Cricket: Central grabs two valuable points

By Terry Maddaford

TAUPO - Northern's hopes of a winning start to their Shell Cup campaign crumbled when they were beaten by a no-frills Central Districts last night.

It was Northern's first loss in five cup outings at Owen Delany Park and a good first-up winning effort for CD captain Craig Spearman.

It came down to one of those frantic finishes but the gap was too great for the home side and Central pocketed two valuable points in winning by 28 runs.

Grant Bradburn shared the opening duties with Daryl Tuffey and while he did not take a wicket, he tied up one end by zipping through his 10 overs for just 26 runs.

Northern's fielding was sloppy with a couple of dropped catches and some poor ground work.

Big Jacob Oram, who would not be out of place in the engine-room of the All Black pack, tempered his natural aggression but still smacked 49 - four boundaries and a couple of sixes - to maintain the early momentum which Mathew Sinclair continued. His 55 in 97 minutes included two boundaries and a six.

Chasing 245 for victory, Northern, led by Michael Parlane, raced to 46 without loss inside 10 overs - 12 runs ahead of their rivals. But five overs later they were back on terms at 58 for two with Parlane, 45 (eight boundaries) in 50
minutes, the first to depart. He was followed one run later by Mark Bailey who struggled for nearly an hour for seven.

Neal Parlane and Northern's other newcomer Hamish Marshall added 54 for the third wicket before the innings went into retreat.