Central Districts beat Cantabs for Ford Trophy
- Feb 23
- 4 min read
Three centuries, 605 runs, smashed records and a fine Wellington day made for a grand Ford Trophy final as Central Districts won by three wickets over Canterbury.
It was Peter Fulton’s last time coaching Canterbury after six impressive seasons before departing for his new job at Middlesex.
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Canterbury captain Henry Nicholls has had a special summer, so has his senior ally at the top of the order, Tom Latham at the top of their game.
Nicholls with his 115 off 125 balls - equalling George Worker’s record for most centuries by any batter, any team in a Ford Trophy summer - four, Worker having done so for the Auckland Aces just a couple of years back.
Rewinding to the start of the day, Nicholls elected to bat and would end with 538 runs for the Ford Trophy summer which is also the third highest tally overall in a Canterbury season.
On the kind of deck that needed caution and time to get in, Nicholls and Latham steadily put on 185 together off 190 balls for the second wicket, holding court for some 31 overs togethers on a cool, breezy morning that developed nicely, rather like their partnership, into a fine, bright afternoon.
Latham’s own strong vein of domestic form carried on to see him within sight of a century himself, reaching 80.
He and Nicholls broke Canterbury’s all-time second-wicket record stand in their matches against Central - the previous had been 166 by Latham himself and Chad Bowes, who had been an early loss on this occasion, last year.
At 194-1, Canterbury should have had the perfect launching pad after a classy display in working the ball, turning over the strike, and building the proverbial platform. But after Nicholls departed in the 35th over, Central bowled themselves back into it.
He was followed by Rhys Mariu, caught off Ray Toole (2-65) after a quick 28.
Toole had enjoyed his left-arm match-up with Nicholls and, while it was spinner Angus Schaw who got the big wicket (Nicholls, trapped), he and Randell came back and put the squeeze on Canterbury, preventing them from capitalising on their base.
Cricket is a game full of statistics and Randell had his 100th one-day wicket when Latham was caught, straight after Mariu’s departure.
Dean Foxcroft provided the moment of fielding brilliance with a sharp catch at cover, sticking his hand up for a stinger at 237-4. He could scarcely believe it himself.
Canterbury unravelled somewhat then, the score becoming 290-7 at the death as they lost vital momentum.
Ultimately, they just squeaked past a 300-total, when a much bigger statement had been on the cards for so long. Still, a chase of 303 in a final is no doddle.
Central’s innings began as almost a mirror image of Canterbury’s as they lost an early wicket, Brad Schmulian unable to add to his two centuries this season.
Again it was the second-wicket stand that defined the innings. Curtis Heaphy and Will Young joined forced as the sun began streaming down after lunch.
Young gun Heaphy had taken on a big workload for the day. Central had lost their senior keeper-batter Dane Cleaver from the XI when his back seized up just before play and Heaphy - who had kept for the team before - took the keeping gloves.
The pair frustrated Canterbury as they piled on a milestone of their own: the new Central second-wicket partnership record of 257, beating Ben Smith and Worker’s 145 in Nelson in 2019.
Young was on the way to his highest List-A one-day score for any team (previously 136) and his sixth Ford Trophy hundred for Central.
Central were 216-1 at the end of the 36th over, Michael Rae was conceding only singles, but when Matt Boyle came on for the next, Young and Heaphy decided it was time to ‘go’ and peeled 11 runs from it.
Then they took nine from Rae, nine from Sheat, 10 from Lachie Harper, Young hitting two of his four sixes for the day as the worm squiggled upwards. He finished with 15 fours and four sixes.
It was the Young and Heaphy Show for some 38 overs and it ended when Nicholls took a straightforward catch at square leg, at 276-2.
The youngster had struck his 105 off 123 balls while his senior partner would go on to 157 off 132.
Tom Bruce had rushed back from representing Scotland at the ICC T20 World Cup in India but lasted just eight balls before Rae got a wicket.
By then, the scores were level and Central did not need the last couple of overs to get one last run for a six-wicket victory and their first title under captain Jayden Lennox.
It was also their second Ford Trophy title in four years, also beating Canterbury in the grand final in 2023.
These two teams had been the only ones to hold the one-day trophy over the last four years, but for Canterbury it was now a double blow after also having missed out in the Super Smash decider a few weeks earlier, to the Northern Brave.
