TICKING IT OVER: Otago batsmen Sam Wells (left) and Jimmy Neesham at Nelson Park. Photo / Warren Buckland
TICKING IT OVER: Otago batsmen Sam Wells (left) and Jimmy Neesham at Nelson Park. Photo / Warren Buckland
Bowlers toil away on benign surface
It is about two sides of the coin when you have to nail 20 wickets in a first-class cricket match but what happens when the flipping kotuku (white heron) and Queen's head of the $2 bronze does not hit the wicket favourably?
That is what the Devon Hotel-sponsored Central Districts Stags had to endure yesterday on the first day of their season-opening round four-day Plunket Shield match against the Otago Volts in Napier.
Needless to say, Stags coach Heinrich Malan could see the irony in losing the toss after his formidable batting line up itching to ask for the leg stump instead found themselves on the field but also appreciated "the beauty of the game".
"I was very proud of the way the boys handled themselves today," Malan said after the Nathan King-coached Volts marched to 330-7 when the umpires lifted the bails at stumps on a predictably benign batting strip at Nelson Park.
Black Cap Jimmy Neesham steadied the ship with 131 runs off 152 balls, including 13 boundaries and two sixes, after international opener Hamish Rutherford laid the platform with a quick-fire 79 from 89 balls.
"Jimmy Neesham batted nicely and didn't offer us any opportunities," was the unequivocal declaration from Malan. "He's the incumbent No6 for the Black Caps so we have to give credit where it's due."
It took Black Cap-calibre bowling from Doug Bracewell to halt Neesham's march as the test seamer went for hot-and-cold treatment on the prescription of 3-62 off 21 overs.
The heat is on bowlers this season to digest 16 overs in an hour for an earlier end to the day around 5.30pm.
CD Stags newbie Blair Tickner. Photo / Warren Buckland
Malan said his men had soldiered with aplomb on a wicket "that offered them a little bit" in the first session.
The plan was to send Nick Beard (6 not out) and Adam Miles (8 not out) back to the pavilion and mop up the tailenders of Michael Rae and Jack Hunter before drinks and see where CD stood at stumps on the batting crease.
"It was clearly an eventful day of cricket," he said, pleased Josh Clarkson on debut claimed the scalp of Brad Wilson for seven when the opener feathered one to skipper/wicketkeeper Kruger van Wyk.
But the South African coach was quick to point out two-match rookie Blair Tickner was equally adept in chugging through 20 overs without reward for 90 runs.
"He got a lot of edges so he's bowled worse and picked up more wickets."
Malan said it was good to show faith in his young guns, consciously refraining from using Andrew Mathieson in tandem with Bracewell to opt for an experienced and newbie in pairings of Bracewell/Tickner and Mathieson/Clarkson.
"Matho gets better at the second and third spells ... so there's lots of cricket to play yet this summer."
With spinner Ajaz Patel carrying the drinks, Malan hastened to emphasise CD had versatility in skills where left-armer George Worker was tweaking internationally and part-timers Greg Hay and Tom Bruce had rolled their arms for a wicket each.
In other games, ND Knights dismissed Wellington Firebirds for 267 at Seddon Park while Auckland Aces stifled last year's champs, Canterbury Kings, for 149 in 48.1 overs at Eden Park No2.
