Watling to the rescue for ND
More good news for the Black Caps on the test front. Wicketkeeperbatsman BJ Watling’s return to first-class cricket from a short injury break has been a resounding success so far.
In the sixth round Plunket Shield match for his Northern Districts side against Otago, Watling made 96 in Northern’s second innings to set up an intriguing final day in Whangarei. At stumps, ND were 240-8, giving them a lead of 242.
That knock came after Black Caps pace bowler Neil Wagner returned from a broken finger to play club cricket at the weekend, with New Zealand’s first test against South Africa starting in Dunedin on March 8.
Watling made 42 from 101 balls in the first innings as the Northern middle order and tail fell in a steady procession and was at the heart of a crucial rescue mission in ND’s second innings.
The 31-year-old was elevated a place in the batting order for his second knock and came to the wicket with his side 0-3. As expected, he mixed a resolute forward defence with a prodigious ability to find runs behind square on the off side and work singles into the leg-side.
He batted for 214 minutes before falling lbw to Michael Rippon’s left-arm leg-spin and put on 91 for the eighth wicket with Joe Walker
– who made a dogged unbeaten 55 off 123 balls – which kept the competition leaders in the hunt for an outright victory.
Otago resumed their first innings yesterday morning on 270-8 and were soon dismissed for 276, leaving them two behind the hosts.
Scott Kuggeleijn took both wickets with short lifting deliveries to give him his fifth five-wicket bag in first-class cricket, ending with 5-68 off 20 overs.
Northern’s second dig started disastrously as they loss their first three wickets without a run. Jacob Duffy, back in the Volts after making adjustments to his bowling action, produced cracking deliveries to get rid of ND skipper Daniel Flynn and Bharat Popli.
The day-three wicket still offered encouragement for the seamers who could find the right spots for some movement and variable bounce and while batsmen found it hard to ‘get in’, Watling and Worker – as did Derek de Boorder and Anaru Kitchen the previous day for Otago – showed batsmen could prosper over time.