Neil Broom scored his 11th first-class century as Otago fought their way to a creditable draw in their Plunket Shield outing against Northern Districts in Hamilton today.
The southern men began the day at 12-2 in pursuit of an unlikely total of 440 for victory but managed to bat out 105 overs on day four at Seddon Park to deny Northern Districts what seemed a certain victory as they finished play on 353-8.
Broom, batting at No 5, finished the day unbeaten on 146 from 267 balls and plundered 19 fours during his knock that lasted nearly six hours, while he also had admirable support from his lower-order partners, including Ian Butler, who was also there at the day's end, unbeaten on six.
First-innings centurion Jimmy Neesham crafted 32 as he occupied the crease for more than an hour but the key contribution came from No 9 Mark Craig who made 93 and - more importantly - spent 157 minutes in the middle.
In his previous six first-class games, Craig had never passed 28 and only boasted a batting average of 13.71, but the 25-year-old put on 149 runs with Broom, which was a record for the eighth wicket for Otago against ND.