CRICKET - Series scores vote of confidence

Tim Southee reminded Northern Districts selectors of his abilities with the bat with a swashbuckling 98 in Twenty20 cricket's competitive debut in Whangarei on Saturday.
The Northern Districts bowler's big-hitting innings saw Maungakaramea race to 176/4 against Kaipara Flats' first XI but they were denied a result when rain washed the match out at Kensington Park.
Southee also top-scored with 35 in his club side's comfortable victory over the Kaipara second XI, in their first match of the day.
The rain caused the second round of Twenty20 matches to be abandoned on Saturday but the first round produced some great games - enough to encourage administrators to further develop the competition this season.
The round allowed the region's top players to showcase their talents and it also gave second eleven cricketers a rare opportunity to test their mettle against them, as the Whangarei and districts premier division combined with the other senior grades for the tournament.
Kamo's new professional, Qasim Sheikh, who played for Scotland at the recent Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa, scored a rapid 73 against City's second VI, with Ian Page also scoring 55. Kamo's Bruce Kessell led the resistance by scoring 53 as City reached 109-6 in their 20 overs.
Kaipara's first match against Kamo second XI saw Pakistani professional Tauseef Satti top-scoring with 60 not out, while another Northen Districts player Brad Wilson scored 49 as Kaipara compiled 147/4. Kamo's Andre Soulsby top-scored in the run chase with 52 as Kamo were dismissed for 107.
The match between Whangarei Boys' High School first XI and City first XI was a good example of the exciting finishes the public now expect from Twenty20 matches.
City batted first with Richard Johnson (36) and their Welsh professional Owain Hopkins (33) anchoring the City innings to reach 113/9.
The students looked dead and buried after losing their top order cheaply to a good spell by Dean Potter and Logan Postumous but they held on and a good partnership between Jamie Lee (37no) and Aaron Wilson (26no) saw them win the game with a couple of balls to spare.
The general consensus was that the shorter form of the game was a good lark.
Northland Coachforce officer Karl Treiber gave the tournament a vote of confidence saying that it was good that the club's second elevens were involved as it gave them a chance to face the better players and a good performance might be rewarded with elevation.
Two of Boys' High's second XI players, Henry Cooper and Brad Kneebone, backed up his theory in the afternoon by scoring 59 not out and 25 not out respectively against City's first XI.
Treiber said that it also gave players a chance to recover from a bad first up performance and perhaps do better in the second game of the day.