Fulton at his finest in finale
Peter Fulton rates his recordbreaking Ford Trophy final ton in the same category as his dual test centuries against England at Eden Park in 2013.
The veteran batsman guided Canterbury to their first domestic 50-over title since February 2006 in a rain reduced 20-over match against Wellington on Saturday, which they won by 28 runs.
Fulton, who hails from nearby Oxford, starred on his Canterbury Country home ground at Rangiora’s Mainpower Oval, hitting 116 not out from 58 balls, which included 11 fours and seven sixes.
The 38-year-old, in his 16th season of domestic cricket, eclipsed former Black Caps’ skipper Brendon McCullum’s mark [52 balls] for the quickest New Zealand domestic one-day ton, bringing up his century off just 50 balls.
Chants of ‘‘Two metre Peter’’ bellowed out from his team-mates as Canterbury celebrated an overdue one-day title win.
Fulton was in Canterbury’s playing 11 when they last captured the silverware 11 years ago in Chris Cairns’ farewell match, while skipper Andrew Ellis was 12th man that day.
He ranked his match-winning innings alongside the 136 and 110 he scored for New Zealand in a memorable 2013 test at Eden Park, against an English attack comprising James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Steve Finn and Monty Panesar.
‘‘It’s right up there, to be honest,’’ Fulton said. ‘‘I’m just stoked as a senior player to step up in a final like that and contribute. It’s nice to make a big contribution to a win. That’s the main thing.’’
Ellis heaped praise on Fulton and said it was a game-changing knock after they had been 32-2 in the sixth over.
‘‘To do that in a final that’s what good players do. He’s one of Canterbury’s greatests. You won’t see a better innings than that.’’
Fulton took time to adjust to the conditions, but once set he accelerated the scoring heavily.
‘‘A few times this season, I’ve been guilty of going a little bit too hard, too early, and not giving myself a chance.
‘‘I wanted to give myself a few balls to get in and get used to the wicket. It was one of those days where [everything] went my way.’’
Wellington captain Hamish Marshall labelled Fulton’s century as one of the better domestic 50-over innings he had seen given the importance of the match.
Even as a former Black Caps team-mate of his, it was difficult to set a field, given the way he was carting the ball around. Fulton hit seven sixes in his unbeaten 116, three of which were pelted off Anurag Verma in consecutive deliveries.
‘‘He’s a good player and always has been. He’s 38, isn’t he? It’s great to see guys at that age performing at this level,’’ said Marshall, who is the same age.
Fairfax NZ