# 2021–22 Plunket Shield season

The 2021–22 Plunket Shield was the 93rd season of the Plunket Shield, the domestic first-class cricket competition that was played in New Zealand. The tournament took place from October 2021 to April 2022. In July 2021, New Zealand Cricket named all the squads for the domestic teams ahead of the 2021–22 season. Canterbury were the defending champions.
In September 2021, New Zealand Cricket announced the schedule for the tournament. However, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, two of the opening round fixtures were postponed, and were rescheduled for a later date. Auckland won the tournament during the penultimate round of matches, after the match between Northern Districts and Central Districts ended in a draw due to positive COVID-19 cases in the Northern Districts' team. As a result of the COVID-19 cases, Northern Districts had 19 players unavailable for their final match of the season, with seven players making their first-class debut. It was the highest number of debutants in the same match for Northern Districts since their inaugural first-class fixture in 1956.

## Points table

| Team | Pld | W | L | D | Ab | Pts | Avge |
| Auckland | 8 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 104 | 13.00 |
| Canterbury | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 92 | 11.50 |
| Northern Districts | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 68 | 9.71 |
| Central Districts | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 56 | 8.00 |
| Otago | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 61 | 7.62 |
| Wellington | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 7.25 |
Champions.
Teams were ranked by average points per completed match, including abandoned matches, which earned four points, but the regulations excluded the Covid-affected draw between Northern Districts and Central Districts from the calculations.

## Fixtures
### 2021

* 23–26 October 2021 Scorecard
* Wellington won by 6 wickets Basin Reserve, Wellington Umpires: Tim Parlane and Shaun Haig
* Wellington won the toss and elected to field.
* Jake Gibson (Otago) made his first-class debut.
* 23–26 October 2021 Scorecard
* Match drawn Hagley Oval, Christchurch Umpires: Derek Walker and John Bromley
* Central Districts won the toss and elected to bat.
* Bayley Wiggins (Central Districts) made his first-class debut.
* Bayley Wiggins (Central Districts) scored his maiden century in first-class cricket.
* 31 October – 3 November 2021 Scorecard
* Canterbury won by 294 runs Basin Reserve, Wellington Umpires: Derek Walker and Kim Cotton
* Wellington won the toss and elected to field.
* Nick Greenwood (Wellington) made his first-class debut.
* 31 October – 3 November 2021 Scorecard
* Match drawn University Oval, Dunedin Umpires: John Bromley and Shaun Haig
* Central Districts won the toss and elected to bat.
* 7–10 November 2021 Scorecard
* Otago won by 161 runs Saxton Oval, Nelson Umpires: John Bromley and Tim Parlane
* Central Districts won the toss and elected to field.
* 7–10 November 2021 Scorecard
* Canterbury won by 314 runs Basin Reserve, Wellington Umpires: Cory Black and Derek Walker
* Wellington won the toss and elected to field.
* Callum McLachlan (Wellington) made his first-class debut.
* 15–18 November 2021 Scorecard
* Canterbury won by 2 wickets Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui Umpires: Cory Black and Derek Walker
* Northern Districts won the toss and elected to bat.
* 15–18 November 2021 Scorecard
* Central Districts won by 7 wickets Basin Reserve, Wellington Umpires: John Bromley and Tim Parlane
* Central Districts won the toss and elected to field.
* James Hartshorn (Wellington) and Ma'ara Ave (Central Districts) both made their first-class debuts.
* 22–25 November 2021 Scorecard
* Northern Districts won by an innings and 74 runs Molyneux Park, Alexandra Umpires: Derek Walker and Eugene Sanders
* Northern Districts won the toss and elected to field.
* Max Chu (Otago) scored his maiden century in first-class cricket.
* Henry Cooper (Northern Districts) scored his maiden double century in first-class cricket.

