Late wickets boost Canterbury against Auckland in Shield

A pesky 10th-wicket partnership and a few late wickets ensured Canterbury finished day one of their Plunket Shield match against Auckland in Rangiora on top.

After being sent into bat on Tuesday, Cam Fletcher and Ed Nuttall helped Canterbury through to 245 with a crucial 50-run last-wicket stand.

Kyle Jamieson (2-4) and Matt Henry (1-13) then reduced Auckland to 31-3 in reply at stumps, with the visitors still trailing by 214 runs.

Canterbury’s eventual first innings total appeared unlikely after the hosts slumped to 66-4 inside 22 overs, and spluttered into the tea break at 183-7.

However, Fletcher’s 45 from 73 balls and Nuttall’s 16 from 43 frustrated Auckland and guided their side towards a competitive total.

Black Cap Henry, who is available for part of the match before rejoining the national side for the second test match against Pakistan, struck the first blow to Auckland’s innings, when Michael Guptill-Bunce edged a delivery he could have comfortably left to keeper Fletcher.

Jamieson then had Robbie O’Donnell caught at midwicket off his bowling, before producing a brute of a yorker to trap former Canterbury player Rob Nicol leg before with the last ball of the day.

Earlier, Canterbury captain Andrew Ellis, who last week struck a career-high 196 against Otago in Invercargill, led the way with a team-high 53.

Batting at No 6, he strolled out to the middle with his team reeling at 66-4 and in need of a steadying influence.

Ellis and Cole McConchie put up their hands and put on 80-runs for the fifth wicket, before a needless run out undid their hard work.

McConchie was the man run out, when he was caught napping at the non-striker’s end after Ellis called him through for a quick single.

His dismissal prompted another flow of wickets, including Ellis’, when he was stumped after dancing down the wicket to a Tarun Nethula delivery a couple of overs later.Veteran Peter Fulton’s miserable start to the season continued, when the No 3 edged a Donovan Grobbellar delivery to O’Donnell in the slips.

Fulton, who has amassed more than 10,000 runs for Canterbury, hasn’t scored more than 40 runs in any of his eight Plunket Shield innings this season, and is averaging just 19.3 so far this season.

Openers Chad Bowes (three runs) and Jack Boyle (two) also failed to crack double figures, as Canterbury’s top-order continues to search for runs.

● Meanwhile an early season surge of spin hasn’t abated in the Plunket Shield, as veteran Jeetan Patel’s stellar cricketing year continued with his 25th career bag of five.

The 36-year-old Wellington offspinner ripped through Otago’s batting after the hosts won the toss in Dunedin, ending with 6-55 in the standout performance of day one of this fifth round.

At stumps the Firebirds were in fine shape at 89-1 in reply to Otago’s 208, after opener Luke Woodcock completed a memorable double milestone by passing Matthew Bell’s Wellington record of 6565 runs.

At Napier’s Nelson Park, CD captain Will Young’s 61 was the highest innings of the day as competition leaders ND skittled the Stags for 225. A brace of 30s from wicketkeeper Dane Cleaver and seamer Ryan McCone saved the hosts from embarrassment after they plummeted to 146-7, having won the toss.

Seamers Brett Hampton (3-36) and Daryl Mitchell (3-54) were the main ND destroyers, under the captaincy of Dean Brownlie who played day one despite being placed on standby for Ross Taylor for Friday’s second test in Hamilton. Brownlie was three not out at stumps as ND replied with 24-1, as he awaits word on Taylor’s troublesome vision.