It was the perfect place to play his last match in New Zealand: back where it all began, in Dunedin, against the team that gave him his start in a brilliant Domestic career that took him all the way to the international dream.
Here's how Neil Wagner's Aotearoa swansong played out - and with a special trophy he'd been trying to win for 17 years. Thanks, Wags, and congratulations on a magnificent innings in New Zealand cricket.
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Photo: MBUTCHER
Photo: MBUTCHER
Photo: MBUTCHER
Photo: MBUTCHER
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Photo: MBUTCHER
PHOTOSPORT
That season @ndcricket broke the drought 🏆 #PLUNKETSHiELD pic.twitter.com/RRP1vTF0QY
— #NZIII (@MargotButcher) April 1, 2025
Photo: MBUTCHER
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Most wickets for NZ first-class cricketers
— Francis Payne (@FPayne100) April 1, 2025
1490 Richard Hadlee
1424 Clarrie Grimmett
955 Syd Smith
892 Jeetan Patel
849 Neil Wagner
818 Tom Pritchard
Most wickets in #PlunketShield cricket i.e. games which were played for the actual Plunket Shield
— Francis Payne (@FPayne100) April 1, 2025
Bob Blair 352 at 14.61
Neil Wagner 352 at 25.93
Blair took 34 five-fors (including two 9-fors) and ten wickets in a match 11 times.@NeilWagner13
Neil Wagner, set to return to Durham for the final four months of the season, signed off from New Zealand domestic cricket with a five-wicket haul that sealed Northern Districts' Plunket Shield victory.#NeilWagner #Countycricket
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) April 1, 2025
Read more ➡️ https://t.co/BqzCcql4fI pic.twitter.com/0eVF522Rdu
The perfect theme song for a fairytale finish to an amazing career and a championship season? Walking in a Wagner Wonderland... 🎶 pic.twitter.com/4Mv1PavhJ9
— #NZIII (@MargotButcher) April 9, 2025
Photo: MBUTCHER