Northern start with a bang then lose to defending champions

The Northern Knights made a determined start to their HRV Cup Domestic Twenty20 campaign, with a five run victory over rivals Auckland Aces.
In front of a bumper crowd at Mount Maunganui's Bay Oval on Saturday, the Knights and Aces battled it out in the opening match of the new competition.
The Knights batted first and Daniel Vettori thrashed 43 from 22 for his side after being promoted to opener in an first wicket stand with BJ Watling of 61 from 6.3 overs.
Watling went on the get 73 off 59 before being dismissed of the second to last ball of the innings. He hit six boundaries and one six in his highest Twenty20 score.
Auckland went into bat chasing the Knights 164, and skipper Gareth Hopkins got his team into a winning position with a cracking 50 off 33but when his wicket fell off the final ball of the penultimate over the momentum swung back the Knight's way.
In the final over, Auckland needed 11 to win, but Northland's Tim Southee delivered six near perfect yorkers, securing his side a five run win, restricting Auckland to 159.
Yesterday,, remaining at Bay Oval, the Knights suffered a six-wicket defeat at the hands of defending champions Otago.
Despite losing batting spearhead Brendon McCullum to a contentious leg before wicket decision at a potentially vulnerable point of their run chase, Otago's other McCullum marshalled the overhauling of a middling 137 for seven with seven balls remaining.
Nathan McCullum was unbeaten on 38 at the close having shared an unbroken 71 run stand with Ian Butler for the fifth wicket from just 49 balls. They carried Otago to 140 for four.
Northern's tally always looked a touch on the light side but when Vettori had a bemused McCullum on his way in the 11th over for 47 from 36 balls the New Zealand captain might have visualised back-to-back wins.
However, the elder McCullum, who earlier delivered four miserly overs for 18, compensated for his sibling's demise by scoring at a run-a-ball despite scoring just the solitary boundary and six.
He rotated the strike expertly with Butler, who powered to 36 from 26 deliveries.
Though Vettori worked the oracle in his second spell by disloding McCullum a ball after he was deposited over the ropes he was uncharacteristically expensive, his four overs costing 34 runs.
Southee claimed an impressive three for 15 from his maximum allocation and gave Northern early encouragement by removing the dangerous Neil Broom for five in the fifth over.
The right armer also skittled Craig Cumming in his next over before the McCullum brothers steadied the pursuit with a 40-run stand.
Anton Devcich top scored for Nothern with a lusty unbeaten 37 from 34 in the dying stages. However, the top order failed to fire.
Watling was the key dismissal for 28 when he was needlessly run out after a dicey call by captain James Marshall, who was bowled by Broom six balls later.
Meanwhile, Central Districts comfortably defended an imposing 208 for five against Wellington in New Plymouth.
Peter Ingram and Jamie How creamed 81 from less than eight overs for openers and Ross Taylor made a punishing 47 from 25 deliveries
 Taylor's assault was so demoralising Wellington seamer Andy McKay lost his composure in his third over and was removed from the crease after twice being no balled for waist high full tosses.

Wellington were confined to 189 for nine in reply, a distant 19 runs from victory.