CRICKET - Knights' bowler set for final showdown

Northern Knights bowler Joseph Yovich is hoping to add another title to his career haul when the Knights host the Otago Volts in the State Shield final at Seddon Park tomorrow .
"It's going to be great to be involved in another final, it'll be my fourth one-day final I think and I'd like to think we can win it," he said.
Yovich has staged a good comeback after not being required for the bulk of the one-day matches last season by former coach Andy Moles. Moles used him as a four-day specialist but new coach Grant Bradburn has rotated the entire squad during the series and the City stalwart has taken his opportunity.
His bowling has been solid. The first-change bowler has taken 12 wickets in his eight matches to date, with two three-wicket hauls - against Otago - among his best figures.
"My stats back up pretty good in the one-day game, I've nearly played 100 one-dayers and in the match against Canterbury recently, I took my 100th wicket, so it's a form of the game I enjoy," Yovich said.
His ability to wield the bat adds another reason toward playing him this weekend but in reality this season, his all round skills haven't had much of a chance to shine, batting below a top-order that has been in red-hot form and has rarely failed.
Yovich said this week's preparation had been a bit different to the previous finals he's played in.
"With all of the previous matches we've had a semifinal to play before we reached the final so there's been cricket right through, so it's a bit different having the whole week off," he said.
The Knights played a Twenty20 match against a Cricket Players Association XI yesterday at Blake Park in Mount Maunganui before returning to Hamilton.
Coach Grant Bradburn said he was pleased with the side's preparations this week and Otago's eight-wicket triumph over Canterbury in the semifinal on Wednesday.
"I'm happy that Otago won, all the teams in this competition have got plenty of firepower and while both Otago and Canterbury are a handful I feel we've beaten Otago twice already this season convincingly, and if we execute well on Saturday there's no reason we can't repeat that in the final."
"They certainly have a bowling attack that we respect but we don't fear them, even though they had a convincing win against Canterbury," Bradburn said.
Regardless of the result tomorrow, Yovich will turn toward the Twenty20 competition and the rest of the State Championship, with another milestone just one wicket away. He will equal Bradburn's tally of 231 first class wickets - the second highest ever for the association - with the next wicket he takes.
"It's obviously a milestone which will be nice to achieve. I'll be the only seamer in the top five, the rest are spinners which is something I guess and it'll be nice to get back into the four-dayers after the Twenty20 series," he said.
With the way he's going this season there little thought of trying something new next year.
"You're a long time out of the game so while I can still play, I will. I'm enjoying the way the squad is feeling at the moment and I want to achieve a few more things before hanging up my boots," he said.
• Northern Knights: BJ Watling, Hamish Marshall, Michael Parlane, James Marshall, Daniel Flynn, Kane Williamson, Peter McGlashan, Joe Yovich, Bradley Scott, BJ Arnel, Bruce Martin.