Canterbury v http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Canterbury-c775 win by 6 wickets
A focused all-round performance from the Canterbury Wizards saw them going on to clinch a 6-wicket victory over the Wellington Firebirds, in their first-class match during the ongoing Plunket Shield, played from November 19 to 22 at the Mainpower Oval in
Rangiora.
The Wizards won the toss and chose to field first on day one, after which they proceeded to launch an attack spearheaded by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/George-Herrick-Worker-c59349 all claiming one scalp each.
Most of the Firebirds’ batsmen managed to get starts, but none were able to convert them into anything substantial. The bulk of the contributions came from the tail, with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Andrew-John-McKay-c44446 (33*) and Mark Gillespie (77), coming in at number 10 and 11 respectively,
managing the most sizeable totals.
Openers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Luke-Ronchi-c73300 (17) were all similarly lacklustre. None of the remaining batsmen were able to progress beyond
single-digit scores, and the Firebirds were bowled for a first innings total of 239.
During Canterbury’s first turn at bat, only four batsmen managed to reach double figures – however, their contributions were solid enough to get the team up to a total of 301, after which they were all out. The innings hinged around the efforts of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Dean-Brownlie-c1349
(133) and skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mark-Gillespie-c1904 (24.2-6-74-4) and Scott Kuggeleijn (17-0-97-2) eventually went on vain, however, and
the Wizards managed to gain a lead with their first innings total of 301.
A massive unbeaten double century from Michael Papps (206*), however, put the Firebirds in a dominant position. Aided further by Josh Brodie (74) and Luke Woodcock (45), Wellington resisted the efforts of Tim Johnston (33.3-5-94-2) and George Worker (16-5-59-2)
in order to post a final second innings total of 364 before they decided to declare, setting the Wizards a 303-run target.
Canterbury, however, found themselves equal to the chase. The Firebirds’ bowling attack remained spiritless, with Kuggeleijn (13-1-79-2), Gillespie (14.3-0-87-1), and Elliott (8-0-39-1) remaining the only bowlers who managed to make any dents in the opposition’s
batting order. Skipper Fulton (104) led from the front with a timely century, and aided further by half-tons from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SL-Stewart-c2541 (57) and Tom Latham (53*), the team comfortably reached 303, with 6 wickets remaining.
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