Canty under pressure from Auckland
New Zealand’s Plunket Shield winner will be decided today on a nailbiting final day of the 2016/17 season, with just two teams — defending champions the Auckland and Canterbury — now left in the running.
With an outright win worth 12 points, Auckland need to beat the Central Stags on the final day in Napier to have a chance of defending their title.
They must also hope Canterbury is denied an outright of their own by Wellington
Auckland were in a good position by stumps on day three, having built a 209-run second innings lead with six wickets still in hand to set Central a target and have enough time to bowl them out.
Canterbury meanwhile leads Wellington by just 59 runs and with only four wickets in hand at Hagley Oval. Canterbury trailed by 67 runs on the first innings after Tom Blundell and Peter Younghusband shared a recordequalling sixth-wicket stand of 184 against Canterbury.
Blundell scored his fourth firstclass century and made 113 while Younghusband fell just three runs short of a maiden first-class century, previous best 49 not out.
After the both batsmen fell in quick succession the innings subsided again as Canterbury’s Will Williams helped dismiss the Firebirds with a career best 4-37.
However Canterbury lost five wicket cheaply before wiping out the deficit as the Wellington pace bowlers made regular inroads.
A lot now rests on Canterbury captain Andrew Ellis at the crease on 34 not out overnight. He received good support from Todd Astle but needs much more for a challenging target to be set.
None of their top five batsmen reached a score of more than 15.
After having taken a total of only four first innings bonus points in Dunedin, Northern Districts’ hopes have meanwhile been extinguished, but a sensational performance from ND leg-spinner Ish Sodhi put the Otago Volts’ second innings in a spin.
Otago captain Brad Wilson declared at 189 for eight after Sodhi had bagged a career-best seven for 59 — his second first-class seven for in the space of four matches, and the third of his first-class career overall.
Sodhi’s haul was also the first time he had taken 10 or more wickets in a match, finishing with a match analysis of 11 for 189.
Updated points heading into day four: 105 Canterbury, 98 Auckland, 91 Northern Districts, 74 Wellington, 67 - Central Districts, 60 Otago.