An 89-run partnership between Brett Hood and Joseph Yovich resuscitated Northland's sinking hopes after losing early wickets in their one-day match against Hamilton at Galloway Park yesterday.
After a good performance with the ball to restrict the Hawke Cup holders to just 188/3 in their 50-over encounter, the partnership got Northland's
chase back on track and visitors reached 189/7 with just nine balls to spare.
Northland captain Brad Wilson said the partnership was responsible for winning them the game.
"They were under a fair bit of pressure at three for not many, and they got us right back on track and obviously the guys after them all chipped in too. It was a good team effort," Wilson said.
Northland were in deep trouble at 18/3 when Hood and Yovich came together, patiently batting Northland out of trouble and taking them to 107, before Yovich was out - for 49 - one run short of a well-deserved half-century.
Hood reached 56 before he too was dismissed but Chris Page took up the challenge and lifted the run rate, scoring a quick 25. After he was out Kurt Wilson and John Child guided Northland home.
The result means that there is now little doubt that Northland will earn the Hawke Cup challenge, against Hamilton - or a successful challenger - early next year.
Hamilton won the toss and batted first in the match.
"That worked in our favour really because the ball seamed around a lot early on but it was still hard to bat on when we went in," Wilson said.
Yovich also led the way with the ball as well taking 2 for 44 off his 10 overs. Child was the other bowler to take two wickets, finishing with 2/34, while Stephen John was extremely accurate and hard to score off, finishing with 1/27 off his 10.
Sam McLeod top-scored for Hamilton with 54, while Grant Robinson and Lance Martin finished with 33 and 32 respectively to give Northland what turned out to be a reasonable target to aim for.
