Fresh from winning The Ford Trophy and finishing runners up in the men's Dream11 Super Smash, red hot Canterbury is looking to add another trophy to their cabinet as the back half of New Zealand's Plunket Shield championship resumes this morning.
Unlike the white-ball formats, there is no Final in the long-running national first-class championship with the winner being the team at the top of the points table at the conclusion of eight four-day rounds.
The first four rounds were completed before Christmas and round five begins today with Canterbury holding a 20-point lead over the nearest rival, Northern Districts.
Unbeaten Canterbury is hosting the fifth-placed Otago Volts in a southern derby at Hagley Oval, Christchurch where Otago Volts captain Hamish Rutherford has won the toss and elected to bowl in the only match to start on time.
Tom Latham and Ken McClure have opened the batting for the hosts.
A toss win by @OtagoVolts' captain Hamish Rutherford and we'll be having a bat first at Hagley Oval.#WeAreCanterbury #PlunketShield pic.twitter.com/TsNK6Fve3f
— Canterbury Cricket (@CanterburyCrick) March 10, 2021
Wet weather continues to blight the Central Stags' first-class season with heavy rain arriving at McLean Park this morning where the Stags host defending champions the Wellington Firebirds - the latter the only side yet to get a win in this year's championship.
Showers have also delayed the scheduled start at Whangarei's Cobham Oval where Northern Districts are hosting neighbours the Auckland Aces.
Alongside Canterbury, the Aces are the only other unbeaten side in this year's championship, but head into the fifth round in third spot, trailing ND by one point.
Points at a glance after Round 4
Canterbury - 62
Northern Districts - 42
Auckland Aces - 41
Central Stags - 27
Otago Volts - 26
Wellington Firebirds - 18
