Auckland had the most contrasting fortunes imaginable within the space of three days when the final two rounds of the Shell Cup took place. On Tuesday they were bowled out for their lowest ever score of 73 but on Thursday, on the same pitch, they ran up 318-5 - their highest ever total in the competition.
376-3 Central Districts v Otago New Plymouth 1996/97
339-5 Central Districts v Otago Hastings 1998/99
329-5 Canterbury v Northern Districts Christchurch 1995/96
318-5 Auckland v Northern Districts Auckland 2000/01
313-7 Canterbury v Northern Districts Timaru 1993/94
309-6 Canterbury v Central Districts Christchurch 1994/95
309-8 Auckland v Northern Districts Gisborne 1982/83
306-2 Northern Districts v Auckland Gisborne 1982/83
305-6 Central Districts v Otago Oamaru 1999/00
Ironically, the previous highest on Eden Park's Outer Oval had been Northern's 295-6 against Auckland last season.
Lou Vincent scored 133 not out in Auckland's total, and in the process became the first player to score two Shell Cup hundreds for Auckland. Vincent already had the highest innings for Auckland. The highest for all teams are:
161 Blair Hartland Canterbury v Northern Districts Timaru 1993/94
149 Chris Nevin Wellington v Central Districts Wellington 1997/98
147* Bruce Edgar Wellington v Northern Districts Gisborne 1981/82
145 Lou Vincent Auckland v Central Districts Napier 1999/00
143 Chris Cairns Canterbury v Auckland Christchurch 1994/95
140 Derek Scott Auckland v Northern Districts Hamilton 1986/87
140 David Kelly Central Districts v Wellington Waikanae 1999/00
134 Llorne Howell Canterbury v Otago Oamaru 1997/98
133* Lou Vincent Auckland v Northern Districts Auckland 2000/01
131 Nathan Astle Canterbury v Wellington Wellington 1995/96
130* Jeff Crowe Auckland v Northern Districts Auckland 1991/92
Scott Styris came in for some heavy punishment during the Auckland innings, requiring the table for most expensive Shell Cup bowling, as published last week, to be revised. Most runs conceded in a Shell Cup innings is now:
10-0-93-2 Craig Presland Northern Districts v Auckland Gisborne 1982/83
9-0-85-1 Robert Kennedy Otago v Canterbury Christchurch 1996/97
10-1-85-0 Robert Kennedy Otago v Central Districts New Plymouth 1996/97
9-1-84-0 Scott Styris Northern Districts v Auckland Auckland 2000/01
10-0-83-2 Graeme Welch Wellington v Central Districts New Plymouth 1997/98
10-0-80-3 Bruce Blair Otago v Central Districts Oamaru 1982/83
10-0-78-0 Craig Pryor Otago v Wellington Wellington 2000/01
Auckland's 131-run victory against Northern was their biggest ever in the Shell Cup. The largest winning margins in the competition have been:
runs
200 Central Districts v Otago Hastings 1998/99
153 Otago v Wellington Alexandra 1982/83
152 Canterbury v Central Districts Napier 1995/96
151 Wellington v Northern Districts Mt Maunganui 1997/98
148 Northern Districts v Wellington Wellington 1994/95
144 Canterbury v Central Districts Christchurch 1994/95
144 Canterbury v Central Districts Timaru 1995/96
140 Canterbury v Northern Districts Hamilton 1998/99
Auckland's previous best margin was 123 runs against Otago at Alexandra in 1991/92 (Auckland made 223-4 and Otago were bowled out for 110).
Two days after bowling Auckland out for 73, the Central quartet of Thompson, Hefford, Schwass and Oram were at it again as they routed Otago for just 67. At 47-8 and 54-9 Otago looked set to record the lowest Shell Cup score of all time but Warren McSkimming and Kerry Walmsley narrowly averted total ignominy.
The lowest Shell Cup scores are now:
64 Otago v Wellington Alexandra 1984/85
66 Wellington v Canterbury Wellington 1996/97
67 Otago v Central Districts Invercargill 2000/01
73 Auckland v Central Districts Auckland 2000/01
76 Northern Districts v Central Districts Mt Maunganui 1987/88
78 Central Districts v Auckland New Plymouth 1988/89
79 Wellington v Otago Wellington 1999/00
80 Northern Districts v Wellington Wellington 1982/83
81 Central Districts v Northern Districts Levin 1995/96
81 Wellington v Canterbury Wellington 1996/97
Auckland's previous lowest, and their only other Shell Cup innings below 100, was 96 against Canterbury at Christchurch in 1995/96.
In last week's column we noted that Roger Twose had registered a record sixth Shell Cup century. A few days later, Nathan Astle joined him after scoring 121 against Otago at Jade Stadium.
The most hundreds have now been scored by:
100s matches
Nathan Astle 6 76
Roger Twose 6 95
Martin Crowe 5 57
Llorne Howell 4 75
Bruce Edgar 3 43
Stephen Fleming 3 52
Craig McMillan 3 52
Matthew Bell 3 55
Chris Cairns 3 65
Mark Richardson 3 66
In an earlier edition of the Numbers Game, we pointed out that Mark Bailey had scored more runs than any other player in Shell Cup history without the aid of a century - passing Mark Greatbatch's record during this season. Since that time, Bailey has become the first player to reach 2000 Shell Cup runs without a century (indeed, Bailey's highest score is only 76 not out).
The highest run scorers in the Shell Cup without a century are now:
Runs Matches Ave
Mark Bailey 2095 97 25.86
Mark Greatbatch 1922 67 32.03
Grant Bradburn 1881 110 21.62
Andrew Jones 1757 64 30.29
Richard Petrie 1726 100 23.32
Robbie Lawson 1542 64 27.05
Central Districts' captain Jacob Oram came up with a personal landmark in the Shell Cup semi-final against Northern Districts at Napier. For the first time in his 34-match Shell Cup career, he bowled a full ten overs - not usually newsworthy except for the fact that he had previously bowled first change for the New Zealand one-day team against Zimbabwe.
© CricInfo
