Northern Districts 293 for 7 (49.1 overs; Doull 80, Parlane 79) beat England XI 288 for 6 (50 overs; Knight 126) by three wickets
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(AFP) Simon Doull was an unlikely hero as he carved up England's bowlers to lead Northern Districts to a thrilling three-wicket victory.

Doull, who averaged just 11.57 from 75 previous domestic one-dayers, flayed 80 off 47 balls in front of 3000 spectators in the tour-opening day-night match. It was the kick-start Northern needed before a cool-headed Michael Parlane's 79 helped them to their target of 289 with five balls to spare.

England's total of 288 for 6, including a rapid 126 from opener Nick Knight, had seemed more than enough to begin their eight-week tour with a win. But Doull, the veteran of 32 Tests and 42 one-dayers as a frontline pace bowler, showed he could be devastating with the bat. Using minimal footwork but with a eagle eye, Doull took to a shell-shocked Andrew Caddick, Matthew Hoggard and Darren Gough to have Northern 82 for 0 after 10 overs.

Doull helped take 24 off Caddick's first three overs, 54 off Hoggard's first six and 27 off Gough's first five as he and James Marshall added 96 for the first wicket. His two sixes were both in the same over from New Zealand-born Caddick while he added 11 fours to all parts of the ground. The fun ended in the 14th over when he was caught on the wide long-on boundary off medium pacer Paul Collingwood's first over.

Parlane then took over with help from Hamish Marshall, the pair adding 65 for the fourth wicket as the experienced Parlane - with 2365 domestic one-day runs to his credit - cruised to his 16th half-century off 74 balls. When he went for 79, including five fours and three sixes, there were just 12 needed off four overs. Another Northern stalwart, Grant Bradburn, watched some late wickets fall before finishing the job in the final over to leave the field unbeaten on 43.

Gough was unlucky to be edged for numerous boundaries and ended with 2 for 59 while Craig White was useful in the middle stages with 1 for 46, also off 10 overs.

Knight, England's best-performing one-day international batsman with an average of 42.04 from 71 matches, earlier treated the home bowlers with disdain in his 125-ball knock. He hit 10 fours and four sixes.

After being sent in to bat, Knight and captain Marcus Trescothick - standing in for Nasser Hussain - rattled off a quick opening stand of 60. Knight and Graham Thorpe then added 98 off 105 balls for the third wicket, with Thorpe scoring a patient 40.

Knight's 50 came off 70 balls and his century off 109 balls in the 41st over, before he was caught at deep square-leg trying for his fifth six. He greeted former Test slow left-armer Matthew Hart's arrival with a six over long-off, added another six off Hart and also dispatched Graeme Aldridge and Joseph Yovich over the pickets.

Aldridge, who bowled at useful pace, was the pick of the home bowlers with 2 for 39 off 10 overs.

England rested Hussain, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, James Foster and Ben Hollioake, who was still troubled by an injury to his left knee.

The two teams meet on the same ground again on Sunday, followed by the first one-day international against New Zealand on Wednesday. The first Test starts on March 13 at Christchurch.

Teams
England 1 Marcus Trescothick (capt/wk), 2 Nick Knight, 3 Graham Thorpe, 4 Michael Vaughan, 5 Owais Shah, 6 Craig White, 7 Paul Collingwood, 8 Jeremy Snape, 9 Andy Caddick, 10 Darren Gough, 11 Matthew Hoggard.

Northern Districts 1 James Marshall, 2 Simon Doull, 3 Michael Parlane, 4 Matthew Hart, 5 Hamish Marshall, 6 Grant Bradburn, 7 Robert Hart (capt/wk), 8 Joseph Yovich, 9 Daryl Tuffey, 10 Graeme Aldridge, 11 Ian Butler.

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