Cricket: Knights seek redemption at Mount

Northern Knights captain Daniel Flynn is set to lead a strong side against the Wellington Firebirds and Otago Volts at Bay Oval this week. Photo / John Borren

The Northern Knights' two upcoming matches at Mount Maunganui's Bay Oval have taken on greater significance following a tough start to the Ford Trophy competition.

The Knights, who yesterday beat the Central Stags by 13 runs at Pukekura Park after posting 297/9, began their campaign with an opening round 222-run loss to Otago last week.

The batting effort against the Stags represented an improvement from ND, who improved markedly on their opening round score of just 113 to post a competitive total in the bid for a road win, with the much-hyped Mitchell Santner especially impressive in compiling 86 from just 66 deliveries.

Four Bay of Plenty players have been named in the Northern Knights squad for the two Ford Trophy matches at Bay Oval, beginning with the match against defending champions Wellington Firebirds tomorrow.

Daniel Flynn will again lead a 12-strong unit featuring fellow Bay players Aldridge, Jono Boult and Joe Carter at a venue the Knights have struggled to win at in recent seasons.

The former Tauranga Boys' College schoolboy standout, who has compiled 5961 first class runs including 2290 in the 50-over format, will be looking to end that trend in 2015.

Northern Knights squad v Wellington Firebirds & Otago Volts
Daniel Flynn (captain), Graeme Aldridge, Jono Boult, Joe Carter, Jono Hickey, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Brad Wilson, Anurag Verma.

Ford Trophy match schedule, Bay Oval, January 2015:
January 1 Northern Knights v Wellington Firebirds
January 4 Northern Knights v Otago Volts
January 21 Northern Knights v Auckland Aces