Cricket: Win keeps Northern in the hunt

Northern Districts kept their hopes of a domestic double alive with an outright win over Otago in the State Championship in Hamilton yesterday.

It was Northern's second successive outright win in the competition. They beat Central Districts in the previous round.

It also ensured the State Shield one-day champions could still catch the leaders in the four-day competition with four rounds remaining.

Northern Districts beat Otago by six wickets at Hamilton's Westpac Park yesterday after dismissing their opponents for 229 in each innings.

Resuming on the fourth and final day at 214 for five after conceding a first innings deficit of 94, Otago quickly succumbed to Northern Districts' pace attack in the morning session.

Captain Craig Cumming didn't add to his overnight score of 102 - made from 217 balls in 318 minutes - as Otago lost their last five wickets for only 15 runs.

Right-arm seamer Joseph Yovich was the chief destroyer, ending the innings with five for 49 off 24 overs.

Needing 136 for victory, Northern Districts had a minor fright when they lost three wickets with the score on 86.

But Michael Parlane made 27 not out and Matthew Hart, 23 not out, steered their side home without any further problems.

* Central Districts coach Mark Greatbatch believes their match against Auckland could have had a result had Auckland not taken 1101 balls and nearly 12 hours to score 475 in their first innings.

Greatbatch said his skipper, Craig Spearman, would have offered Auckland a chance had the innings sped up and more time been available.

"Auckland will have to question how long their innings took," Greatbatch said.

"They were too slow and because of it, kept us in the game."

But if Auckland coach Mark O'Donnell did miscalculate, it was on how the wicket would play on the fourth and final day.

He said he expected the cracks on the Colin Maiden Park wicket to open up a little and create variable bounce, which would have brought his ace leg-spinner, Brooke Walker, into the match.

"I was wrong," O'Donnell. "This wicket just got better and better and they [CD] exploited the conditions."

Greatbatch thought Central were 100 runs short in their first innings, and agreed that the wicket improved with age.

It was good enough to provide Central's 29-year-old allrounder Glen Sulzberger with the right conditions to score his seventh first-class century from 118 balls and with 20 boundaries.

Sulzberger batting at four put together an unbroken third-wicket partnership of 165 with No 3 in the order Greg Todd, who picked up a well-crafted, unbeaten 50 before the game came to a halt at the tea break.

Auckland's innings had two milestones. Aaron Barnes scored his second century, taking him to 2000 runs, and Tama Canning's 28 took his tally past 1000.

The 1001 runs scored in the match were a fair indication of how flat and even the pitch it was.

* Wellington beat Canterbury by 143 runs at the Basin Reserve yesterday, dismissing the visitors for 247 in their second innings.


The seventh round starts on February 25. Northern Districts will host Canterbury in Hamilton, Otago will be at home to Auckland and Central Districts will host Wellington in Masterton.

Points: Auckland 20, Wellington 19, Northern 13, Central 12, Otago 12, Canterbury 7.

- NZPA