The Volts unleashed a rare exponent of the Chinaman, but it still wasn't enough to get them on the Ford Trophy board in round four at Cobham Oval, 25 January 2017.
How it happened
• Volts captain Jimmy Neesham opted to bowl at Cobham Oval, bringing in Nathan Smith and South African-born Netherlands international Michael Rippon — a Chinaman bowler — on Ford Trophy debut, while Jack Hunter and Anaru Kitchen opened the attack
• Out of sorts Bharat Popli was meanwhile pushed up to open for ND, and got a start — before he became Rippon’s first wicket for the Volts, done like a dinner in the 11th over, bringing Corey Anderson to the middle.
• Anderson also fell victim to Rippon, stumped in the 13th, while Nick Kelly bwas run out in a messy calling mix-up, but captain Dean Brownlie was proceeding nicely on 37*. Rippon now had 2-6 off his first two overs, and this one was a wicket maiden.
• Thanks to Brownlie’s vigilance, ND was well positioned at the 30-over mark, having reached 146 for three, and having just registered a 50-stand for the fourth wicket. Daryl Mitchell had got into the swing of things early with a six off Kitchen, while Brownlie had raised his bat for his half century early in their partnership, in the 21st over.
• But Brownlie fell the very next ball, caught on 71 off Christi Viljoen, and Mitchell followed him on 25.
• 1765/5 at second drinks, Kuggeleijn and Tim Seifert were both just getting starts while Rippon had just completed his work with the ball, returning an impressive and economical 3-26 off his 10, including two maidens, on Volts debut. He’d got rid of Mitchell (caught) and slowed down the scoring, making batsmen cautious with his uncommon bowling style.
• Busy Seifert went on to a 50-stand with Kuggeleijn and then his maiden List A half century, in 46 balls, before he was caught in the penultimate over.
• That triggered an action-packed last over with Neesham putting himself on a hat-trick before Ryan Duffy added a runout to make it three wickets in the over, ND dismissed with two balls to spare on 259.
• The Volts would need their 260 runs at RPO 5.20, but Kuggeleijn created an immediate setback by getting Rippon caught and bowled with outright pace, fourth ball of the chase.
• Neil Broom joined Brad Wilson against Kuggeleijn and Zak Gibson, but none of the Volts’ top four was destined to reach double figures as Gibson quickly snared three big wickets en route to what would become a career-best 4-31.
• Neesham, batting at five, had been his third victim, while Broom hung around for a long 25 balls before bottom-edging a caught behind on two. Not yet 10 overs and the Volts were in serious trouble already, five down.
Zak Gibson making life hard for the @OtagoVolts in Whangarei. @ndcricket on the charge. Card | https://t.co/pSbPxuoRCi #fordtrophy pic.twitter.com/x4GUC2JRCP
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) January 25, 2017
• Although Derek de Boorder typically dug deep with 43, no one else made an impression with the bat as ND closed in for a handy win inside 39 overs.
At the midway point of the comp, the Volts remain the only winless team, with three losses and one washout keeping them last on the table. They now head to Palmerston North sans Neesham (BLACKCAPS duty), where they will be captained by their third skipper in the space of four games — Brad Wilson leading them against the Central Stags this Saturday.
Northern Districts meanwhile sit in third spot on the table, with a four-point advantage over Canterbury. They remain in Whangarei to host the Firebirds. All matches start at 11am.
