Northland fall just short of a win

A middle and lower order batting collapse caused a few red faces for Northland in their final Brian Dunning one-day tournament match in Taupo yesterday.
Northland had restricted Waikato Valley to a moderate score on 215/7 in the morning's play and seemed to be cruising toward their second successive bonus point win until the tail disintegrated and they were dismissed six runs short of victory in the 40th over.
The top order did their job, with No4 Chris Page top-scoring with 74 but the rest of the batting order didn't get out of single figures. Northland still went short of recording their second win of the three-round tournament after losing to Bay of Plenty and beating Poverty Bay on Sunday and Monday.
Northland had been the favourites to win after restricting Waikato Valley's batsmen in the morning's session - even without the bowling of player coach Ewen Thompson - who decided to bat after an injury in Monday's match.
The other bowlers dug deep to fill the gap left by the veteran first-class seamer. Jake Phillips was once again the pick of the bunch, but Chris Page picked up two including the valuable wickets of opener Forsman and the No5 MacInnes, who had both made starts. He was on hand to match a good catch in the deep off Ben Williams to dismiss top-scorer Nathan Gilbert for 41.
Grant Elliott had a steady hand on the tiller to guide Wellington out of stormy waters against Northern Districts when their Plunket Shield cricket match began here yesterday.
Elliott, 31, saved more blushes for his side - who have developed a reputation for jittery batting - crafting a sixth first-class century as the hosts recovered to 255 for seven by first-day stumps at the Basin Reserve. The six-test New Zealand allrounder reached 122 in a six-hour knock, which ended on the final ball of the day when he was caught by James Marshall off left-arm spinner Jason Donnelly.