Northern Districts qualify for final against Auckland in Provincial A

Northern Districts scored a convincing 64-run win over Auckland in today’s fifth round of the Provincial A tournament at Lincoln. The win took Northern to the top qualifier position and earned them another game against Auckland in tomorrow’s final. Canterbury and Otago also recorded wins, and along with Wellington and Central Districts, will play off in a round of Twenty20 games tomorrow [Tuesday].

Otago A v Wellington A

Otago won the toss and chose to bat. They lost Hamish Rutherford and Michael Bracewell early to be 9/2 but then recovered through an 87 run partnership for the third wicket between Jordan Sheed who made 40 and Sean Eathorne who made 49. They went in quick succession before Shaun Fitzgibbon and Mark Craig put on 79 for the sixth wicket. At the end of 50 overs Otago had reached 234/8.

Wellington started well putting on 53 for the first wicket. Steven Murdoch hit 85 off 119 balls and after a series of steady partnerships Wellington seemed well placed for victory at 203/4 after 44 overs. However the Otago spin duo of Will Somerville and Mark Craig combined well taking six wickets between them to restrict Wellington to 225/7 at the end of 50 over,s giving Otago a win which earlier had looked unlikely.

Otago 234/8 (Jordan Sheed 40, Sean Eathorne 49, Mark Craig 54) beat Wellington 225/7 (Steven Murdoch 85, will Somerville 3/50, Mark Craig 3/38) by nine runs.

Northern Districts A v Auckland A

ND won the toss and batted in their top of the table clash against Auckland. They made a steady start with Cameron Merchant and Jonno Boult putting on 54 for the first wicket. Brad Wilson went cheaply but Ian Page held the innings together with 73 off 95 balls. Tamati Clarke with 23 and Simon Andrews with 25 also contributed but at the end of 50 overs they had lost 9 wickets for 205. All the ND bowlers took wickets with Colin Munro the most successful with 2/29 off five overs.

In reply Auckland was in trouble at 2/17 and never recovered. They lost wickets regularly and were all out for 142 in 40.1 overs. Dusan Hakaraia top scored with 42 and ND spinner Keir Bettley took 3/16 off 6.1 overs.

Northern Districts 205/9 (Ian Page 73) beat Auckland 142 (Dusan Hakaraia 42, Keir Bettley 3/16) by 64 runs.
Central Districts A v Canterbury A

CD were sent in to bat after Canterbury won the toss, and while all the CD batsmen made starts none reached 50. Opener Mark Calkin top scored with 46, Greg Hay made 44 and Dominic Rayner made 39. At the end of 50 overs CD had made 285/7. Michael Davidson took 2/55 off 10 overs.

Darren Broom anchored Canterbury’s run chase with a brilliant unbeaten 140 off 114 balls and with Sam Noster hitting 46 off 41 balls at the top of the innings Canterbury paced the run chase to perfection, winning with three balls to spare. Richard Sherlock took 2/14 off five overs and off-spinner Tim Lythe 2/67 off his 10 overs for CD.

Central Districts 285/7 (Mark Calkin 46, Greg Hay 44, Marty Kain 3/30) lost to Canterbury 289/5 (Darren Broom 140*, Sam Noster 46) by five wickets.

Final placings and points at the end of Round 5

1st ND 18
2nd Auckland 16
3rd Otago 14
4th Canterbury 13
5th Wellington 4
6th Central Districts 0

Tomorrow’s matches:

FINAL: 50 over match 1 v 2 – 10.00am start
ND v Auckland on the Bert Sutcliffe Oval

T20 matches – 10.00am start
3 v 4 - Otago v Canterbury at Lincoln No. 3
5 v 6 - Wellington v CD at Lincoln Green

T20 matches - 2.30pm start
3 v 5 - Otago v Wellington at Lincoln No. 3
4 v 6 - Canterbury v CD at Lincoln Green