# 2015–16 Plunket Shield season

The 2015–16 Plunket Shield was the 87th season of official first-class cricket in New Zealand. The competition started on 15 October 2015, and ran to 2 April 2016. Auckland won the competition following a draw in their match against Wellington in round nine of the competition.

## Teams

| Team | Home Ground(s) |
| Northern Districts | Seddon Park, Cobham Oval, Harry Barker Reserve |
| Auckland | Eden Park No.2 |
| Central Districts | Nelson Park, McLean Park, Saxton Oval |
| Wellington | Basin Reserve, Karori Park |
| Canterbury | Mainpower Oval, Hagley Oval |
| Otago | Queen's Park, University Oval |

## Squads

| Auckland | Canterbury | Central Districts | Northern Districts | Otago | Wellington |
| Michael Bates Brad Cachopa Colin de Grandhomme Lachie Ferguson Donovan Grobbelaar Martin Guptill Michael Guptill-Bunce Shawn Hicks Mitchell McClenaghan Colin Munro Tarun Nethula Rob Nicol Robert O'Donnell Glenn Phillips Matt Quinn Brett Randell Jeet Raval | Todd Astle Hamish Bennett Leo Carter Andrew Ellis Cam Fletcher Peter Fulton Matt Henry Ronnie Hira Kyle Jamieson Tim Johnston Tom Latham Ryan McCone Ken McClure Cole McConchie Henry Nicholls Edward Nuttall Logan van Beek | Doug Bracewell Tom Bruce Dane Cleaver Greg Hay Marty Kain Andrew Mathieson Adam Milne Ajaz Patel Seth Rance Dean Robinson Jesse Ryder Bevan Small Ben Smith Ross Taylor Kruger van Wyk Ben Wheeler George Worker Will Young | Corey Anderson Cody Andrews James Baker Bharat Popli Jono Boult Trent Boult Dean Brownlie Joe Carter Anton Devcich Daniel Flynn Tony Goodin Brett Hampton Jono Hickey Scott Kuggeleijn Daryl Mitchell Mitchell Santner Tim Seifert Ish Sodhi Tim Southee BJ Watling Kane Williamson | Warren Barnes Nick Beard Samuel Blakely Michael Bracewell Neil Broom Mark Craig Derek de Boorder Jacob Duffy Ryan Duffy Josh Finnie Anaru Kitchen Brendon McCullum Nathan McCullum James Neesham Michael Rae Hamish Rutherford Craig Smith Neil Wagner Sam Wells Brad Wilson | Brent Arnel Brady Barnett Tom Blundell Alecz Day Grant Elliott Jamie Gibson Dane Hutchinson Matt McEwan Stephen Murdoch Ollie Newton Michael Papps Jeetan Patel Michael Pollard Luke Ronchi Matt Taylor Anurag Verma Luke Woodcock |

## Points table

| Team | Pld | W | L | D | Ab | Pts |
| Auckland | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 132 |
| Canterbury | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 117 |
| Wellington | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 108 |
| Northern Districts | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 87 |
| Central Districts | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 85 |
| Otago | 10 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 61 |
Winner

## Fixtures
### Round 1

* 15 – 18 October Scorecard
* Auckland won by 9 wickets Eden Park Outer Oval, Auckland Umpires: Billy Bowden and Tony Gillies
* Auckland won the toss and elected to field.
* Ken McClure and Theo van Woerkom (Canterbury) made their first-class debuts.
* 15 – 18 October Scorecard
* Match drawn Nelson Park, Napier Umpires: Barry Frost and Wayne Knights
* Otago won the toss and elected to bat.
* Josh Clarkson (Central Districts) and Jack Hunter (Otago) made their first-class debuts.
* 15 – 18 October Scorecard
* Match drawn Seddon Park, Hamilton Umpires: Ashley Mehrotra and Tim Parlane
* Northern Districts won the toss and elected to field.

### Round 2

* 23 – 26 October Scorecard
* Wellington won by 5 wickets Saxton Oval, Nelson Umpires: Phil Jones and Ashley Mehrotra
* Wellington won the toss and elected to field.
* 23 – 26 October Scorecard
* Auckland won by 3 wickets Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui Umpires: Barry Frost and Tony Gillies
* Auckland won the toss and elected to field.
* Brett Hampton and Nick Kelly (Northern Districts) made their first-class debuts.
* 24 – 27 October Scorecard
* Canterbury won by 304 runs Hagley Oval, Christchurch Umpires: Billy Bowden and Chris Brown
* Otago won the toss and elected to field.
* Logan van Beek (Canterbury) scored his maiden first-class century.

### Round 3

* 17 – 20 December Scorecard
* Match drawn Eden Park Outer Oval, Auckland Umpires: Chris Brown and Barry Frost
* Auckland won the toss and elected to field.
* Mark Chapman and Shawn Hicks (Auckland) both made their first-class debuts.
* 17 – 20 December Scorecard
* Canterbury won by 161 runs Mainpower Oval, Rangiora Umpires: Tony Gillies and Derek Walker
* Central Districts won the toss and elected to field.
* Navin Patel (Central Districts) made his first-class debut.
* 17 – 20 December Scorecard
* Wellington won by 92 runs Basin Reserve, Wellington Umpires: Ashley Mehrotra and Tim Parlane
* Otago won the toss and elected to field.

