North closer to cup challenge

Northland moved ahead of rivals Bay of Plenty in the queue for a Hawke Cup Challenge next year with four points from their match at Blake Park at Mount Maunganui at the weekend.
Northland skipper Brett Hood gave his side every chance of earning maximum points after scoring a rapid-fire 84 yesterday morning to give the side a first-innings lead of 137 but the Northland bowlers failed to repeat their heroics of the first day and the match petered out into a draw.
The points were earned after a great spell of opening bowling by Northland after they won the toss on Saturday and bowled.
"We took a risk in bowling first on a decent wicket and if they'd got through the first hour (on Saturday), we would have really struggled. Fortunately we took four wickets quickly and knocked the top off and it was uphill for them from there," Hood said.
Northland coach Ewen Thompson was thrilled with the result that will see Northland take on Hamilton at Cobham Oval in two weeks, with the team taking the most points from the match to earn a Hawke Cup Challenge early next year.
"We got a fantastic result on what was a pretty decent wicket. It was a good all-round performance because we were disciplined," he said.
On the first day of the two-day match Northland dismissed the Bay of Plenty for 102 but the Northland batsmen were perhaps a little cautious chasing the game and were 93/3 at stumps. Henry Cooper (24) and Chris Page (20) were the not-out batsmen with Northland facing 55 overs before stumps with 25 of them maidens.
Cooper went on to score a controlled 60.
"I was absolutely stoked with Henry Cooper, for the amount of time he occupied the crease and the rest of the top order showed great discipline on Saturday afternoon and that was a big plus for us," Thompson said.
Hood came to the wicket after Page was dismissed and he immediately went after the bowlers.
His 84 was scored off just 64 deliveries and included five fours and six sixes with Jason Donnelly, who had bowled 20 overs for just a handful of runs to that point, ending up as his main victim. Shortly after Hood's dismissal Northland declared with the score at 239/6 and went looking for early wickets. But the Bay batsmen lost just two wickets, taking the score to 181, when the skippers shook hands and agreed to a draw.
On Saturday, Jake Phillips provided the early breakthrough but his opening partner Matt Taylor - back in the Northland side after debuting last season - also made his mark, with three wickets falling and the Bay score stranded on eight. Three more wickets then fell with the Bay score just 63 and only some big-hitting from Donnelly at No10 saw the Bay pass 100.
All the Northland bowlers finished with great figures, with Phillips again outstanding, bowling two 10-over spells to finish with 3-21. "He's solid as a rock out there, he doesn't miss his length at all and keeps the whole attack composed, but Matt Taylor, in only his second or third game, came in and bowled with good pace early and got two crucial wickets," Thompson said.
The highly anticipated clash against Hamilton is at Cobham Oval on December 11-12.