Kuggeleijn spurs ND to win
Career-best figures from Scott Kuggeleijn helped steer Northern Districts to a stunning comeback victory over Canterbury in their opening-round Plunket Shield match in Christchurch on Tuesday.
The visitors to Hagley Oval triumphed by five wickets late on the final day to cap off a quite enthralling match, in which Canterbury will be asking just how they lost after posting 445 in their first innings.
Chief to that Northern Districts’ success was fast bowler Kuggeleijn, who captured a splendid 6-60 in Canterbury’s second innings, to collect nine scalps for the match, skittle the hosts for 165, and allow ND a realistic tilt at victory.
It was some sort of fightback after Todd Astle’s remarkable 195 off 189 balls saw Canterbury pile on their first innings runs at more than 4.5 an over. But thanks to a superb opening partnership of 174 between Dean Brownlie (104) and captain Daniel Flynn (66) on day two, the visitors had kept themselves in the game, with Tim Seifert’s 81 also proving crucial, with ND making 415.
Then the bowlers reduced Canterbury to 93-4 at stumps, along with Chad Bowes retired hurt after a blow to the head. In the end, Bowes didn’t return to bat on the final day, which featured a beautiful blue sky and ideal batting conditions. However, in just the third over Jimmy Baker captured the crucial scalp of Astle, who pulled straight to mid-wicket to end much of the hosts’ hope.
Then it was the Kuggeleijn show, as he got Cameron Fletcher caught behind with a beauty nipping away and removed Kyle Jamieson’s off-stump with one which kept low.
Tim Johnston rode his luck in making 43 off 29 balls, mostly wafts over the slips cordon, but also three well-struck sixes. When he spooned to deep cover, he was Kuggeleijn’s fifth victim, before the speedster made it six with a brutal rising delivery which had Henry Shipley fending and Daryl Mitchell taking the lobbed catch behind wicketkeeper Seifert.
That set Northern the task of 196, off 83 overs, and while it wasn’t straightforward they eventually got the job done.
Having got to lunch at 36-0, ND lost Brownlie (20) third ball after the interval, pulling Kyle Jamieson to mid-wicket, and not long later it was 47-2, when Andrew Ellis cleaned out Joe Carter (5).
Flynn’s dogged 119-minute stay was brought to an end on 25, when he was trapped in front by Astle, and that left ND 71-3. A solid fourth-wicket partnership of 53, between Bharat Popli (41) and Daryl Mitchell (51no) set them on track, with both producing some glorious drives, before Popli skied a pull shot off Andrew Ellis.
Nick Kelly (15) joined Mitchell and pumped a couple of powerful pulls, before holing out on the slog sweep, which left ND 147-5, still needing 49.
But Seifert played positively joining Mitchell to see the game home. The 21-year-old played a fine little cameo, finishing unbeaten on 31 off 40 balls, as he delivered a lovely array of strokes, including four fours and a six.
Mitchell’s knock came off 107 balls, with four fours, and two sixes down the ground off Astle, and he brought up his half century in hitting the winning runs with a crunching lofted off-drive off Ed Nuttall.
The win is a confidence boost for ND, having not won the Plunket Shield since 2011/12. It also sets up a round-two clash against the only other side to have secured an outright win first-up, facing Wellington at the Basin Reserve, from Saturday.
Wellington, in their ‘home’ fixture at Bay Oval in Mt Maunganui, beat Auckland by six wickets, while the other match, between Central Districts and Otago in Nelson, petered out to a draw, after the first session of the final day was lost due to morning rain.