Cricket: Northland take the spoils in rep match

Northland took home the win after going up against Bay of Plenty Development.

Bay of Plenty Development's encounter with their Northland counterparts at the Tauranga Domain on Sunday went down to the wire before the team from the far north took home a narrow two wicket win.

Bay won the toss and skipper Matt Golding elected to bat. Jason Trembath and Kyle Blanchard got the home side away to a reasonable start, with Trembath smashing a towering six over long on. Blanchard posted an 80-run partnership with Ben Musgrave, before being dismissed for 30.

When Musgrave was run out for 41, it was the turn of former New Zealand Under-19 player Sean Davey to anchor the innings with his side's top score of 45. No other Bay batsman reached the 20s, which told the tale of missed opportunities. Bay of Plenty fell short of a competitive total when they were dismissed for 196 with three overs remaining.

Alastair Blackett and Brody Gilroy opened the Bay of Plenty bowling with real enthusiasm. The Bay bowlers put the brakes on the Northland attempts to hit out and they were just 24 without loss after the first 10 overs.

Needing wickets, Dan Spencer, making his Bay Development debut, obliged with two quick wickets. Jason Trembath joined the action, taking a wicket and continuing on to bowl dot balls. Northland started to dig in and a 90-run partnership took the momentum away from the Bay bowlers.

The introduction of Mount Maunganui spinner Nick Smith paid immediate dividends with two quick wickets. Sitting on a hat-trick, Smith continued to bowl well and finished with figures of 4-29 as Northland sneaked home with two wickets to spare. Dan Spencer also bowled well to take three wickets.

While Golding, was disappointed that his team failed to grab the win, the match continued the Bay Development philosophy of giving promising Bay youngsters the opportunity to play higher levels of the game.

Result: BOP Development 196 (Sean Davey 45, Ben Musgrave 41, Kyle Blanchard 30) lost to Northland Development 197/8 (Nick Smith 4/29, Dan Spencer 3/33).