ND Knights beat Firebirds at Bay Oval

ND Knights captain Daniel Flynn top scored with 62 againat Wellington Firebirds.

UPDATE:

Northern Knights ended a run of losses at the Bay Oval with a close fought 23 run victory over the Wellington Firebirds yesterday. (Full scorecard below).

Skipper Daniel Flynn (62) and Daryl Mitchell (61) put on a match high partnership of 105 for the 3rd wicket in the Knights impressive total of 263/6 off 50 overs.

But thanks to a superb 78 from Grant Elliott the Firebirds fought all the way but were bowled out for 240 in the 49th over.

Flynn opened with Dean Brownlie who struggled against Mark Gillespie, taking 12 balls to get off the mark. He made just 11 but Flynn crashed some early boundaries and went past 2000 limited overs runs for the Knights when he reached 16.

Mitchell hit two powerful sixes and four boundaries in his 61, Jono Hickey made 28 and leg spinner Ish Sodhi played a fine hand scoring 35 off 36 balls. Jono Boult (23no) spanked three boundaries in the 49th over to help the Knights reach 263/9.
Scott Kuggeleijn got the early wicket of the vastly experienced Michael Papps before Graeme Aldridge knocked over Stephen Murdock. The Firebirds were wilting in the hot sun at 22/2 and three consecutive maidens followed, finished off with a bouncer from Kuggeleijn that smashed into Pollard's helmet.

But the gritty opener battled on and with captain Franklin reached 50/2 in the 12th over. Franklin chopped on for 11 from Daryl Mitchell who should have had Pollock next over but Jono Hickey dropped a sitter. No matter though as Mitchell dismissed him for 41 in the 17th over with the Firebirds 81/4.

Black Caps keeper Luke Ronchi lasted only seven balls but Elliott showed his class with a top quality innings. He reached 50 off just 46 balls and along with tremendous support from Alecz Day took the Firebirds through to 79 off the last 12 overs.

Boult produced three consecutive tight overs as the run chase went down to the final 10 over but the Firebirds began to look likely as they needed 56 off the last eight overs.

Flynn missed an opportunity to catch Elliott in the outfield off Mitchell Santner but the Black Caps allrounder finally fell caught and bowled by Ish Sodhi for 78 off 80 balls with a remarkable win in his sights.

Day was out in the 48th over for 57 which finally ended the Firebirds brave fight. Kuggeleijn and Mitchell were the pick of the bowlers with three wickets each.

Northern Knights are back in Ford Trophy action against Otago Vaults at Bay Oval from 12pm on Sunday.

NORTHERN KNIGHTS
DR Flynn c GD Elliott b LJ Woodcock 62
DG Brownlie c MA Pollard b MR Gillespie 11
BS Wilson b GD Elliott 13
DJ Mitchell c SJ Murdoch b AD Day 61
JD Hickey c JEC Franklin b BJ Arnel 28
MJ Santner c L Ronchi b MR Gillespie 5
TL Seifert run out (MA Pollard) 0
SC Kuggeleijn c LJ Woodcock b GD Elliott 13
IS Sodhi c GD Elliott b BJ Arnel 35
JJ Boult not out 23
GW Aldridge not out 3
Extras (lb 2, wd 6, nb 1) 9
Total (for 9 wickets, 50.0 overs) 263

Fall: 1-29 (DG Brownlie, 7.2), 2-44 (BS Wilson, 10.5), 3-149 (DR Flynn, 31.1), 4-161 (DJ Mitchell, 32.6), 5-184 (JD Hickey, 35.6), 6-184 (TL Seifert, 36.1), 7-189 (MJ Santner, 38.1), 8-218 (SC Kuggeleijn, 44.1), 9-259 (IS Sodhi, 49.3)

Bowling: MJ Tugaga 8.5-0-43-0 (2w, 1nb), MR Gillespie 7.1-1-23-2, GD Elliott 10-0-52-2 (1w, BJ Arnel 10-0-57-2 (2w, LJ Woodcock 10-0-59-1, AD Day 4-0-27-1 (1w

