Northern have beaten Auckland by 48 runs in the Provincial A Tournament being held at Lincoln.
Having scraped their way to 233 for nine, Northern then put in an accurate performance with the ball to secure bragging rights over neighbours Auckland.
Northern opted to bat first and received bits and pieces from their top-order. Michael Dodunski was the best of them on his way to 33, but it was the middle order who were the backbone of the innings.
Daryl Mitchell put on 35 for his team and Jono Boult also made a start with 29.
Brandin Hiini though was the best of the batsmen with just 38. It was evidence of a batting display where no one really got going, but a number of starts got Central to a defendable total.
At the end of 50 overs Central finished on 233 with one wicket to spare.
It was a combined effort from the Auckland bowlers, but the most economical was Lochie Ferguson who picked up the impressive figures of two for 23 from ten overs.
In reply Auckland were similar to Northern in regards to the fact that their batsmen could only manage starts and not push on to bigger scores.
The first of such players was Tim McIntosh who made 42 from 60. The next three batsmen were all dismissed cheaply, but the middle-order stood up for Auckland.
Dusan Hakaraia and Marc Ellison tried to get their team back into the match with scores of 30 and 40, but again couldn’t convert their starts into big totals.
In the end Auckland lost wickets far too regularly and ended well short of their target.
After 45.1 overs Northern landed the killer blow to dismiss Auckland for 185.
Northern will be thrilled with their 48 run win, but now throw their attention to their first Twenty20 match against Canterbury tomorrow.
