Canterbury’s quest for the first unbeaten Ford Trophy regular season in 20 years was culled at the final hurdle by the SKYCITY Northern Knights.
The last team to go unbeaten through a one-day regular season was the champion 1995/1996 Canterbury team, a stacked side which included current Canterbury coach Gary Stead.
One from the archives
Canterbury came into the game unbeaten through their first seven games, including five wins and a couple of weather-affected washouts, but the Knights made sure they fell one short in the ultimate chase by beating them by three wickets at Bay Oval.
The win wasn’t enough for the Knights to qualify for the playoffs, as meanwhile in the far south, the SBS Bank Otago Volts sealed the fourth playoff spot by beating the Wellington Firebirds by the second-largest run margin in Ford Trophy history (221).
Trouble was brewing down south for the Knights
However, it was still an impressive performance by the hosts in Mount Maunganui, who were put in the field after Canterbury captain Andy Ellis won the toss.
While Jimmy Baker was expensive early, Northland seamer Cody Andrews made an immediate impact on debut — starting with a maiden before claiming the dismissals of Tom Latham and Ken McClure in his next two overs.
Seamer Tony Goodin, also relatively inexperienced at this level, joined in on the action by picking up two wickets in his first three overs, Canterbury reduced to 59/4.
When Peter Fulton was dismissed by the impressive Mitchell Santner, Canterbury was at 84/5 after 20 overs, and looking at a low total.
First game back for BLACKCAP Mitchell Santner, first win for the Knights
That’s when Andy Ellis stepped up, albeit after starting his innings extremely slowly, on two from 23 balls before upping the ante in an important partnership with Cameron Fletcher.
Fletcher made 41 as the pair added 88 to drag Canterbury back towards a respectable total.
Ellis – who hadn’t made a one-day century in 82 innings, made his way through to 96, and received the strike for the final ball of the innings.
Needing a boundary to get his three figures, the allrounder looked to flick it past BJ Watling for a boundary down to fine leg. The ball flew to the boundary, but with no aid from Ellis’s bat — ending the innings with four byes and therefore leaving Ellis with a career-best 96 not out.
He did combine with Kyle Jamieson to take 20 off the final over from Andrews — slightly dampening a fantastic debut performance from the Northland youngster which ended with figures of 2-40 from his eight overs.
Goodin took 3-36, while 30 overs of spin saw returning BLACKCAP Santner (1-31), Ish Sodhi (0-39) and Anton Devcich (2-43) restrict the Canterbury batsmen on the expansive ground.
The Knights' spin attack was on their happy hunting ground
The Knights looked in control during their response, Daniel Flynn (21), Joe Carter (35) and Anton Devcich (26) all making starts in support of Dean Brownlie — who stroked a well-made 67 from 77 balls.
Needing only a tick over five runs per over, and with plenty of capable batsmen waiting in the wings, it seemed like the Knights would cruise home, but an economical spell from Ellis supported a wicket-taking spree from spinner Tim Johnston, who claimed three big wickets.
Canterbury captain Andy Ellis was at his uncompromising best
Santner, Sodhi and Daryl Mitchell all fell without making an impact, leaving BJ Watling and Baker to navigate needing 38 from the last four overs.
Fortunately for the hosts, they were up to the task. Baker blasted an important six before an Ellis no-ball gave Watling a free hit, which he duly deposited for four.
A few lucky edges left the Knights needing four to win from the final over, and Watling (47 from 40 balls) and Baker (22 from 21) saw them home.
While the Knights leave the Ford Trophy at this point, Canterbury return to Hagley Oval to host the 1v2 Qualifying Final against the Devon Hotel Central Stags on Saturday.
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Canterbury v Devon Hotel Central Stags
