# 2016–17 Plunket Shield season

The 2016–17 Plunket Shield was the 88th season of official first-class cricket in New Zealand. The competition started on 22 October 2016, and ran to 1 April 2017. The round seven fixtures that started in early March 2017, were played as day/night matches. These were in preparation for a possible day/night Test match between New Zealand and England, scheduled to take place in March 2018. Despite some concerns about the visibility of the pink ball while catching, the matches received positive feedback.
In the first round of matches, Michael Papps playing for Wellington, became the first player to score 10,000 runs in the Plunket Shield. The start of the round four fixture between Wellington and Central Districts was delayed because of a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck New Zealand on 14 November 2016. It was later abandoned because of frequent aftershocks in the area.
Canterbury won the tournament, their 19th title in the competition, and their third win in the last four years.

## Points table

| Team | Pld | W | L | D | Ab | Pts |
| Canterbury | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 105 |
| Northern Districts | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 103 |
| Auckland | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 98 |
| Wellington | 10 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 86 |
| Central Districts | 10 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 79 |
| Otago | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 60 |
Winner

## 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, Westpac Stadium |
| Canterbury | Mainpower Oval, Hagley Oval |
| Otago | Queen's Park, University Oval |

## Squads

Prior to the start of the season, the following squads were announced:
| Auckland | Canterbury | Central Districts | Northern Districts | Otago | Wellington |
| Cody Andrews Brad Cachopa Mark Chapman Colin de Grandhomme Lockie Ferguson Donovan Grobbelaar Michael Guptill-Bunce Shawn Hicks Dane Hutchinson Tarun Nethula Rob Nicol Robert O'Donnell Glenn Phillips Jeet Raval Sean Solia | Todd Astle Jeremy Benton Leo Carter Michael Davidson Andrew Ellis Cameron Fletcher Peter Fulton Kyle Jamieson Timothy Johnston Kenneth McClure Cole McConchie Edward Nuttall Henry Shipley Logan van Beek Will Williams | Tom Bruce Dane Cleaver Greg Hay Marty Kain Andrew Mathieson Ryan McCone Ajaz Patel Navin Patel Seth Rance Jesse Ryder Bevan Small Ben Smith Blair Tickner Ben Wheeler William Young | James Baker Jono Boult Dean Brownlie Joe Carter Anton Devcich Daniel Flynn Zak Gibson Tony Goodin Brett Hampton Nick Kelly Scott Kuggeleijn Daryl Mitchell Bharat Popli Tim Seifert Josef Walker | Warren Barnes Michael Bracewell Derek de Boorder Jacob Duffy Ryan Duffy Sean Eathorne Josh Finnie Jack Hunter Anaru Kitchen Rhys Phillips Michael Rae Hamish Rutherford Christi Viljeon Sam Wells Brad Wilson | Brent Arnel Hamish Bennett Tom Blundell Fraser Colson Matt McEwan Ian McPeake Stephen Murdoch Ollie Newton Michael Papps Jeetan Patel Michael Pollard Matt Taylor Anurag Verma Luke Woodcock Peter Younghusband |

## Fixtures
### Round 1

* 22–25 October 2016 Scorecard
* Match drawn Saxton Oval, Nelson Umpires: Billy Bowden and Shaun Haig
* Otago won the toss and elected to bat.
* 22–25 October 2016 Scorecard
* Northern Districts won by 5 wickets Hagley Oval, Christchurch Umpires: Ashley Mehrotra and Tim Parlane
* Northern Districts won the toss and elected to field.
* Henry Shipley (Canterbury) made his first-class debut.
* 22–25 October 2016 Scorecard
* Wellington won by 6 wickets Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui Umpires: Tony Gillies and Derek Walker
* Wellington won the toss and elected to field.

### Round 2

* 29 October–1 November 2016 Scorecard
* Match drawn Basin Reserve, Wellington Umpires: Billy Bowden and Ashley Mehrotra
* Wellington won the toss and elected to field.
* 29 October–1 November 2016 Scorecard
* Canterbury won by 71 runs Hagley Oval, Christchurch Umpires: Phil Jones and Derek Walker
* Central Districts won the toss and elected to field.
* 29 October–1 November 2016 Scorecard
* Auckland won by 2 wickets Eden Park No 2, Auckland Umpires: Tony Gillies and Tim Parlane
* Auckland won the toss and elected to field.

### Round 3

* 5–8 November 2016 Scorecard
* Match drawn University Oval, Dunedin Umpires: Tony Gillies and Ashley Mehrotra
* Otago won the toss and elected to bat.
* Christian Leopard (Central Districts) made his first-class debut.
* 5–8 November 2016 Scorecard
* Northern Districts won by 21 runs Seddon Park, Hamilton Umpires: Wayne Knights and Brad White
* Canterbury won the toss and elected to field.
* 5–8 November 2016 Scorecard
* Match drawn Eden Park No 2, Auckland Umpires: Chris Brown and Shaun Haig
* Auckland won the toss and elected to field.
* Cody Andrews (Auckland) made his first-class debut.

