By the close of play this Saturday, New Zealand could have a better idea of which team has one hand on the first-class Plunket Shield, in its 100th season.
Or, a whopping five teams could still be right in contention ahead of a super-charged last round of the 2025/26 season.
It’s the tightest Plunket Shield race in years, Canterbury the new frontrunner heading into Wednesday’s penultimate seventh round of the eight-round national championship.
But the lead has changed every week since the business end commenced this year.
Only 12 points — exactly the same number of points awarded for an outright win — separate the top five of the six teams across the country, and Canterbury’s current lead over defending champion Northern Districts is only three points, after the big wins to Canterbury, Otago and the Central Stags last week.
History was made in Napier at Northern's expense | MBUTCHER
Teams can earn up to 20 points per match if they also take the full set of eight first innings bonuses, gained for reaching set batting or bowling targets before the 110-over mark of each first innings.
So, outright wins to Northern, the Stags and the Aces this week could see all five of the top teams still in contention for the title heading into the last round, with only winless Wellington out of it already.
With the top four on the table playing each other over the coming four days (Wednesday-Saturday), the Auckland Aces — who were leading the Plunket Shield when the back half of the competition resumed in late February — have grounds to be the most nervous.
Auckland Ace Lachie Stackpole | MBUTCHER
A loss at the Cello Basin Reserve this week could be fatal to their campaign, if either Canterbury or Northern meanwhile surge beyond their reach.
Back in November’s first round, Canterbury was penalised one point for failing to meet the minimum over rate requirement of 15 overs per hour throughout their match against Northern in Round One — something the Cantabrians will be hoping will not come back to haunt them on the final points table.
Canterbury last lifted the Shield in 2021.
This year they have made both men’s white-ball finals without claiming either title.
In the Plunket Shield, Canterbury narrowly missed out in 2023 when the Stags finished with a blinder against the Aces in Nelson to go equal with Canterbury on points, Central winning the championship by dint of having one more win.
Canterbury's run machine captain, Henry Nicholls | PHOTOSPORT
There is no final played in the championship: it’s all down to points, and if two teams finish on equal points after the eight rounds, the next separator is the number of wins, followed by net runs per wicket ('RPW for' minus 'RPW against' over the whole competition).
Northern broke a 13-year drought to lift the Shield in last season’s final round — Neil Wagner’s fairytale final match after his long service to New Zealand Domestic cricket.
With one or two Northern players rumoured to be hanging up the bat this summer, Northern may have added motivation for a repeat performance, and will be at home in Hamilton for their final round against the Stags.
A big week for Otago | MBUTCHER
Otago meanwhile will be excited to be in the running after last lifting the history-laden 1907 trophy in the 1987/88 season — before any of the team’s current squad was born.
Last week’s outright in Auckland, featuring a spectacular 13 wickets in the match from 21-year-old left-armer Thomas O’Connor, keeps them in the hunt, and the southerners will be on their home turf in Dunedin for their last two games of the season against Northern and the Wellington Firebirds.
Thomas O'Connor | MBUTCHER
Teams for the penultimate round will be named by noon tomorrow (Tuesday) by each Major Association, a sprinkling of changes anticipated following call-ups to the BLACKCAPS white-ball squad now in action against South Africa.
While the points table itself is tight, so too is the contest to finish as this season’s top run-scorer, Central's Brad Schmulian (654 runs from six games) just three runs behind Canterbury captain Henry Nicholls (659 runs from five games).
Both men have been run machines in both the first-class Plunket Shield and one-day Ford Trophy this summer (Nicholls finished as the top Ford Trophy run-scorer, Tom Latham second, Schmulian third).
Spin ace Rohit Gulati | MBUTCHER
Auckland Aces left-arm spinner Rohit Gulati — who started with a hiss and a roar early in the competition, meanwhile finds his status as the top Plunket Shield wicket-taker under threat from Stags left-arm paceman Ray Toole after Toole’s 5/32 in the latest round (a performance overshadowed in that match by teammate Brett Randell’s 7/25 in the first innings, including the new first-class cricket world record five wickets in five balls).
Gulati has 27 wickets, Toole 22 and Canterbury quick Sean Davey 21, all from six rounds.
Ray Toole celebrates in Napier last week | MBUTCHER
Randell has nine wickets from two rounds, having missed the front half of the competition following a broken collarbone towards the end of last season.
This week’s Plunket Shield at:
- University of Otago Oval (Otago versus Northern Districts)
- Rangiora’s MainPower Oval (Canterbury versus the Central Stags)
- and the Cello Basin Reserve (Wellington Firebirds versus Auckland Aces)
commences at 10.30am, with live-scoring at www.nzc.nz and on the NZC app, and free livestreams each day at NZC YouTube. Admission to all matches is free.
Following this week's showdowns, the final round of the four-day matches will begin on 27 March.
After six rounds
Points at a glance (number of wins)
72 Canterbury (3)
69 Northern Districts (3)
65 Central Stags (3)
65 Otago (2)
60 Auckland Aces (2)
31 Wellington Firebirds (0)
Consolation prize:
Firebird Nick Greenwood has scored his first two Plunket Shield centuries this season | MBUTCHER
