Plunket Shield 2023: Top run-getters and wicket-takers after Wellington vs Canterbury match (Updated) ft. Sandeep Patel and Scott Kuggeleijn
Plunket Shield is a domestic first-class tournament hosted by the New Zealand Cricket Board. This year, the tournament started on October 20, and the first three games concluded on October 22.
Canterbury won the toss and elected to bowl against Wellington, who scored 325 runs in their first innings with the help of half-centuries from Nick Greenwood, Nick Kelly, and Muhammad Abbas.
Zakary Foulkes picked four wickets for 43 runs in 14.5 overs and was the pick of the bowlers. Fraser Sheat, Michael Rippon, and Michael Rae picked two wickets each for Canterbury.
Canterbury were bundled out for just 156 runs in their first innings. None of the batters managed to make more than 40 runs for the team. Rippon stood out here as well, with a knock of 31 runs.
Ben Sears, Peter Younghusband, and Nathan Smith took three wickets each for Wellington. Michael Snedden took the remaining wicket.
Wellington had an average performance in their second innings with the bat and could only score 145 runs before getting all out. This time, Muhammad Abbas made 41 runs off 57 deliveries and was the top performer.
Fraser Sheat picked four wickets for 50 runs in 13.5 overs. Zakary Foulkes took three, while Michael Rae and Angus McKenzie picked one wicket each.
Canterbury got a target of 315 runs to win this game. They managed to make only 185 runs and lost the match by 129 runs. Wicketkeeper-batter Mitch Hay scored 44 runs off 55 deliveries and was the highest scorer for the team.
Peter Younghusband took four wickets for 43 runs in just 11 overs for Wellington. Nathan Smith took three wickets, while Ben Sears and Muhammad Abbas shared two wickets apiece.
Plunket Shield 2023 Most Runs List
Sandeep Patel scored 145 runs for the Northern Districts in their first game against Otago. His innings helped Northern Districts post 376 runs on the board and won by an innings and 32 runs.
Greg Hay was the other player who scored a century in the first three games of the tournament. Hay opened the innings for Central Districts and made 115 runs.
Muhammad Abbas played a crucial role with the bat for Wellington. He scored 57 runs in the first innings and 47 in the second, taking his tally to a total of 98 runs.
Plunket Shield 2023 Most Wickets List
Scott Kuggeleijn was the only bowler to take a five-wicket haul in the three games. He finished with nine wickets for Northern Districts and is at the top of this list.
Zakary Foulkes is in second place among the top wicket-takers. He took a total of seven wickets in two innings for Canterbury.
Peter Younghusband took three wickets for just five runs in the first innings against Canterbury. He picked up three more wickets in the second innings and gave away just 43 runs in his 11 overs.