ACS Overseas First-Class Annual 2011

New Zealand in 2010/11 New Zealand played a two-Test home series against Pakistan, losing the first Test owing to a second-innings batting collapse before drawing the second. Previously, New Zealand had lost a three-Test series by a similar 1-0 margin in India (see the India section) – a creditable result, in view of India’s position at the top of the world rankings, but the fact remained that two series defeats left New Zealand ranked a lowly eighth by the end of the season. Apart from the two Tests against Pakistan, the other 29 first-class matches were all in the Plunket Shield. Canterbury came out on top. Their record of only four outright wins, and one defeat, was hardly dominant, particularly since second-placed Otago were undefeated and could also point to four wins. But Canterbury secured extra points for first-innings lead in drawing the other four games (the away match against Wellington was abandoned) and this was decisive because Otago failed to gain a first-innings lead in any of their six drawn games. Otago could, however, lay claim to the outstanding individual performance of 2010/11: indeed, one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of New Zealand cricket. This came in the last match of the season, against Wellington, when N.Wagner, the South Africa-born left-armer, stepped up to bowl the last over before lunch on the third day. Wellington, replying to Otago’s 441 for eight declared, at this point were 136 for four having lost a wicket in the previous over. It was a case of Götterdämmerung by Wagner as he had S.J.Rhodes caught off the first ball and with his next three balls removed J.Austin-Smellie, J.S.Patel and M.J.Tugaga, all bowled, to claim four wickets in four balls. Five in five has never, of course, been achieved at first-class level and nor was it on this occasion. M.R.Gillespie survived the fifth ball of Wagner’s over only to fall victim, also bowled, to the sixth. Wellington at this stage had lost six wickets with the score at 136 but, remarkably perhaps, this is not a first-class record: twice in history a side has lost seven wickets without addition to the score (MCC v Surrey at Lord’s in 1872 and Gauteng v Northerns at Johannesburg in 1997/98). Wagner was, not surprisingly, the leading wicket-taker in the Shield, with 51 at an outstanding 18.15; T.D.Astle, with 37 at 29.08, who was second, played a major part in Canerbury’s success in lifting the Shield. P.J.Ingram of Central Districts, with 858 runs including four hundreds, led the Shield batting aggregates by a wide margin. Plunket Shield 2010/11: Final table P W WLF L LWF DWF DLF A ND Pts NetRpW 8 6 0 2 2 0 1 1 Canterbury 10 3 1 1 0 4 0 0 1 41 6.583 2 Otago 10 3 1 0 0 0 6 0 0 30 8.723 3 Central Districts 10 3 0 1 0 2 3 1 0 29 2.227 4 Northern Districts 10 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 0 29 -0.800 5 Wellington 10 2 0 3 2 2 0 0 1 27 -6.830 6 Auckland 10 0 1 6 1 1 1 0 0 10 -6.740 Abandoned Match Wellington v Canterbury, Basin Reserve, Wellington, February 24, 25, 26, 27, 2011. The match was first postponed because of the earthquake in Christchurch and then cancelled when no convenient date could be found to rearrange it. 207