2024/25
ROUND SEVEN
CANTERBURY defeated the CENTRAL STAGS by an innings and 132 runs
Hagley Oval, Christchurch
21-23 March 2025
Day Four, 24 March 2025, was not required
POINTS IN THIS ROUND:
Central Stags:4
Canterbury: 20
Wellington Firebirds: 4
Northern Districts: 16
Otago Volts: 7
Auckland Aces: 4
SELECTED MILESTONES
Michael Rae: third first-class five-wicket bag, career best haul (6/31)
Cole McConchie: 11th first-class century
Cam Paul: second first-class five-wicket bag (5/60)
Jesse Frew: equalled Canterbury record for
most dismissals in a match (9, equal with Lee Germon - 1992/93)
Cam Paul
All images: PHOTOSPORT
SNAPSHOT:
Canterbury kept their Plunket Shield hopes alive while the Central Stags perished in the penultimate round after a Michael Rae career-best bag put them on the back foot early at Hagley.
The hosts won with a day to spare as teams around the traps grappled with the switch from flat decks in the drought-stricken north to livelier seaming conditions down south.
For the Stags, the innings defeat followed a 10-wicket loss to Canterbury earlier in the season, two costly results that ended their 2024/25 campaign.
DAY ONE
It was going to be a good toss to win, and Cole McConchie did the job for Canterbury as the Plunket Shield returned to Hagley.
All three matches in this round happened to correspond to the points table after six rounds - leader the Wellington Firebirds hosting Northern in the top-of-the-table match in Wellington, the mid-table match featuring Canterbury in third, hosting the Stags who had slipped to fourth; and the Otago Volts, now in fifth spot after their first win, hosting the Auckland Aces in Dunedin.
Some of those teams might have had cause to curse the drought that had now been declared across the top half of the North Island, where results had been hard to come by on the flattening decks.
This was a different kettle of fish, further south, and the Stags weren't ready for it as they folded for just 111.
That's an unlucky number in cricket, but big paceman Michael Rae had more to do with it than luck as he blasted to a career best 6/31.
Rae was coming off a heartbreaker with the bat in his previous match, but now he shone as he capitalised on an excellent start by Fraser Sheat (2/17) and Gus McKenzie (1/30).
The Stags' top three were all gone for single digits, including the big wicket of BLACKCAP Will Young who edged behind off Sheat for the second of morning for busy wicketkeeper Jesse Frew.
By lunch, the Stags were already seven down, and were in sight of reaching three figures, at least, thanks to allrounder Josh Clarkson who top-scored with just 30.
After Rae snuck one through his defences straight after lunch, the Stags' innings last just a couple more overs, with Frew gobbling up two more catches for four in the innings.
Canterbury's reply also got off to a shaky start, Chad Bowes falling without scoring in young Stags paceman Tyler Annand's first over, but Tom Latham and Rhys Mariu got a partnership going and put on 63 for the second wicket.
Latham departed just before tea and Mariu soon after it, but at 83/3 it would only take one good partnership to put Canterbury in the driver's seat.
McConchie (109) and Henry Nicholls (67) took care of that as they began work on their 157-run stand for the fourth wicket.
The Stags, missing their frontline bowlers to injury, had to dig deep through the afternoon but couldn't find the breakthroughs they desperately needed.
Canterbury went to stumps at 212/3 with both the men having passed their half centuries and Canterbury already 101 runs in credit.
DAY TWO
The hosts went on to pile 423 on the tins, and made sure that they had scored quickly enough to pick up the maximum first innings bonus points as well, in a championship that was rapidly boiling down to a three-horse race.
After hard-working allrounder Will Clark had broken the overnight stand with Henry Nicholls sending up a catch at 240/4, form left-hander Matt Boyle only added to the Stags' frustration as he whipped up a run-a-ball 76.
He fell after lunch but Gus McKenzie kept going for an unbeaten 37* as left-arm tweaker Jayden Lennox (3/51) fought back with tailend wickets and keeper Dane Cleaver prospered behind the stumps with four catches in the innings.
Canterbury had taken their first-innings lead to 312 and the Stags were now on notice that they needed to emulate Canterbury's second-innings heroics from the previous round if they were to stay in the game.
Central survived the tricky period until tea without loss, reaching the break at 20/0 but lost both openers among three wickets to fall before stumps.
Form batter Dane Cleaver and Young were left to repair the damage from 58/3, Young reaching his half century by the end of the day, and the patient pair set to resume on the third morning at 115/3.
DAY THREE
The Stags began the morning still trailing by 197 and needing a big partnership or two to stave off an innings defeat.
It didn't happen.
Rae and Sheat resumed with the ball for Canterbury and within nine overs, Sheat had the big wicket of Young (55), caught behind to end the fourth wicket stand at 60 - one of only two partnerships in the match to get going.
Cleaver was out soon after to change bowler McKenzie at 124/5 and, when Clarkson fell soon after, little remained to stand in the way of a crucial Canterbury full-pointer.
Youngster Cam Paul (5/60) enjoyed the opportunity to mop up with McConchie, the pair rattling through the tail before lunch to dismiss the Stags for just 180, for victory with a day and two sessions to spare.
With five catches in the second innings, young keeper Jesse Frew equalled Lee Germon's Canterbury record of nine for the match.
