ND deserved winners in Alexandra

On a day which defied the weather pundits, spectators at Molyneux Park in Alexandra were lucky to be uninterrupted and see the Northern Districts deservedly beat Otago by 74 runs.

Winning the toss and putting ND into bat seemed to be quite a valuable first achievement for the Volts as they managed to restrict them to 229/8.

No Northern batsman dominated or even reached 50 although the Marshall twins, James and Hamish, played valuable hands to score 49 and 46 respectively. Jaden Hatwell (25), Robbie Hart (24) and Grant Bradburn (22), together with an appalling 26 wides from the Otago attack, took the score to a competitive mark.

James McMillan took two for 35, Kerry Walmsley one for 47, Craig Pryor one for 46 and Nathan McCullum one for 37. They all never stopped trying but probably, with the exception of McMillan and McCullum, would have been disappointed that they could not have been slightly cheaper.

Setting out to chase the target of 229, Otago seemed to have a good chance despite being without two batsmen who were capable of pushing the ball around and creating a substantial score.

Craig Cumming did well to top score with 43. The next highest total belonged to Lee Germon with 34, but at the stage of his innings the game had slipped somewhat. Robbie Lawson, 23, could well have been a saviour if he had stayed in but it was not to be and only Pryor with 21 offered any other resistance.

The ND bowling was superior as the figures suggest (they only bowled five wides as opposed to the Volts' 26) and looked much more menacing.

Graeme Aldridge with three for 25, Joseph Yovich two for 34, Grant Bradburn two for 28 and Simon Doull two for 32 all bowled well and were never really mastered.

All in all ND were too good for Otago on a day when the weather gods smiled on Alexandra and most of the rest of the country sheltered under umbrellas.