Bay of Plenty have easily retained the Hawke Cup in their third defence of the season with a 194-run first innings victory over Nelson at Bay Oval.
After winning the toss on Friday, the home team took first use of a track that looked to have plenty of runs in it. Openers Peter Drysdale and Tom MacRury got the home side away to a solid start, reaching the 84-run mark, before MacRury was run out for 54.
Northern Knights' Joe Carter joined the Bay of Plenty skipper at the crease and the pair took the Bay through to 93/1 at lunch.
Drysdale and Carter took control of the Nelson bowling attack after lunch and added 82 runs before the tea adjournment. The pair continued after tea, until Carter was caught by Willem Ludick off the bowling of Joe O'Connor for 105. The Bay number three's innings was his sixth century for Bay of Plenty and contained a dozen boundaries and two over the picket fence.
Nelson struck back late on day one, removing Yorkshire professional Alex Lees for 21 and Ben Musgrave for 0, but at stumps Bay of Plenty were in a strong position at 284 for the loss of four wickets.