Furlong Cup undergoes points revamp

The scoring system in the Furlong Cup has been revamped this season to add a bit more life to the competition.

Bonus points have been added to the Central Districts Furlong Cup competition, where the top qualifier gets a Hawke Cup challenge, and the points for outright and firstinnings wins have changed.

The minor associations wanted to try bonus points to see if it would keep interest in games that were one sided or not going anywhere.

Teams now get three points for a first-innings win and five points for an outright. Previously teams got seven points for getting first innings and three more for an outright.

Bonus points have been added for batting and bowling.

When batting, teams get a point for reaching 125 runs, 175, 250 and 300 in the first 85 overs.

When bowling, teams get a point for taking three, five, seven and nine wickets in the first 85 overs.

There is 1.5 points for a firstinnings tie, 2.5 for an outright tie, 3 for no result with less than a day played,1 point for no result with more than 112 overs played and 6 points for an abandonment. So Taranaki lead the Central Districts standings after one round of competition last weekend, having had an outright win over Wanganui.

Taranaki (300-9 declared and 177-7 declared) beat Wanganui (235 and 190) outright by 52 runs. Wanganui still picked up six bonus points and are third. Manawatu¯ (308-8 declared) are second after their first-innings win over Horowhenua Ka¯piti (195 and 193-4).

Third-placed Hawke’s Bay (289 and 7-2) beat Wairarapa (109 and 283) on first innings. Horowhenua Ka¯piti play Hawke’s Bay in Levin this weekend, then the other two games of the round are next weekend, with Manawatu¯ hosting Wanganui and Taranaki playing Wairarapa in New Plymouth.