Pukekura Park in the city of New Plymouth, New Zealand, is slated to host the next two matches of the Super Smash 2023-24. The home team, Central Districts, is scheduled to play two consecutive games, facing off against Auckland on December 29 and Canterbury on December 30.
Pukekura Park is a domestic cricket ground with a seating capacity of 5000. However, it once held international status. In the 1992 Cricket World Cup, it hosted the match between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, which remains the only men’s international game played at this venue.
Pukekura Park New Plymouth T20 Records (Super Smash Records from 2021 to 2023)
In the last two Super Smash seasons, Pukekura Park has hosted 6 matches. Some high totals were witnessed during these matches and interestingly all 6 times a score was chased here.
- Matches Played: 6
- Won by the team batting first: 0
- Won by the team batting second: 6
- Biggest score while batting first: Central Districts – 227/4 (20) vs Wellington, 2021
- Lowest score while batting first: Central Districts – 145/8 (20) vs Northern Knights, 2021
- Biggest total chased: Wellington chased 227 vs Central Districts, 2021
- Lowest Score Defended: No Score defended here
- New Plymouth Cricket Stadium average 1st innings score in Super Smash: 190
- New Plymouth Cricket Stadium average 2nd innings score in Super Smash: 192
- Best figures for a Pacer: Raymond Toole(Central Districts) – 3/23 vs Auckland, 2021
- Best figures for a Spinner: Tom Bruce (Northern Knights) – 3/35 vs Central Districts, 2022
- Highest score by a Batter: Michael Bracewell (Wellington) – 141(65) vs Central Districts, 2021
Pukekura Park New Plymouth Pitch Report
The average first innings score in the last six matches at Pukekura Park has been 190, indicating that the pitch is highly favorable for batsmen. Notably, none of these totals were successfully defended, suggesting that the pitch is conducive to chasing. So, the toss winner in upcoming matches at Pukekura Park may lean towards opting to bowl first. In one of the recent games here, even a score of 227 is chased. Thus, even a 200-run total can be hard to defend on this venue.
Pukekura Park New Plymouth Last T20 Match Scorecard
Pukekura Park typically hosts high-scoring matches but the last T20 game at the venue, featuring Central Districts and Auckland, proved to be an exception. In this match, Auckland managed to score 150 runs while batting first, and the hosts successfully chased down the target in 19.3 overs.
| Auckland: 150-9 (20) | Central Districts: 151-6 (19.3) |
| Cole Briggs: 45(25) | Ross Taylor: 50(40) |
| George Worker: 28(23) | Dane Cleaver: 33(31) |
| Williams O Donnell: 27(17) | D Bracewell: 25*(12) |
| Raymond Toole: 4 – 0 – 23 – 3 | Louis Delport: 4 – 1– 23 – 2 |
| Jayden Lennox: 4 – 0 – 15 – 2 | Danru Ferns: 4 – 0 – 21 – 1 |
| D Bracewell: 4 – 0 – 29 – 1 | Adithya Ashok: 4 – 0 – 31 – 1 |
| Match Result: Central Districts won by 4 wickets |
