You must never over-react to the first game of the summer.
But, yes, it could be a long season if the Otago Volts carry on how they have started.
They were wiped off Seddon Park to the tune of defeat by an innings and 32 runs yesterday, home team Northern showing no mercy as the end came just before lunch on the third day.
Otago needed just 110 to make Northern bat again, but crumbled to 77 all out in the 35th over.
This is a young Volts team, including a couple of new faces and missing three or four regular stalwarts from last summer, so there will be some latitude given, but there can be no glossing over the fact this was a good old-fashioned drubbing to start the season.
Seven of the top eight batters in the Otago order failed to reach double figures in the second innings, so any sort of miracle survival was quickly out of the question.
The dagger blow was the run out of star man Dean Foxcroft when a needlessly risky single was attempted.
Ben Lockrose followed his first-innings 40 with a breezy 34 off 29 balls, including one rather ungainly but effective clearance of the boundary, to delay an inevitable defeat.
Scott Kuggeleijn’s three for 24 gave him a nine-wicket bag, and the other wickets were shared around.
Northern had established a commanding position by pushing to 376 for nine before declaring its first innings closed on Saturday.
The highlight was a maiden century for Sandeep Patel.
In just his second Plunket Shield appearance, the nuggety right-hander was brutal on anything short of a length, slamming 145 off 186 balls, including 16 fours and three sixes.
He and Joe Carter added 193 for the fourth wicket before Carter was run out for 94.
Jacob Duffy and Matt Bacon each took three wickets for the Volts.
In other first-round games, Central Stags and Northern Districts also took comfortable victories by an innings, while the Wellington Firebirds merely beat Canterbury by 129 runs — all of the victories also completed with a day to spare.
Stags allrounder and former Black Cap Doug Bracewell also brought up a notable personal milestone in Central’s win — his 400th first class wicket.
OTAGO
First innings 267
NORTHERN DISTRICTS
First innings
H Cooper c Cumming b Duffy 4
J Raval c Foxcroft b Bacon 45
J Walker lbw b Duffy 16
S Patel c Georgeson b Bacon 145
J Carter run out 94
KD Clarke st Chu b Lockrose 13
S Kuggeleijn c Bacon b Foxcroft 19
B Hampton c Parkes b Duffy 5
B Pomare not out 4
KDC Clarke c Georgeson b Bacon 19
Extras (4lb, 5w, 3nb) 12
Total (for 9wkts dec, 88.2 overs) 376
Fall: 1-8, 2-68, 3-68, 4-261, 5-288, 6-324, 7-353, 8-353, 9-376.
Bowling: J Duffy 21-5-51-3 (2w, 1nb), M Bacon 18.2-0-87-3, J McKay 14-3-52-0 (2w, 1nb), L Georgeson 8-0-50-0 (1nb), B Lockrose 12-0-75-1, D Foxcroft 15-1-57-1.
OTAGO
Second innings
L Georgeson lbw b Walker 6
J Cumming c Pomare b Kuggeleijn 4
D Phillips b Kuggeleijn 8
M Bacon c KD Clarke b KDC Clarke 3
D Foxcroft run out 0
T Parkes c Pomare b KDC Clarke 1
J Todd b Hampton 10
M Chu b Kuggeleijn 0
B Lockrose c Kuggeleijn b Hampton 34
J Duffy c Kuggeleijn b Walker 4
J McKay not out 0
Extras (4b, 2w, 1nb)7
Total (all out, 34.3 overs) 77
Fall: 1-10, 2-14, 3-23, 4-23, 5-24, 6-24, 7-31, 8-56, 9-65.
Bowling: S Kuggeleijn 14-1-24-3 (2w), B Hampton 5.3-2-16-2, KDC Clarke 9-3-26-2, J Walker 5-1-7-2, (1nb), J Raval 1-1-0-0.
Result: Northern won by an innings and 32 runs.
