The son of a former All Black has thrust his name in lights in New Zealand’s cricketing scene.
Benji Culhane racked up a remarkable century playing for Otago against Auckland at the New Zealand under-19 cricket tournament at Lincoln on Saturday.
Culhane is the son of former All Black first five-eighth Simon Culhane who scored 45 points against Japan at the 1995 World Cup.
Culhane senior was a handy cricketer himself in his youth which included playing at Hawke Cup level for Southland.
But it seems Simon’s teenage son has surpassed him in terms of cricketing talents.
Benji strode to the crease on Saturday batting a No 8 and with his team at 127 for six.
Otago’s problems worsened when it was reduced to 138 for nine.
That’s when Culhane took charge.
The wicketkeeper-batsman struck 12 fours and eight sixes as he posted 123 from just 94 balls.
“I struggled a bit at the start. They had a couple of good spinners who I struggled to pick but then I started to get going. There were a couple overs when everything was coming out of the middle,” Culhane said.
He found support from Otago No 10 Ben Seavill who contributed 29 for 43 balls as he and Culhane put on 153 for the ninth wicket.
Culhane was run out on the last ball of the innings with Otago posting 291 batting first.
Despite the Southlander’s heroics, Otago was not able to post a win as Auckland overhauled the target with three overs and four wickets to spare.
It was Culhane’s first outing at the tournament which started on Thursday, but he has quickly emerged as a key figure in the setup now.
He missed the first two games with an abductor injury which he said was now better.
His century at the national under-19 tournament comes just a matter of three weeks after he posted a century in his Hawke Cup debut playing for Southland against Mid Canterbury.
Culhane said it was nice to watch fellow Southlander Jacob Duffy star for the Black Caps on debut the night before he delivered himself.
“It was awesome to watch a Southlander do that at the highest level,” he said.
Otago’s next assignment at the under-19 tournament will be against Wellington on Monday.
