The Ford Trophy summer has opened with a bang after centuries studded the first day of competition for 2026/27.
Three hundreds were scored in Auckland, and two — very nearly three — in Nelson, and two of the biggest were to no avail.
Canterbury's Chad Bowes is one of only two men in history to have scored a Ford Trophy double century, two years ago.
Today the damaging opener was back to his best with 154 off just 106 balls at Eden Park’s Kennards Hire Community Oval.
It meant his Canterbury side got a 300-plus score in the chase, and yet it still wasn’t enough to take down the Auckland Aces.
Home skipper Sean Solia (120) and Dale Phillips (112) had got a 219-run opening stand to set their side up for a handsome 361/5: that ranks in Auckland’s top eight one-day totals of all time.
Down in Nelson, a similar tale was unfolding as Northern Districts smoked a new record total for themselves: 403/6.
Captain Robbie O’Donnell tonned up with 145 and, in his first one-day game for ND, Mike Sclanders had almost beaten him to three figures with a brutal 97.
When the old ND record total fell, Assistant Coach Daniel Flynn could breathe a sign of relief — and that’s because it had been a sore point for 13 and a half years.
Imagine your team busting out an all-time record total of 398, and the opposition still snatching the win?
That’s what happened in 2013 at Seddon Park, the day Central's Jamie How and Jeet Raval broke the New Zealand List A first wicket partnership record with a monster stand of 321 — How belted the competition’s first double century.
In Nelson, ND had won the toss and batted so the Stags were chasing a big one, and it started terribly for the defending champs: five down inside the first 10.2 overs.
And yet from there, the game developed an eerily similar vibe to the legendary clash of 2013 as Josh Clarkson and an equally powerful aggressor in newcomer Sam Cassidy obliterated Central’s sixth-wicket record which now stands at 172, smacked off 129 balls.
Sam Cassidy | PHOTOSPORT
Central's previous sixth-wicket partnership mark was 116 (against ND, 2019/20) and, although Clarkson and Cassidy needed to run at a steep nine runs an over, for a time it looked as though they might actually have the audacity to do it.
Clarkson’s 74 off 60 on his home turf supported a brilliant knock from Cassidy who, all things considered, produced the ‘century of the day’ on a day of centuries.
The 22-year-old who marries raw power with fancy footwork reached 137 off just 93 balls, on List A debut, batting at seven.
That’s the highest score by any number seven batter in the history of The Ford Trophy, for any team.
When Sclanders eventually had him caught at 305/8, with just over 10 overs to go, the Northern debutant's day felt a whole loy better.
The Stags still didn’t capitulate, Ajaz Patel (with an unbeaten 35 off 26) briefly showing his own six-hitting ability, but Sclanders had turned the tide and Northern finally got to breathe the big collective sigh of relief when the last Stags wicket fell at 341, in the 45th over: ND won by 62 runs.
In Auckland, a late afternoon shower interrupted Canterbury's chase for half an hour or so, and saw their target revised from 362 off 50 overs to 345 off 46.
Electrifying Bowes had just gone, and the Canterbury chase fizzled out into a DLS loss.
So, both of last season’s Ford Trophy finalists suffered a first-round defeat, at the hands of teams who placed in the bottom three.
There was precious little traditional early season assistance for the bowlers on display. The decks were friendly, and the Stags in particular are probably still kicking themselves for loose overs with the ball.
And the seasoned batters who set up the wins — O’Donnell, Dale Phillips, Solia — are not even the ones we have talked about here, but deserve the most chocolates for the results.
Perhaps the most unexpected turn of events on an eye-catching opening day was that neither of the victorious teams got a bonus point, despite their hefty scores.
Their opponents had got too close — and if that’s set the pace for this season’s competition, buckle your seats right now.
ROUND ONE RESULTS
Auckland Aces defeated Canterbury by 33 runs [DLS] - Video Scorecard
Northern Districts defeated Central Stags by 62 runs - Video Scorecard
• The Otago Volts and Wellington Firebirds will complete round one with their match from 10.30am this Thursday at the Cello Basin Reserve. Watch every ball live and free on NZC YouTube.