Central bowlers call the shots on first day

It doesn’t seem to matter what colour the ball is for Seth Rance.

Fresh off career-best figures in the pink-ball round last week, the Central Districts paceman captured four wickets as they bowled Wellington out for 245 on the opening day of their Plunket Shield match at Mclean Park in Napier yesterday.

Rance took 4-61 from 18 overs

and he was helped by three wickets from Blair Tickner and two from spinner Ajaz Patel late in the day.

CD batted for two overs before stumps to be 5-0.

Morning rain delayed play so the players took an early lunch and started in the afternoon.

The Wellington openers added 44 for the opening wicket before Luke Woodcock was out for 16 and then Rance struck to put Wellington in a spot of bother.

Rance took the next four wickets to have Wellington at 62-5 after 25 overs.

But Luke Ronchi and Peter Younghusband steadied the ship for the Firebirds by adding 104 for the sixth wicket until Younghusband was out for 48, his highest first-class score.

Tickner came back with three wickets and Patel, the Plunket Shield’s leading wicket taker, took two to stop Wellington making a lower-order counter attack.

Ronchi did his best to bat with the tail but was out for 70 from 124 balls and put on a frustrating partnership of 40 with Hamish Bennett, who scored 25 at No 10.

Adam Milne was miserly in his first spell, but went wicketless for the day, bowing nine overs to be 0-16.

Back from Hong Kong’s Twenty20 competition, CD allrounder Jesse Ryder bowled 13 overs and picked up a wicket.

There were only two overs at the end of the day for CD to negotiate and they did so without losing a wicket.

Greg Hay was at the wicket on 3 not out and Ben Smith was unbeaten on 2.