### Round 4

* 14–17 November 2016 Scorecard
* Match drawn Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui Umpires: Phil Jones and Derek Walker
* Auckland won the toss and elected to field.
* 14–17 November 2016 Scorecard
* Match abandoned Basin Reserve, Wellington
* No toss.
* The match was abandoned due to an earthquake that struck the region the previous day.
* 14–17 November 2016 Scorecard
* Match drawn Queen's Park, Invercargill Umpires: Billy Bowden and Chris Brown
* Otago won the toss and elected to field.

### Round 5

* 22–25 November 2016 Scorecard
* Match drawn University Oval, Dunedin Umpires: R. G. Hooper and Derek Walker
* Otago won the toss and elected to bat.
* 22–25 November 2016 Scorecard
* Match drawn Nelson Park, Napier Umpires: Chris Brown and Phil Jones
* Central Districts won the toss and elected to bat.
* Henry Cooper (Northern Districts) made his first-class debut.
* 22–25 November 2016 Scorecard
* Canterbury won by 10 runs Mainpower Oval, Rangiora Umpires: Wayne Knights and Tim Parlane
* Auckland won the toss and elected to field.
* Sean Solia (Auckland) and Jack Boyle (Canterbury) both made their first-class debuts.

### Round 6

* 25–28 February 2017 Scorecard
* Otago won by 5 wickets Cobham Oval, Whangārei Umpires: Billy Bowden and Shawn Craig
* Otago won the toss and elected to field.
* 25–28 February 2017 Scorecard
* Match drawn Colin Maiden Park, Auckland Umpires: Tony Gillies and Tim Parlane
* Auckland won the toss and elected to bat.
* No play was possible on day 1.
* Ben Horne, Aniket Parikh and Rajvinder Sandhu (Auckland) all made their first-class debuts.
* 26 February–1 March 2017 Scorecard
* Canterbury won by 7 wickets Basin Reserve, Wellington Umpires: Ashley Mehrotra and Derek Walker
* Canterbury won the toss and elected to field.
* Peter Younghusband (Wellington) made his first-class debut.

### Round 7

* 6–9 March 2017 (D/N) Scorecard
* Match drawn Eden Park No 2, Auckland Umpires: Billy Bowden and Wayne Knights
* Canterbury won the toss and elected to bat.
* No play was possible on days 2 and 3.
* Glenn Phillips (Auckland) made his first-class debut.
* 6–9 March 2017 (D/N) Scorecard
* Match drawn Seddon Park, Hamilton Umpires: Tony Gillies and Ashley Mehrotra
* Central Districts won the toss and elected to bat.
* No play was possible on day 3.
* 6–9 March 2017 (D/N) Scorecard
* Match drawn Westpac Stadium, Wellington Umpires: Phil Jones and Tim Parlane
* Otago won the toss and elected to field.
* No play was possible on day 2.

### Round 8

* 14–17 March 2017 Scorecard
* Match drawn McLean Park, Napier Umpires: Chris Brown and Garth Stirrat
* Central Districts won the toss and elected to field.
* 14–17 March 2017 Scorecard
* Auckland won by 71 runs Eden Park No 2, Auckland Umpires: Shaun Haig and Phil Jones
* Auckland won the toss and elected to bat.
* 14–17 March 2017 Scorecard
* Canterbury won by an innings and 119 runs Hagley Oval, Christchurch Umpires: John Bromley and Derek Walker
* Canterbury won the toss and elected to field.

### Round 9

* 21–24 March 2017 Scorecard
* Auckland won by 8 wickets University Oval, Dunedin Umpires: Billy Bowden and Tony Gillies
* Auckland won the toss and elected to field.
* Gregor Croudis (Otago) made his first-class debut.
* 21–24 March 2017 Scorecard
* Northern Districts won by 9 wickets Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui Umpires: Tim Parlane and Derek Walker
* Wellington won the toss and elected to bat.
* Brett Randell (Northern Districts) made his first-class debut.
* 21–24 March 2017 Scorecard
* Central Districts won by 4 wickets Saxton Oval, Nelson Umpires: John Dempsey and Wayne Knights
* Central Districts won the toss and elected to field.

### Round 10

* 29 March–1 April 2017 Scorecard
* Central Districts won by 3 wickets McLean Park, Napier Umpires: John Dempsey and Ashley Mehrotra
* Central Districts won the toss and elected to field.
* 29 March–1 April 2017 Scorecard
* Wellington won by 7 wickets Hagley Oval, Christchurch Umpires: Billy Bowden and Tim Parlane
* Wellington won the toss and elected to field.
* 29 March–1 April 2017 Scorecard
* Northern Districts won by 3 wickets University Oval, Dunedin Umpires: John Bromley and Derek Walker
* Northern Districts won the toss and elected to field.
* Josh Tasman-Jones (Otago) made his first-class debut.