Ford Trophy round eight: SBS Bank Otago Volts 109/1 in 23 overs (Wells 42 not out, Redmond 54 not out) against Canterbury before match abandoned at Mainpower Oval, Rangiora
Canterbury went into the last round of the Ford Trophy in fifth position and still a chance for the Preliminary Finals. The last thing they needed was weather… and it was the last thing they got, after long-due Rangiora rain saw only 23 overs possible.
Twenty-three overs were just enough, however, for SBS Bank Otago Volts skipper Aaron Redmond to continue his solid run of scoring Ford Trophy half-centuries. He now has consecutive scores of 63-0-64-64-61*-60-54* after the Volts were asked to bat first.
Opener Sam Wells also got off to a good start, and though he was denied pushing on to his half-century by the rain, he will have welcomed the time in the middle after a luckless trot, with the Volts progressing now to the playoffs phase.
Earlier, Canterbury had struck in the second over when bristling Hamish Bennett had Hamish Rutherford caught at first slip by Logan van Beek — the only wicket to fall before the Volts and Canterbury withdrew from the field as damp weather cut short a clash between the southern neighbours for the second time in a week.
The second washout also meant young Canterbury opening batsman Henry Nichollls never got a chance to break into the 500 club — coming remarkably close to joining the list of players to have scored 500 runs in a season despite two abandonments in eight rounds. Just six runs would have done it, however he could take satisfaction in the highest Ford Trophy average of the regular season for all teams.
