Firebirds capitalise on Conway’s triple

The Wellington Firebirds managed to turn Devon Conway’s outstanding individual effort into an outright win yesterday, beating Canterbury by 44 runs after setting them a target of 358 in the second round of the Plunket Shield.

With Conway’s innings of 327no and 66 helping the Firebirds establish an advantage of 296 at the end of the third day on Thursday, the Firebirds began the final day in a strong position, and quickly added 61 further runs in the space of 18 balls.

Jamie Gibson finished not out on 43 off 18 balls as the Firebirds declared at 247-6, giving themselves most of the day to bowl the visitors out at the Basin Reserve.

They got the job done with plenty of time to spare in the end, taking wickets at regular intervals.

Malcolm Nofal finished with 4-100, including the final wicket of Ed Nuttall, while Logan van Beek took 2-57, including the wickets of first-innings double centurion (and Black Cap) Tom Latham (who made 23) and tailender Andrew Hazeldine, who did well to delay the Firebirds’ celebrations in partnership with Will Williams.

Coming together at 232-8, with a further 126 runs required, the pair each made 36 as they put on 64 for the ninth wicket, before Hazeldine gave Michael Snedden a simple catch at mid off.

Matt Henry top scored for Canterbury with 43, while Chad Bowes made 40 higher up the order.

The defending champion Central Stags were unable to bat Northern

Districts out of the game on the third day at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui, as Black Caps seamers Neil Wagner (5-62) and Trent Boult (4-68) combined to dismiss the visitors for 204 in their second innings.

Tom Bruce made 60 for the Stags, while Ben Smith contributed 54, and Ajaz Patel was not out on 43.

That still left Northern with a hefty target of 374, and at stumps they had knocked off 88 runs for the loss of two wickets.

Daniel Flynn was the first to go, bowled by Jarrod McKay for 19, and he was joined in the pavilion by fellow opener Henry Cooper just before stumps, as he was trapped leg before by Brad Schmulian for 37.

Bharat Popli was not out on 24, joined by nightwatchman James Baker, who managed to score a single to ensure he faced the final over of the day. Northern will need a further 286 runs when play resumes today.

A wet outfield meant no play was possible for the third day in a row at University of Otago Oval in Dunedin, where the Otago Volts are hosting the Auckland Aces.