Cricket: Kneebone on the up

Northland's Ben Hyde shucks the ball to silly point versus Bay of Plenty at Cobham Oval. Photo / Michael Cunningham

An awe-inspiring knock of 135 saw Brad Kneebone elevate Northland to a first innings total of 326/6 in their latest Northern Districts Fergus Hickey Rosebowl match versus Bay of Plenty. Though the match resulted in a draw, Kneebone's cutting-edge performance saw Northland declare shortly after the loss of his wicket to set Bay of Plenty a sizeable total to chase.

"Knees [Kneebone] was outstanding, he played a very gritty innings and it certainly epitomised being a Northland player," Stephen Cunis said.

Bradley Kneebone had an impressive outing for Northland.

"We started really well. Brad and Ben Hyde put on 100 for the first wicket. Henry Cooper came on at five and he and Brad Kneebone put on a nice partnership. Rory Christopherson and Brad put on over 100 for the fifth wicket which was bloody outstanding," Cunis added of the 87-over first stanza.

Winning the toss, the visitors opted to field first.

Enduring patchy playing conditions at Whangarei's Cobham Oval on Saturday, the hosts got the two-day match off to a roaring start, even though rain delays produced a pick n' mix sort of day.

"It was bit drizzly and dreary in the morning, we didn't get started until 1pm," Cunis said of the first day.

Day two saw similar conditions, with Bay of Plenty getting their rebuttal into gear around midday.

Looking to make use of their young seamers, such as Northern Knights' Cody Andrews, the Northland side had their tails up as the second innings got under way. Bowling over Bay of Plenty early on, the visitors looked vulnerable, losing two wickets for just 31 runs.

Chipping their team clear of trouble, however, the arrival of Joe Carter and Bharat Popli at the crease put Bay of Plenty back in the match.

Going on to make 119, Popli was eventually dismissed with the match tightly-locked.

At the end of play on Sunday, Bay of Plenty held on to the amount 317/9, just enough for a draw.

The Bay of Plenty draw with Northland sees them remain at the top of the ND 2016 Hawke Cup Direct Challenge calendar year race, with the ND Hawke Cup Challenger decided at the ND One-Day Tournament next week.

Northland 326/6 declared (B Kneebone 135, B Hyde 56; Sean Davey 2-28, Tony Goodin 2-65, Andrew Gibbs 2-78)

Bay of Plenty 317/9 (Bharat Popli 119, Ben Musgrave 62, Joe Carter 58; K Watson 3-46, C Andrews 3-87)