Match B: Northern Districts v Otago at Albany, 16 Nov 2001 CricInfo Live Report

Match B: Northern Districts v Otago at Albany, 16 Nov 2001
Lynn McConnell

Otago innings: Otago 1st innings, End of game,
Northern Districts innings: ND First innings, ND 2nd innings,

OTAGO TAKES EASY WIN OVER ND TO ADVANCE IN MAX

Otago joined Canterbury in the second round of the State Max tournament at the North Harbour Stadium in Albany after an emphatic eight wicket victory over Northern Districts today.

Otago and Canterbury will now play in tomorrow's morning game starting at 9.45am, 15 minutes than earlier programmed due to television scheduling.

Riding home on the back of a fine attacking innings of 63 off 20 balls by Andrew Hore, Otago passed its target of 98 with 13 balls to spare.

Otago started slowly but surely, taking seven from the first over and Hore narrowly avoided falling into the same first ball leg-side trap that accounted for him in the first innings.

But in the third over he was right into his stride as Graham Aldridge came in for his first bowl of the game. His first ball soared straight back over his head, and the Max zone, for 12, with the second ball landing on the extra cover boundary for six runs.

However, Aldridge had his say off the fifth ball of the over when Brendon McCullum wasn't quite able to get onto a high full toss and lobbed it to Matt Hart who took the catch at mid-wicket. Hore clubbed a four off the last ball.

Chris Gaffaney took a flat-batted four from the first ball bowled by Simon Doull and Hore then took three fours and a two to bring up his 50 off 15 balls. After only four overs Otago were 69/1.

Grant Bradburn came in for the sixth over and took a Max four first ball, and then an exquisitely-timed reverse sweep for four.

However, he failed to get onto the next ball and was caught at long on for 63 which included seven fours and two sixes. Otago were 83/2 with his dismissal, 15 runs short of their target with just under five overs to play.

Gaffaney and Craig Cumming just worked the ball around with a minimum of risk to set up an easy win.

OTAGO CHASING 98 FOR WIN OVER ND

Northern Districts' second innings started poorly from its point of view, but spectacularly for from Otago's viewpoint when backward point fieldsman Craig Cumming turned on a touch of the Ricky Ponting's when diving to his left to dismiss Mark Bailey in the first over.

Almost straight afterwards Matt Hart was caught at mid-off by Kerry Walmsley for one leaving ND 4/2.

By the end of the fourth over, ND had built to 30/2 with Scott Styris and James Marshall starting to find the measure of the Otago attack.

ND were looking in real strife at the end of the sixth over at 42/6, but Styris finally found the touch he was looking for in the seventh over when 24 runs came from David Sewell's bowling. Styris had 30 runs from 14 balls, including a six and a Max four for eight runs.

When the eighth over started ND were 66/3. Grant Bradburn speared the first ball from Craig Cumming for four through the gully followed by three singles and a Max two for four then Cumming gained his wicket, caught just outside the Max zone at mid-off for 35. ND were 77/4 with two overs remaining.

A superb piece of fielding by Walmsley in the deep, where he rolled to pick up a ball and throw back into the wickets found Simon Doull short of his ground as ND slumped to 84/6. Hatwell followed in the next over and at the end of the 10 overs ND were 93/7, a lead of 97 runs.

McMillan finished well for Otago and did well to take two for 11 off two overs.

CLOSE CONTEST AT ALBANY BETWEEN OTAGO AND ND

Big-hitting Andrew Hore had no chance to give Otago a start to match that achieved by Northern Districts in their State Max match at North Harbour Stadium today.

He was out first ball he faced, the second ball of the innings, when hitting a ball from Joseph Yovich straight down the throat of Mark Bailey at backward square leg.

But Brendon McCullum kept on going, maintaining the benefits of the heavy programme of matchplay he enjoyed with the New Zealand Academy to get to 31 in the fourth over by which stage Otago were 38/2. The 50 came up in the fourth over. However, Chris Gaffaney departed at 55 having scored 18 from nine balls, and the problems started to mount for Otago.

Craig Pryor offered an easy chance for Scott Styris to pick up a caught and bowled dismissal which left Otago 74/4. Cumming had a life when looking to be caught on the mid-wicket boundary by Mark Bailey, but Bailey fell over the boundary in taking the catch resulting in four runs.

Having got to 82, Jordan Sheed overbalanced when trying to put off-spinner Grant Bradburn away on the leg-side and was stumped by Rob Hart.

Four runs later Cumming, on 16, departed attempting to blast Ian Butler over the Max zone but falling short were Evan Marshall was waiting to take the catch.

With one over to go Otago were 92/6 and lost Scott Waide on 97 with three balls of the innings remaining. He was unlucky to pull a wide ball from outside off stump into the waiting hands of mid-on, the ball deserved a worse fate. James McMillan then departed for a first-ball duck, leg before wicket to Joseph Yovich.

Otago finished on 99/8 with Yovich taking three for 26 off three overs, and Scott Styris had 2/12 from two overs.

ND had a four run lead at the end of the first innings.

ND FAIL TO BUILD ON FINE START AT ALBANY

State Northern Districts failed to build on the best start to an innings in the State Max tournament at Albany today against Otago.

Conditions were not as brilliant as for the morning game with a cool north-westerly breeze blowing across the back ground at North Harbour's Albany Stadium, a superb new venue on the New Zealand cricket scene.

Mark Bailey proved the key man for Northern Districts.

Bailey and Matthew Hart opened the batting and Hart made 20 runs off 14 balls but once he was out, bowled round his legs when shuffling in the crease to James McMillan's bowling, Bailey took over in impressive style.

Evan Marshall suffered when his first three overs went for 50 runs. Bailey advanced to 50 in the eighth over, off 24 balls.

ND were 79/1 after seven overs with Scott Styris not seeing a lot of the strike.

That was reflected in his dismissal when easily caught by McMillan at mid-off from Craig Cumming's bowling having made five runs off eight balls. With new batsman Grant Bradburn squirting a ball wide of the slip area for four runs, ND finished eight overs on 86/2.

David Sewell was brought in to bowl the penultimate over of the first innings and did a superb job in restricting the scoring to only five runs from the over at the most helter-skelter stage of the innings, especially when ND had so many wickets still in hand.

Otago did well in keeping Bailey away from the strike and on the chances he did get, he was only able to pick up singles and that created some desperation that resulted in Bailey hitting out in the last over only to be caught at long on by David Sewell for 54 scored off 29 balls.

Bradburn hit a six off the second to last ball and two runs were scrambled off the last ball to see ND to 103/3. He was 15 not out at the close.