Cricket: Northern and Otago battle to first tie

Kane Williamson. Photo / Getty Images

Northern Districts needed three off the final ball to beat Otago in Whangarei yesterday, and got two.

So the teams battled out the first tie of the national one-day competition, Otago's 274 for five being matched by ND's 274 for seven.

The result was enough to keep Otago one point behind Canterbury, while ND and Auckland are firmly in the top four, who will contest the semifinals on February 6.

Otago, choosing to bat, were carried by a century from former international batsman Neil Broom. His second one-day hundred, 123, dominated the Otago innings. He shared a 125-run stand with English professional Darren Stevens for the fourth wicket, Stevens and opener Aaron Redmond making 39 apiece.

Kane Williamson anchored ND's response, and he was there at the end, unbeaten on 87 off 84 balls with Bradley Scott on 19.

ND needed 41 off the last four overs with five wickets standing, 19 off the last nine balls and five from the final two but could not quite pull off the win. Medium pacer Ian Butler and spinner Nick Beard grabbed three wickets apiece for Otago.

Auckland suffered a second consecutive rainout, this time in New Plymouth. Auckland got as far as 45 for one off 9.1 overs against Central Districts after being sent in when the rain arrived, and stayed.

In Wellington, the hosts were buried beneath the Basin Reserve by Canterbury, who won by 125 runs. Captain Peter Fulton (93) and Rob Nicol (67) were the main contributors to Canterbury's 265 for six, after winning the toss.

In reply, Wellington could only muster 140. From 44 for four, Wellington were always in for a struggle. The bulk of the wickets were shared by three fast-medium bowlers, Mitchell Claydon (three for 13), Marty Kain (three for 29) and Richard Sherlock (two for 23).

Points after six rounds: Canterbury 17, Otago 16, Auckland 14, ND 14, CD 8, Wellington 6.