### Round 4

* 5 – 8 February Scorecard
* Northern Districts won by 284 runs McLean Park, Napier Umpires: Barry Frost and Ashley Mehrotra
* Central Districts won the toss and elected to field.
* 5 – 8 February Scorecard
* Auckland won by 5 wickets Hagley Oval, Christchurch Umpires: Wayne Knights and Tim Parlane
* Auckland won the toss and elected to field.
* Nathan McAndrew (Auckland) made his first-class debut.
* 5 – 8 February Scorecard
* Wellington won by 102 runs Queenstown Events Centre Queenstown Umpires: Chris Brown and Tony Gillies
* Wellington won the toss and elected to bat.
* Matthew Bacon (Wellington) made his first-class debut.

### Round 5

* 13 – 16 February Scorecard
* Auckland won by an innings and 119 runs Eden Park Outer Oval, Auckland Umpires: Barry Frost and Wayne Knights
* Auckland won the toss and elected to field.
* 13 – 16 February Scorecard
* Otago won by 61 runs University Oval, Dunedin Umpires: Ashley Mehrotra and Derek Walker
* Northern Districts won the toss and elected to field.
* 13 – 16 February Scorecard
* Match drawn Nelson Park, Napier Umpires: Tony Gillies and Geoff Joshua (Aus)
* Central Districts won the toss and elected to field.
* Michael Davidson (Canterbury) made his first-class debut.

### Round 6

* 20 – 23 February Scorecard
* Match drawn Eden Park Outer Oval, Auckland Umpires: Billy Bowden and R. G. Hooper
* Otago won the toss and elected to field.
* 20 – 23 February Scorecard
* Canterbury won by 8 wickets Seddon Park, Hamilton Umpires: John Bromley and Phil Jones
* Canterbury won the toss and elected to field.
* 20 – 23 February Scorecard
* Central Districts won by 87 runs Nelson Park, Napier Umpires: Shaun Haig and Wayne Knights
* Wellington won the toss and elected to field.
* Mitch Renwick (Central Districts) made his first-class debut.

### Round 7

* 8 – 11 March Scorecard
* Wellington won by 3 wickets Basin Reserve, Wellington Umpires: Tony Gillies and Tim Parlane
* Wellington won the toss and elected to field.
* Ian McPeake (Wellington) made his first-class debut.
* 8 – 11 March Scorecard
* Canterbury won by 5 wickets Queen's Park, Invercargill Umpires: Chris Brown and Barry Frost
* Canterbury won the toss and elected to field.
* 8 – 11 March Scorecard
* Auckland won by 47 runs Eden Park Outer Oval, Auckland Umpires: Stephen Harris (SA) and Ashley Mehrotra
* Central Districts won the toss and elected to field.

### Round 8

* 15 – 18 March Scorecard
* Northern Districts won by 115 runs Seddon Park, Hamilton Umpires: Wayne Knights and Derek Walker
* Central Districts won the toss and elected to field.
* Liam Dudding (Central Districts) and Zak Gibson (Northern Districts) both made their first-class debuts.
* 15 – 18 March Scorecard
* Wellington won by 54 runs Hagley Oval, Christchurch Umpires: Chris Brown and Stephen Harris (SA)
* Canterbury won the toss and elected to field.
* No play was possible on Day 2.
* 15 – 18 March Scorecard
* Auckland won by 10 runs University Oval, Dunedin Umpires: Billy Bowden and Phil Jones
* Otago won the toss and elected to field.
* No play was possible on Day 1.

### Round 9

* 23 – 26 March Scorecard
* Match drawn Basin Reserve, Wellington Umpires: Chris Brown and Tim Parlane
* Wellington won the toss and elected to field.
* 23 – 26 March Scorecard
* Match drawn Hagley Oval, Christchurch Umpires: Shaun Haig and Derek Walker
* Canterbury won the toss and elected to field.
* 23 – 26 March Scorecard
* Match drawn University Oval, Dunedin Umpires: Tony Gillies and Ashley Mehrotra
* Otago won the toss and elected to field.
* No play was possible on Day 2.

### Round 10

* 30 March – 2 April Scorecard
* Canterbury won by 7 wickets Basin Reserve, Wellington Umpires: Phil Jones and Derek Walker
* Wellington won the toss and elected to field.
* Jamie Gibson (Wellington) made his first-class debut.
* 30 March – 2 April Scorecard
* Match drawn Cobham Oval, Whangārei Umpires: Barry Frost and Wayne Knights
* Otago won the toss and elected to bat.
* Nathan Smith (Otago) made his first-class debut.
* 30 March – 2 April Scorecard
* Central Districts won by 4 wickets Nelson Park, Napier Umpires: Billy Bowden and John Bromley
* Auckland won the toss and elected to bat.