BRING IT ON: Tom Bruce upped the tempo. PHOTO/Paul Taylor
LET'S just cut to the chase when it comes to winning cricket matches, especially at the domestic men's level.
If the top four batsmen do their jobs then everything else will fall into place.
Never was there a better illustration of that than yesterday, when the Devon Hotel Central Districts Stags thumped the Sky City Northern Districts Knights by 81 runs in their one-day Ford Trophy match in New Plymouth.
"It's really important in one-day cricket to set a base so batsmen from No4 to No7 can play freely," said rookie CD captain William Young, after electing to bat on a flat Pukekura Park wicket.
Young top scored with a crisp 85 runs off 57 balls on his home turf as the hosts posted a don't-argue 363-9 in 50 overs.
Openers George Worker (62 runs), Ben Smith (24) and Jesse Ryder (58 from 42 balls), at first drop, provided that ideal foundation before Young forged a partnership with No5 Tom Bruce, who bullied the ND bowlers with 71 runs from 45 balls. The Young and Bruce fourth-wicket collaboration yielded a record of 147 runs, eclipsing the partnership of 132 former Black Caps Mathew Sinclair and Jacob Oram established against the Auckland Aces at Eden Park outer oval in 2003-04.
"That's awesome to know, to hear about, because I had no idea," a laughing Young said as he put his gear into the wrong van at the park in all that excitement.
In doing so, they also smashed the CD record of 121 Young/Kieran Noema-Barnett set against ND at Harry Barker Reserve Gisborne in 2014-15.
"Both of us [Young and Bruce] are Naki boys so it was good fun out there today with Brucie," Young said, mighty pleased to put a bonus-points victory in their bag as defending champions, before they host the Wellington Firebirds at Fitzherbert Park, Palmerston North, on Sunday.
CD will welcome back seamer Doug Bracewell for the next round and possibly fellow Black Caps new-ball merchant Ben Wheeler, who has been upping his load at Lincoln, near Christchurch, this week after returning from injury.
"Dougie and Wheels' return will put us in good stead for the Palmy match as well as the following round against ND [at Cobham Oval] in Whangarei."
Young saluted CD opening bowler Seth Rance who took 4-53 from eight overs.
"Seth's been a top bowler all season and he knocked off the top order today, as he did in our first game," he said, lauding fellow opener Bevan Small for chugging into the wind for just one scalp as the "unsung hero".
CHB seamer Blair Tickner, who made his List A debut, took 2-33 downwind as first-change bowler after Rance but Ryder was the most frugal with an admirable 2-16 from six overs.
Young said Ryder was easing into the bowling, despite a side strain, but said his all-round class reaffirmed the status of players who provided balance in the side.
Jordie Barrett, the non-travelling reserve to the ICC World Cup U19 in Bangladesh this month was 12th man. The opening bowler is the brother of All Black Beauden Barrett.
In other games, the table-topping Canterbury Kings beat the SBS Bank Otago Volts by 47 runs at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, and Mondiale Aces beat the Firebirds by 12 runs at Eden Park outer oval in the big smoke.
The Aces host the Kings in a top-of-the-table clash on Saturday while the Knights will welcome the Volts to Cobham Oval, with both sides under pressure to lift themselves from the bottom.
CD are third on the table.