Having lost the opening round of the Plunket Shield against the red-hot defending champions Central Stags, the ACES are hunting for their first win of the season against Northern Districts this weekend at Kennards Hire Community Oval.

The Northern derbies always offer something special and the ACES will be looking back fondly at their win against ND at the same venue in March this year. 

Danru Ferns was the hero of that match, taking 5 wickets in the final innings and bowling Auckland to victory in fading light.

He will lead the bowling attack in the absence of Ben Lister, who pulled up mid-over during the Central Stags match with an injury and will miss this game.

Fellow left-armer Matt Gibson will take Lister’s place, having made his debut in that same match.

Apart from that the ACES will field no further changes from the opening round.

Northern Districts arrive in Auckland brimming with confidence off the back of a firm innings and 32-run win against the Otago Volts at Seddon Park.

But as the ACES demonstrated in the second half of last season, they have an ability to bounce back. This will be an intriguing match up.

Mark Chapman, Lockie Ferguson and Jimmy Neesham are unavailable for selection due to ICC Cricket World Cup commitments.

The action kicks off tomorrow at 10:30am at Eden Park’s outer oval. Entry is free with the match livestreamed through NZC’s YouTube channel. Or follow live scoring at scoring.nzc.nz.


Plunket Shield Round Two
Auckland ACES vs. Northern Districts
28-31 October 2023, Kennards Hire Community Oval
10:30am start

FH Allen
A Ashok (Suburbs New Lynn)
DK Ferns (Takapuna)
CD Fletcher (East Coast Bays)
MJ Gibson (Cornwall)
RD Harrison (East Coast Bays)
SB Keene (North Shore)
RR O’Donnell (Takapuna)
WT O’Donnell (Takapuna)
SM Solia (Suburbs New Lynn)
QLM Sunde (Takapuna)
GH Worker (Cornwall)

Article added: Friday 27 October 2023