KEY POINTS:
It's little wonder Central Districts have scooted clear at the halfway point of cricket's State Championship, as they supply a chunk of the leading individual performers.
Captain Mathew Sinclair is comfortably the leading run scorer through four rounds, with 516, while left-arm quick Ewen Thompson has snared a competition-leading 17 wickets.
Sinclair is one of three Central batsmen rated among the five most prolific so far, with opener Peter Ingram having scored 448 and late bloomer Brad Patton 413.
The only others to clear 400 runs are Wellington allrounder James Franklin with 448 and Otago opener Craig Cumming, 415.
Franklin's runs came at a remarkable average of 149.3, enough for him to earn a New Zealand recall.
However, his 219 against Auckland isn't the highest individual score of the competition so far. That honour falls to Ingram with his 247 against Northern Districts in round two at Hamilton.
Sinclair's season average is 103.2, continuing a dominant career at domestic level that hasn't translated into consistency during his countless international callups. Last year his State Championship average was 146 from four innings.
The tireless Thompson, who turns 29 today, has opened up a small gap on the next most prolific bowlers.
They are a trio of seamers all on 14 wickets - Wellington's English medium pacer Graham Napier, Canterbury right-armer Hamish Bennett and Aucklander leftie Andy McKay.
The competition won't resume until March 6, when four more rounds lead in to the final starting on April 5.
The first of 10 State Shield one-day rounds is played on Sunday, with a final on February 1, followed by the State Twenty20 championship through that month.
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP LEADING RUN SCORERS AND WICKET TAKERS
Most runs
516: Mathew Sinclair (Central Districts) 103.2 average
448: James Franklin (Wellington) 149.3
448: Peter Ingram (Central Districts) 64.0
415: Craig Cumming (Otago) 59.3
413: Brad Patton (Central Districts) 82.6
382: Neil Broom (Otago) 63.7
349: Tim McIntosh (Auckland) 69.8
346: Matthew Bell (Wellington) 86.5
Most wickets
17: Ewen Thompson (Central Districts) 21.8
14: Graham Napier (Wellington) 21.0
14: Hamish Bennett (Canterbury) 25.3
14: Andy McKay (Auckland) 33.5
13: Colin de Grandhomme 19.3
12: Neil Wagner (Otago) 30.9
12: Mitchell McClenaghan (Central Districts) 42.8
- NZPA
