Cricket: Cream floats to the top

Joey Yovich epitomises the spirit the Knights bring to their bowling attack. Picture / Fotopress

A cursory glance at the statistics quickly confirm the belief that the best two teams in New Zealand are squaring off in tomorrow's State Shield final at New Plymouth's Pukekura Park.

The Central Stags finished the round-robin three points clear of the Northern Knights. The rest were nowhere.

Look a little further at the individual performances and the dominance of the top two sides are even more pronounced.

Five of the top seven batsmen on the season's averages play for one or other of the finalists. Of the bowlers, the top four on the averages will all play tomorrow.

Ten of the top 14 from those averages hail from either Central or Northern.

"There would have been a tinge of disappointment if we had not beaten Canterbury in the semifinal at Eden Park," Northern coach Bruce Blair said. "We beat them twice and finished 10 points ahead of them. I'm not surprised CD and ND have won through to the final."

Blair pointed to a strong team spirit within his squad as a reason for their success.

"Look at a guy like Joey Yovich. He bowled only one over [against Canterbury] but was as keen and as an enthusiastic as anyone. He epitomises the way our players get out and play as a team."

And then, of course, there is the Daniel Vettori factor.

Blair said he had some concerns at the way Vettori was flagging towards the end of his match-winning knock of 138 against Canterbury.

"But once we got him in an ice bath and worked the hot and cold treatment, he was fine," Blair said. "He is an amazing player. He has such a strong desire to bat.

"It is hard to describe his batting skill, but he does have very good hand-eye co-ordination.

"And we should not overlook the part played by James Marshall [95 not out] in that partnership [193 with Vettori]. That was possibly the best we have seen him bat in one-dayers."

Central coach Graham Barlow admits there is a bit of a buzz in taking his team to the final in his first year as coach.

"There were a lot of good things put in place for me by Mark Greatbatch and Glen Sulzberger," Barlow said. "I have just taken it on from there."

That, and having eight of the team who won last year's final back for this one have, no doubt, helped.

"We did well to win seven out of nine games and pick up five bonus points," Barlow said. "That has come from the good blend of youth and experience we can call on.

"In every game two players put their hand up. Often it was not the same two.

"Having players who have been there, done that, obviously helps."

The final promises to be a high-scoring affair.

In one of their two losses, the only game played at the ground, Central conceded more than 300 runs to Otago and then failed in the chase.

Given the usual good surface, short boundaries and hoped-for summer conditions, it promises to be a cracker.

A total of 600 or more runs is surely not out of the question.