Bowlers help Canterbury win low scorer

Canterbury 125 for 7 (Latham 44) beat Northern Districts 114 for 7 (Wilson 43, Ellis 3-23) by 11 runs
Scorecard

Canterbury recorded their first win in the competition, beating Northern Districts by 11 runs in a low scorer in Mount Maunganui. Tom Latham scored 44 to lead Canterbury to 125 before a three-wicket haul by Andrew Ellis dented Northern Districts in their chase.

Canterbury opted to bat but got off to a terrible start, losing two wickets in the first over to the left-arm spinner Anton Devcich. The Northern Districts captain Daniel Flynn kept shuffling his bowlers, who picked up two more wickets by the eighth over to leave them struggling at 41 for 4. A stand of 79 for the fifth wicket between Latham and Brendon Diamanti was the turning point. Latham's 44 came off 36 balls with two fours and a six while Diamanti made a run-a-ball 37. Jono Boult, the offspinner, removed the two in the final over as Canterbury ended up with what seemed like an underwhelming 125.

Northern Districts were jolted early in their chase when the openers Flynn and Devcich fell off successive balls to Hamish Bennett. Brad Wilson and BJ Watling steadied the chase with a stand of 45 but despite the small target, Northern Districts were struggling to cope with the asking rate. It came down to 45 needed off the last five overs, forcing them to hit out. The bowler-fielder combination of Ellis and Ronnie Hira, who took three fine catches, had all but sealed it for Canterbury.

Following two washouts, it was a win Canterbury needed. "It was one of those games where the quality of the batting wasn't as high as that of the bowling and fielding," Canterbury captain Peter Fulton said. "The pitch was better than the scores reflect, but we got some crucial early wickets which allowed us to put pressure on the middle order. We're very happy to be on the board finally after a lot of bad luck with weather earlier in the competition."