Cricket: Willow-shy Stags taking stock after loss

CD Stags seamer Doug Bracewell bends his back against the Auckland Aces in the opening-round, one-day Ford Trophy match at Pukekura Park, New Plymouth, yesterday. Photo/John Velvin, ESPNZ

No point asking too many questions on this one because the sorry scoreboard tells the story at a compact Pukekura Park.

You can win the toss at the New Plymouth venue but if you leave the willow in the coffin at the changing rooms, metaphorically speaking, then the inscription on the epitaph of the white-ball campaign this summer is preordained.

The Central Districts Stags found that out in their opening round of the one-day Ford Trophy clash when they succumbed by five wickets to the Auckland Aces yesterday.

Many CD batsmen made starts but they didn't go on so a total of 224 all out was never going to be enough for bowlers to defend.

The William Young-captained side also committed the sin of batting 31 balls shy of the allotted 50 overs.

In reply, the Aces stuttered before their middle-order batsmen stopped the rot enough to overhaul their target.

"We had a few batters who had good starts but, unfortunately, no one kicked on to post a fair total to put us into a position for a competitive score," said Stags coach Heinrich Malan.

The game had a 20-minute delay in starting after dampness on part of the field due to dew overnight not evaporating fast enough because of the shade nearby trees were casting at the picturesque park.

Homeboy Tom Bruce was the top scorer for CD with 56 runs, while Doug Bracewell added 38.

Wicketkeeper Dane Cleaver was promoted to open the batting in the absence of Black Cap George Worker.

Auckland spinner Tarun Nethula claimed 4-64 but Malan didn't think the two-paced wicket provided purchase for tweakers and was a good batting strip.

"We just didn't play the way we wanted to and didn't build a structure around us in the first 30 overs to have wickets in hand," he lamented.

CD play the Northern Districts Knights at Cobham Oval, in Whangarei, on Wednesday before returning to Pukekura Park to host the Otago Volts on Sunday.