Stags prance

Will Young and Greg Hay both hit centuries for the Central Stags on Friday in the Plunket Shield.

The Stags put up an imposing total of 379-4 by the end of the first day of their four-day match against Auckland at Eden Park Outer Oval.

Opener Hay got Central going with a first wicket partnership of

116 with George Worker, before the occasional Black Caps opener was removed by Matt McEwan for

47.

Young joined Hay and they combined for a 123-run partnership, putting the heat on the hosts who hope to move into Plunket Shield contention.

Hay eventually fell for 101, trying to hook Sean Solia only to feather one to keeper Ben Horne. He hit 12 fours during his 208 ball stay. Young brought up his fifth first-class century soon after Hay’s departure, from just 106 balls having hit 16 fours and a single six.

The lone highlight for the Aces was McEwan pulling level with Logan van Beek at the top of the wicket-taking tally in the Plunket Shield with 30, although Wellington’s game against Otago starts Saturday.

In Whangarei, it was a stopstart day for Canterbury and Northern Districts as rain forced several interuptions.

Canterbury chose to bat after a ground delay, and they only played for 13.4 overs before the rain returned. By then Canterbury were 42-3 with just Michael Pollard holding things together. He ended up with 46 not out by stumps with the teams coming from the field twice. Canterbury were 115-5 from just 41-4 overs. Zak Gibson was the pick of the bowlers with 4-48.