CRICKET - ND can win this one: Marshall

BY THE time you have settled in to read this, James Marshall reckons his Northern Districts cricket team should be setting the scene for a precious State Championship victory over Central Districts.
If not, then at least Marshall had a strange cricketing coincidence to ponder.
Marshall was dismissed for 99 as ND cracked 341 runs in the first innings of the four-day match at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Monday. The skipper was sent packing when he looked set to celebrate his eighth first-class century. But the bitter taste of that was eased just a little yesterday when ND did the same thing to Central's middle-order batsman Greg Hay.
Hay was dismissed for 99 yesterday, the last wicket of a busy day that saw Central move closer to chasing down the first-innings total and set up a crucial day of action today.
Marshall was not about to celebrate Hay's dismissal yesterday but, after coming a cropper earlier, Marshall was glad they denied Hay the magical three-figure milestone. But, as he watched Hay march back to the pavilion, he also had some sympathy. He new precisely what Hay was going through.
"It's not great seeing a guy who works hard to build an innings and probably deserves to get a good hundred get out for 99. I felt sorry for the guy really, but I knew exactly how it felt," Marshall said. "But at the same time, Hay's wicket was pretty important for us in terms of setting the game up for us to maybe get first innings points as well. We just had to get his wicket really."
After acknowledging Hay's effort, Marshall's attention soon turned to plotting CD's downfall today. Poised on 255-6, CD were still in a position to haul in ND's impressive first innings total and bank first-innings points. So Marshall was keen to fire up his bowling attack to knock the back end of the CD batting order back into the clubhouse in short order this morning, and set up the chance for an outright victory tomorrow.
"We were quite keen to get past 400 ourselves but didn't quite manage it. We need a good morning session (today) where we can hopefully send the CD boys back, get first-innings points then advance the game enough to maybe give them a day to bat at the end so we can hunt down an outright (win)."
But in the meantime Marshall was hoping he might get the chance to knock up another big total himself. His own dismissal at 99 might have been frustrating but he had a philosophical viewpoint.
"Ninety-nine is better the nought," he said.
Hay would no doubt agree.