ACES Take Heart From Form Resurgence In Must-win Match Against Otago Volts

Even though the match result against Wellington said ‘draw’, the ACES will take the resurgence of their players’ form as a positive as they hit the road for Plunket Shield round seven against the Otago Volts in Molyneux Park, Alexandra.

The ACES dominated three of the four days against the Firebirds, with centuries to Sean Solia and Mark Chapman and fifties to Will O’Donnell and debutant Quinn Sunde.

Additionally, their bowlers looked periodically dangerous on a deck that only offered slight assistance.

The Volts sit at 5th on the table, one place above Auckland. A firm win could launch either team up the jam-packed middle of a table, though it will take some serious cricket to knock Canterbury off the top.

The last time these two teams met way back in round one the Volts came out on top but a lot of cricket has passed since October and tomorrow’s Plunket Shield match should be a closely fought game between two good teams.

Importantly, the ACES have only played five first class matches so far this season, one less than the other teams minus Central Districts, who they’ll face in a rescheduled round five match in early April.

The ACES will lose the vicious pace of Lockie Ferguson, who preps for the IPL, but will gain the wily left arm orthodox of Louis Delport, fresh off a 7-wicket bag for Auckland A in Hamilton.

His inclusion isn’t surprising given the last time these two teams met at Molyneux Park, Delport bagged six wickets and Will Somerville seven. With the added inclusion of Adi Ashok, the ACES are going for a spin-first approach in Alexandra, one of the driest cities in New Zealand.

The toss is at 10am with play kicking off at 10:30am. The match will be live streamed on New Zealand Cricket’s YouTube channel and live scoring is available at scoring.nzc.nz.

Plunket Shield Round Seven | Auckland ACES vs. Otago Volts |
10:30am, 13-16 March 2023 | Molyneux Park, Alexandra

Adi Ashok (Suburbs New Lynn)
Mark Chapman (Parnell)
Louis Delport (East Coast Bays)
Danru Ferns (Takapuna)
Ben Horne (Parnell) (wk)
Simon Keene (North Shore)
Robbie O’Donnell (Takapuna) (c)
Will O’Donnell (Takapuna)
Sean Solia (Suburbs New Lynn)
Will Somerville (Parnell)
Quinn Sunde (Takapuna)
George Worker (Cornwall)

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