Super Cooper tops the Shield runmakers

Posted Tuesday, 16 December, 2025 in Domestic News

ROUND FOUR

Saturday 13 to Tuesday 16 December 2025

Hagley Oval, Christchurch - Canterbury beat Auckland Aces by an innings and 72 runs
Cobham Oval, Whangārei - Northern Districts beat Wellington Firebirds by an innings and 28 runs
University of Otago Oval, Dunedin - Otago drew with Central Stags

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Henry Cooper helped last season's Plunket Shield champion Northern Districts catapult into the top three as the national first-class championship hit the pause button until late February - with the table still intriguingly tightly bunched.

ND thumped the Wellington Firebirds by an innings and 28 runs earlier this afternoon at Cobham Oval to jump from fifth, leaving the frustrated Firebirds sporting four losses from four rounds.

ND bowled out Wellington in 91.2 overs this time, for 224.

Spinners Tim Pringle (following up his career best 4/38 in the first innings with 4/45, eight for the match) and handy part-timer Cooper (1/17) profited on the fourth day surface in Whangārei, but the pivotal effort came yesterday from Northern's strong batting order.

Tim Pringle is well and truly back | PHOTOSPORT

Joe Carter (99) and Robbie O’Donnell (91) both had the bad luck to be dismissed in the 90s, but collectively their efforts counted enormously off the back of captain Jeet Raval (108) and Cooper (88) having plastered on a double century stand at the top.

Tailenders Josh Brown (49) and Zak Gibson (37 not out) then backed up some more, and all of that allowed Raval to declare the hefty first innings effort at 571/9 — ND’s fourth highest ever total.

So the Firebirds were up against it, even after captain Nick Kelly's own century and winning the toss.

But perhaps 111 is an unlucky number, after all.

In Dunedin, Central Stags young gun Curtis Heaphy missed out on a fourth century in consecutive first-class games by just 19 runs, but he had stood his ground for almost six hours for his 81 - just what his team had needed under the threat of an innings defeat, before feathering a catch behind off an upper cut.

Stags Heaphy and Cleaver | PHOTOSPORT

The form horses Heaphy and Brad Schmulian (78) conspired to stave off Otago's hopes yesterday, at a stage that could have seen all three matches end in innings victories in this round.

But, not to be in Dunedin.

The Stags rallied under pressure and kicked on into Day Four - a frequently rain-and-bad-light-interrupted final day, on which the prospects of play had initially been uncertain and groundsmen were glued to their phones watching the rain radar.

Otago had their chances to press for victory across the match, but the Stags led Otago by 159 runs, at 351/8 after their fighting second innings, when the match was finally called off in the last session.

Stags captain Dane Cleaver will welcome having got time in the middle, back into run-scoring mode with his unbeaten 93* in the last stanza, while Schmulian managed to overtake Canterbury's Henry Nicholls for second spot on the competition's run charts so far this season.

None of which should detract from the Otago bowling unit that bowled with venom and tenacity, and helped the team get to 40 points - level with their opponents, as it turned out, and away from their customary spot at the foot of the table.

They've played better collectively than fifth would suggest.

Jack Boyle congratulates Danru Ferns | PHOTOSPORT

Danru Ferns took seven for the match, and Luke Georgeson and Jarrod McKay were laying down the challenge regularly as well.

Northern took 19 out of the possible 20 points from this round to be one of the big movers, alongside Canterbury who took the full bag of 20 - it's not often that Canterbury leaves first-innings points on the floor.

Arguably just as frustrated as the Firebirds were the Stags, knowing a better first innings effort would have potentially lifted them into the lead.

Still, only nine points separating the top five teams is anyone's game with four rounds to go, from 28 February 2026.

Canterbury thumped the Auckand Aces by an innings and 72 runs at Hagley Oval with a day to spare.

As the current leader, the Aces had headed into this match with Canterbury 19 points behind them, but now they're sitting less prettily, Canterbury breathing down their necks.

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In a bright spot for Auckland, allrounder Simon Keene continued to impress in both facets this summer as he scored his second, and career best, first-class century in the ultimately doomed effort to stave off an innings defeat.

Keene made an entertaining 152 off 153 balls in 252 minutes in the Aces’ second innings total of 324; but they were all out in 107.3 overs when Sean Davey (4/41) took the winning wicket, and that was that.

Plunket Shield points after Round Four of Eight