In a replay of the last summer's Ford Trophy Grand Final, defending champions the Central Stags showed they still have the wood over Canterbury.

With regular captain Tom Bruce still absent with a hernia, Dane Cleaver won the team's first toss of the season, and put Canterbury into bat at Pukekura Park.

Matches between the two teams are always interesting, and Canterbury arrived fired up to exact some revenge - with brothers Matt Boyle and Jack Boyle once again squaring off against each other for their respective sides.

The Boyle of the Canterbury variety helped ensure his team got off to a good start, almost reaching a half century as he and BLACKCAP Chad Bowes (36) put on quick 87 for the opening wicket.

They attacked the short boundaries as they slammed eight sixes between them, but the good start would fall away after left-arm spinner Jayden Lennox (2/37) broke the stand with two wickets in two balls, and Ray Toole followed up in the very next over to stop the red-and-black Boyle from reaching a half century.

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It was the start of a special day for the strong left-arm paceman who added his maiden List A one-day bag to all the bags he had been taking in red-ball cricket.

There were still some obstacles to overcome; chiefly Mitch Hay who continued his consistent form with a top score of 82, at run-a-ball pace.

Hay shared a 97-run stand with Michael Rippon who made 43 before becoming Blair Tickner's 50th Ford Trophy victim, Tickner with 2/48; and put on a further 47 with handy Zak Foulkes.

It was Toole who stopped Hay from reaching a century and doing any more damage at 248/6, when big late runs could have really cost the hosts.

Instead, they rallied as Toole wrapped up the innings in the 47th over, finishing with figures of 5/72 off his 9.4 overs at the boutique ground.

At almost run-a-ball against a good attack, a total of 278 would still be a fair chase for the Stags, who were looking for their first win in the second round, while Canterbury had already chalked up their first against the Firebirds on the previous weekend.

The bounce of big paceman Will O'Rourke removed the green Boyle early, and Foulkes struck a big blow when he had Cleaver out for a duck. But Brad Schmulian (43 off 42) built a third-wicket platform with debutant Curtis Heaphy who would go on to reach a half century in his first white-ball appearance.

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The debutant had support from Josh Clarkson (44) for a time, as the Stags steadied themselves. Heaphy at 20 has already played six Plunket Shield matches for the team over the past two years and came in at four, top-scoring with 70 before he was caught at 222/5 in the 43rd over.

He and Will Clark have played a lot of cricket together, and both got their maiden half tons. Clark had been upping the tempo in their 68-run stand and athough the Stags were staying in touch, now they still had to elevate further to make sure they were ahead in the game.

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Clark's maiden List A half century off just 48 balls, with two sixes in the mix. The match was going to go down to the wire, and it was important that he and new partner Bayley Wiggins kept looking for every run.

Wiggins had scored his maiden century at the same ground in his own debut season, and had just the answer. He attacked, racing to 25* off just 16 balls before Gus McKenzie punched back with Clark's wicket, caught behind on 59.

The Central Stags still needed 14 off 16 balls, with four in hand, as Bevan Small strode to the middle. The battle-scarred veteran quickly found the boundary to ease the tension, with just eight runs now needed off the last two overs.

The Stags brought it home with seven balls to spare, once again frustrating their rivals who took their first hit of the campaign. It was a bad day for Canterbury all round with the Central Districts A Men also beating Canterbury A in their Taupō one-dayer, with a bag for Taranaki's Liam Carr.

The Stags now head to Fitzherbert Park, Palmerston North to play the Wellington Firebirds on Sunday before returning to Pukekura Park for round four against the Otago Volts on Thursday, 7 December - all matches free admission.

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POINTS TABLE AT A GLANCE

After Round 2 of 10

Northern Districts 9

Canterbury 5

Central Stags 4

Otago Volts 4

Auckland Aces 4

Wellington Firebirds 0

ROUND TWO

CENTRAL STAGS defeated CANTERBURY by 4 wickets

Pukekura Park, New Plymouth

Central Stags: 4 points

SCORECARD

Selected milestones

Curtis Heaphy : List A debut

Blair Tickner : 50th List A wicket for Central Stags

Ray Toole : career best List A figures, maiden five-wicket bag

Curtis Heaphy : Maiden List A half century

Will Clark : Maiden List A half century

Article added: Thursday 30 November 2023