TON NO 3: CD opener Ben Smith is unbeaten on 132 runs when he resumes today on day 3. PHOTO/Paul Taylor
TON NO 3: CD opener Ben Smith is unbeaten on 132 runs when he resumes today on day 3. PHOTO/Paul Taylor
ANYONE who has ever played at any level at Nelson Park, Napier, will be familiar with the edict.
That is, bowlers will ask the question day after day but the onus will always be on the batsmen to hang around, especially in the Budget Rental-sponsored first-class Plunket Shield affairs.
The jury's out until tomorrow on whether the SBS Bank Otago Volts hung around long enough yesterday as the salivating Devon Hotel Central Districts Stags made their intentions clear on the batting crease after mopping up the visitors' tail in the morning.
In reply to the Southerners' 352, the Kruger van Wyk-captained Stags dug their toes in for 294-3 when the white shirts lifted the bails on day two.
"We're in a great position right now and we still have quite a bit of power in the shed to get a few runs quickly so it'll be interesting to see what the big boys produce out there for a great total," debutant Josh Clarkson said after Black Caps test seamer Doug Bracewell claimed his seventh five-wicket bag on the heels on his 200th first-class scalp on day one when he snared century maker Jimmy Neesham, who claimed his fifth ton in the red-ball format at domestic level.
"We were really happy but our bowlers hit their lines and lengths," Clarkson said, revealing CD had somewhat executed their plan meticulously to detail.
A film of dew had offered the bowlers enough movement to make Otago's rabbits prod and push to sacrifice their wickets in the first session.
Just as the benign batting wicket stayed faithful to the cricketers, it seems the Hawke's Bay weather promises to hold out in what appears to be an ominous outlook for the Volts in the face of a mean-looking CD batting line up.
Bracewell's 5-67 provided the impetus for opener Ben Smith to carve up an unbeaten 132 runs, his third first-class century.
The Ruahine Motors Central Hawke's Bay right hander put on 150 for the second wicket with Will Young (62), 70 with the country's most experienced test batsman Ross Taylor (48) and an unbroken 59 with George Worker.
Clarkson enjoyed watching "crafty batsman" Smith go about his business.
"He's a great guy and looking really good out there," he said. "Once you get a start you push out for that hundy or a double hundy."
Josh Clarkson
The 18-year-old from Nelson thought a declaration around the 500-run mark would put CD in good stead to claim another 10 Otago scalps for victory.
He relished the role of new-ball bowler in tandem with Bracewell.
"You learn a lot of things and they come and tell you a few things so I'm enjoying learning from all of them."
Ironically the right-arm seamer sees himself more of a batsman who can bowl-type of allrounder.
"I'm happy where I'm at at the moment because we have some great guys at the top order so I'm just pretty stoked to be part of the team," said the player who comes in at No 10.
"If I get the chance I'll probably show everyone what I've got, I guess," he said with a calculated smile.
His father, Andy, was over the moon and so was mum Paula.
"He's chuffed that I'm playing and he's a little gutted he can't come over to watch me play a little but I'm sure there'll be lots of other games he can come out to in future," he said of the Nelson sign writer.
When he left school he didn't envisage "such a position" in the team but the hard work with CD coach Heinrich Malan and the rest of the coaching staff was paying dividends.
"I've been training for the New Zealand Under-19s so, hopefully, I'll make that as well."
His first-class foray was completely unexpected after Malan tapped him on the shoulder following a training session with the greater squad.
"It was one of those things that happened so, yeah, I was pretty stoked to get my first wicket [on day one] so I'm really grateful to be out there and having some fun."
Otago rookie head coach Nathan King said it "was a shame" his men couldn't muster a few more runs in the morning.
"Our initial goal was to get to 350 and then push on from there [so] we got 350 but were unable to push on.
"But that's the nature of the beast sometimes. You get a bit out of your tail sometimes and at other times you lose a few wickets to finish off the innings."
King welcomed Bracewell's choker hold in the morning.
"It's great coming up against Black Caps players and it's great to see so many of them in the first games.
"Dougie bowled pretty well [although] the wicket didn't assist him a hell of a lot but he was patient enough and put it in good areas to come away with a five-wicket bag so he did well."
King suspected the driveway wicket wasn't going to mutate much in the next two days.
With the benefit of four seamers he felt he would have still injected a two-pronged spin attack despite the flat track.
"We have spinners who both do something different with the ball so for us it's still the right decision," he said of Mark Craig and left-armer Nick Beard, who returns after remodelling his action in Australia after coming under scrutiny last summer.
Strong gusty northwesterlies are forecast tomorrow, a marked improvement on rain predicted earlier in the week.
CD, King felt, would have the ball in their court on the final day but he wasn't expecting a sporty declaration from the Stags.
"We can't bank on that either. We just have to go out and bowl well tomorrow morning and put some pressure on them to give ourselves a chance rather than relying on them to provide us an opportunity."
