3-45, plus the quick runout of Smith, by his name, in his eighth appearance.

Earlier, the injury-hit Stags had named left-armer Ray Toole - celebrating his 22nd birthday - and 19-year-old Jarrod Mckay in the starting XI for the first time, the debutants spending their first day of first-class cricket enjoying watching proceedings from the viewing room.

Article added: Thursday 31 October 2019