The Stags have rocketed up to second on the Plunket Shield ladder after a second outright victory on the bounce.

This time the team trounced Canterbury by 295 runs after rolling them twice in Napier - a match that also saw AJAZ PATEL get his 400th first-class wicket in his remarkable career.

The match in Napier delivered also delivered major career milestones for wicketkeeping captain DANE CLEAVER who marked his return to captaincy not only with a key win, but his 300th first-class dismissal, nine for the match and six in the dramatic first innings collapse that shoved Canterbury out of the game.

On day two, Canterbury lost seven wickets in a session. On day three, they then lost six in a session in a case of ditto day horrors for the visitors.

Heading into Monday, the final day, just two wickets were left standing between the Stags and a win over their strong rivals, and despite some patient defiance from two substitute Cantabrians in Jesse Frew and Fraser Sheat, victory was wrapped up before lunch in the most comprehensive result of the round.

The jumped two spots up the table as a result, behind only while the Auckland Aces who held firmly onto their lead in Auckland with the full 20 points from the latest round of the national first-class championship, the Stags, Aces and Northern Districts all securing outright victories.

Cleaver had chalked up his 300th first-class dismissal during Canterbury's first innings, as Canterbury perished for just 124 on a sweltering Hawke's Bay weekend.

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Having captained one first-class match previously - at the same ground, in 2022 when then-skipper, now coach Greg Hay had an injury, Cleaver had taken over the leadership this time in the absence of Tom Bruce and elected to bat first after winning the toss on a sunny day one.

Not much went to plan for Canterbury in this one, and that started before they even got to the ground.

Cancelled and rerouted flights had seen them eventually bus the leg from Wellington to Napier, arriving at 8.30pm the evening before the match. Sore bodies were then immediately sent into the field the next morning.

It was a disruptive few days in which they would also lose both keeper-batter Mitch Hay and strike bowler Michael Rae to the BLACKCAPS' injury-hit Test squad, the pair whisked away mid-match after the first innings had been completed.

Hay's call-up was inked in pre-match, Rae's came after the match had started with original 12th man Fraser Sheat and replacement keeper Jesse Frew stepping into the XI for the second innings, and coach Peter Fulton suiting up in whites to run the drinks.

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But by stumps on Sunday, day three, Canterbury's troubles were in black and white on the board as they found themselves eight down in their second innings with only 127 runs ticked off in a big chase.

At 319 runs in arrears heading into the last day, the bruising result was just a matter of time.

For the Stags, almost everything went right in a polished and merciless performance in the field - although Cleaver's men will have been a little disappointed to have put just 239 on the board in their own first innings, in the warm conditions.

But it proved ample, and the spinners increasingly enjoyed the warm conditions as the footmarks and cracks developed nicely for the second innings.

The first dig featured yet another first-class century from young gun Curtis Heaphy who has now scored hundreds in each of his last three first-class matches, including his New Zealand A ton in South Africa.

His batting mate from the previous Plunket Shield match in Wellington, Brad Schmulian, helped him put on 61 with a knock of 39 in the first dig.

Schmulian is the second highest runscorer overall nationally after three rounds, and himself would narrowly miss out on a century in a second consecutive match when he was dismissed for 93 after top-scoring in the second innings.

Although the rest of the home line-up had fallen away (Rae with 3/65) in the first innings, the Stags would still go on to take a first-innings lead of 115.

Canterbury lost their first wicket before stumps on the first day, but the wrecking ball swung wildly early on day two with that dramatic loss of seven wickets in a session.

The collapse was sparked by a calamitous runout as Henry Nicholls and nightwatchman Angus McKenzie couldn't work out who was running where.

Jayden Lennox rocketed in the ball in a game-changing moment and captain Nicholls - coming off a century in each innings in the previous match - was on his way for just two, no doubt kicking himself.

Canterbury's middle order seemed to get flustered then as they lost Cole McConchie, Matt Boyle and Hay in rapid succession, the dressing room door flapping just as quickly as Josh Clarkson continued to amplify his all-round status.

The big seamer claimed his new first-class best of 4/33 as he finished off Canterbury in just the 50th over, after the red and blacks had gone to lunch smarting at 85/8.

Central's second innings was peppered with contributions across the order, a player stepping up whenever the team needed to regain some momentum - albeit still not quite the emphatic, foot-on-the-throat statement they would have sought.

Rookie Taylor Bettelheim (above) scored his second half century at the top in just his second match, and formed a 97-run stand with Schmulian after Heaphy, for once, missed out.

Kyle Jamieson got both Heaphy and Dean Foxcroft early as he thundered the ball into their pads, and he had a third when Cleaver nicked off early.

Will Clark breezed to 70 | MBUTCHER

But the Stags dusted themselves off, Will Clark belting a breezy and fearless 70 at eight to help the Stags get an overall lead of 445, before Ish Sodhi took the last wicket at 330 all out.

Having been 41/2 at tea on the penultimate day - that included Patel's 400th first-class wicket as Chad Bowes departed, the six Canterbury wickets that tumbled in the last session blew away any chance of a face-saving fightback from them, or at least the opportunity to frustrate the Stags in the field for the last day.

Patel's elite milestone wicket was a special moment for the Central team and the spinner himself who celebrated knocking off the goal with a Blair Tickner-style punch into the air. 

Ajaz Patel celebrates | MBUTCHER

He finished the day with 3/26, still a chance of a bag as well, while pace openers Clarkson and Ray Toole had each pocketed a brace. He opened the attack the next morning alongside Toole, and Cleaver cycled through fellow spinners Lennox and Dean Foxcroft as the last Canterbury batters stubbornly defended.

After an hour, Sheat was eventually undone on 20 by Lennox. 

Heading into this match, both teams had been a chance of overhauling early leader the Auckland Aces, and Canterbury (in third spot, heading in) had been four points ahead of the Stags in a fairly tightly group top four with Otago.

But up in Auckland, the Aces took the full 20 points from their victory over Wellington to hold on. The Stags are now in second, though.

It was all over by lunchtime, as they say, when Frew was eventually caught by Heaphy, for Canterbury's top score of 30, off part-time legspinner Schmulian.

One more round of Plunket Shield action is left before Christmas and the start of the Super Smash window, with the Stags headed to Dunedin for another tasty clash against Otago.

All live and completed scorecards

Article added: Tuesday 9 December 2025