### 2022

* 4–7 February 2022 Scorecard
* Auckland won by 4 wickets Eden Park, Auckland Umpires: Chris Brown and Wayne Knights
* Auckland won the toss and elected to field.
* 11–14 February 2022 Scorecard
* Auckland won by 213 runs University Oval, Dunedin Umpires: Billy Bowden and Tim Parlane
* Otago won the toss and elected to field.
* No play was possible on day 3 due to rain.
* Jacob Cumming, Thorn Parkes (Otago) and Simon Keene (Auckland) all made their first-class debuts.
* Simon Keene (Auckland) took his maiden five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.
* 3–6 March 2022 Scorecard
* Auckland won by 224 runs Eden Park, Auckland Umpires: Chris Brown and John Dempsey
* Auckland won the toss and elected to bat.
* Zak Foulkes (Canterbury) made his first-class debut.
* 3–6 March 2022 Scorecard
* Northern Districts won by 213 runs Cobham Oval, Whangārei Umpires: Billy Bowden and Cory Black
* Northern Districts won the toss and elected to bat.
* Kris Clarke (Northern Districts) made his first-class debut.
* 11–14 March 2022 Scorecard
* Auckland won by 158 runs Molyneux Park, Alexandra Umpires: Billy Bowden and John Bromley
* Auckland won the toss and elected to bat.
* 11–14 March 2022 Scorecard
* Northern Districts won by 141 runs McLean Park, Napier Umpires: John Dempsey and Wayne Knights
* Central Districts won the toss and elected to field.
* Scott Johnston (Northern Districts) made his first-class debut.
* 20–23 March 2022 Scorecard
* Match abandoned Cobham Oval, Whangārei Umpires: Billy Bowden and John Bromley
* No toss.
* No play was possible due to rain.
* 20–23 March 2022 Scorecard
* Match drawn McLean Park, Napier Umpires: Cory Black and John Dempsey
* Canterbury won the toss and elected to bat.
* Only 16 overs of play was possible on day 2 due to rain.
* Will Clark (Central Districts) and William O’Rourke (Canterbury) both made their first-class debuts.
* 20–23 March 2022 Scorecard
* Otago won by 7 wickets University Oval, Dunedin Umpires: Derek Walker and Tim Parlane
* Otago won the toss and elected to field.
* No play was possible on day 3 due to rain.
* Devan Vishvaka and Tim Robinson (Wellington) both made their first-class debuts.
* 28–31 March 2022 Scorecard
* Auckland won by 10 wickets Eden Park, Auckland Umpires: Billy Bowden and Cory Black
* Auckland won the toss and elected to bat.
* Sean Solia (Auckland) scored his maiden century in first-class cricket.
* Tim Robinson (Wellington) scored his maiden century in first-class cricket.
* 29 March – 1 April 2022 Scorecard
* Match drawn Cobham Oval, Whangārei Umpires: Derek Walker and John Dempsey
* Northern Districts won the toss and elected to bat.
* Freddy Walker (Northern Districts) made his first-class debut.
* Tom Bruce (Central Districts) scored his maiden double century in first-class cricket.
* No play was possible on day 4 after multiple cases of COVID-19 were reported in the Northern Districts' squad.
* 29 March – 1 April 2022 Scorecard
* Match drawn Rangiora Recreation Ground, Rangiora Umpires: John Bromley and Tim Parlane
* Canterbury won the toss and elected to field.
* Mitchell Hay (Canterbury) made his first-class debut.
* 5–8 April 2022 Scorecard
* Match drawn McLean Park, Napier Umpires: Billy Bowden and John Dempsey
* Central Districts won the toss and elected to field.
* Flynn McGregor-Sumpter and Jordan Sussex (Auckland) both made their first-class debuts.
* 6–9 April 2022 Scorecard
* Wellington won by 9 wickets Cobham Oval, Whangārei Umpires: Chris Brown and Derek Walker
* Northern Districts won the toss and elected to bat.
* Ben Pomare, Chris Swanson, Fergus Lellman, Josh Brown, Peter Drysdale, Sam Varcoe, Sandeep Patel (Northern Districts) and Kieran McComb (Wellington) all made their first-class debuts.
* 12–15 April 2022 Scorecard
* Canterbury won by 98 runs Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln Umpires: John Dempsey and Wayne Knights
* Canterbury won the toss and elected to bat.