Northern Knights came on top as they beat Central Stags by six wickets today at the Pukekura Park. Chasing 146 to win, Jeet Raval anchored the chase as he remained unbeaten on 66 from 46 balls. Supporting him first at the other end was Joe Carter who scored a brisk 32 off 27.
The partnership for the 3rd wicket almost guaranteed their victory as they put up 74 runs. Following the demolition of that partnership, Colin de Grandhomme departed early but the unbeaten cameo of 25 runs from 12 balls from Henry Cooper sealed the deal for the Knights with 13 balls to spare. Apart from Joey Field nobody looked threatening as he ended up with his figures of 4-0-28-2.
Earlier, Northern Knights won the toss and asked the Stags to bat first. The Stags couldn't get off to a steady start as their openers fell cheaply. They wouldn’t have recovered without their keeper-batter, Dane Cleaver, who took responsibility, scoring a brilliant 65 (42). There were no big partnerships during the innings as they lost wickets at regular intervals. In the end, Doug Bracewell’s 36*(28) got them to a respectable total of 145/8.
Scott Kuggeleijn was the pick of the bowlers as he demolished the Stags batting line-up with his accurate line and lengths. His figures were outstanding as they read 3-0-22-3. Meanwhile, the rest of the bowlers also didn't leak too many runs and kept it tight.
As mentioned earlier, in the chase, it was the efforts from skipper Rawal and cameos from Carter & Cooper that took the Knights home. With this win, the Knights stay firm at the top with 18 points from six matches. Although the Stags lost this encounter they are still in third place with twelve points.
The Central Stags will face the Canterbury Kings on December 31, 2021, at Pukekura Park in New Plymouth while the Knights will play against the Stags on January 14, 2022, at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.