WELLINGTON FIREBIRDS
MA Pollard c TL Seifert b DJ Mitchell 41
MHW Papps c BS Wilson b SC Kuggeleijn 1
SJ Murdoch c TL Seifert b GW Aldridge 4
JEC Franklin b DJ Mitchell 11
GD Elliott c & b IS Sodhi 78
L Ronchi c BS Wilson b DJ Mitchell 6
LJ Woodcock c DG Brownlie b JJ Boult 12
AD Day c DJ Mitchell b MJ Santner 57
MJ Tugaga not out 5
BJ Arnel b SC Kuggeleijn 1
MR Gillespie b SC Kuggeleijn 0
Extras (lb 15, wd 8, nb 1) 24
Total (for 10 wickets, 48.5 overs) 240

Fall: 1-15 (MHW Papps, 2.4), 2-22 (SJ Murdoch, 3.6), 3-61 (JEC Franklin, 12.4), 4-76 (MA Pollard, 16.2), 5-90 (L Ronchi, 18.3), 6-136 (LJ Woodcock, 28.2), 7-216 (GD Elliott, 43.4), 8-238 (AD Day, 47.2), 9-240 (BJ Arnel, 48.4), 10-240 (MR Gillespie, 48.5)

Bowling: SC Kuggeleijn 8.5-2-32-3 (2w, 1nb), GW Aldridge 5-1-28-1, IS Sodhi 9-0-47-1, DJ Mitchell 7-0-34-3, MJ Santner 9-0-46-1 (2w, JJ Boult 10-0-38-1

Earlier:
Northern Knights scored 263/9 off their 50 overs to set the Wellington Firebirds a tough run chase at Mount Maunganui's Bay Oval today. (Full scoreboard below.)

Firebirds captain James Franklin won the toss and asked the Knights to bat first on a typically well prepared pitch at Bay Oval.

Former Mount Maunganui club player and Knights captain Daniel Flynn opened with new Mount Maunganui resident Dean Brownlie. Brownlie, fighting for his spot in the World Cup squad, was bereft of scoring options against former Black Caps pace man Mark Gillespie, taking 12 balls to get off the mark. He made 11 before Gillespie got his man but Flynn looked in good nick, crashing some early boundaries away and going past 2000 limited overs runs for the Knights when he reached 16.

Brad Wilson (13) was bowled in Grant Elliott's opening over to have the Knights 44/2 off 11 overs. But Flynn held the innings together, scoring 62 and putting together a key partnership of 105 with Daryl Mitchell. Big hitting Mitchell hit two powerful sixes and four boundaries in reaching his 50 but was out for 61 not long after Flynn to leave the Knights 161/4 after 33 overs at a superb rate of 5.8 runs per over.

A big first innings score looked on the cards with Jono Hickey and hugely talented allrounder Mitchell Santner together. Santner scored a swashbuckling 86 against Central Stags on Tuesday but two wickets in two balls set the Knights back. Hickey's prmising knock ended on 28 off just 15 balls then Tim Seifert was run out without facing a ball leaving the Knights on 189/7 off 38 overs.

Black Caps leg spinner Ish Sodhi played a fine hand scoring 35 off 36 balls and with help from local Bay boy Jono Boult (23no), who spanked three boundaries in the 49th over, the Knights reached a highly competitive 263/9 off 50 overs.

First innings:
NORTHERN KNIGHTS
DR Flynn c GD Elliott b LJ Woodcock 62
DG Brownlie c MA Pollard b MR Gillespie 11
BS Wilson b GD Elliott 13
DJ Mitchell c SJ Murdoch b AD Day 61
JD Hickey c JEC Franklin b BJ Arnel 28
MJ Santner c L Ronchi b MR Gillespie 5
TL Seifert run out (MA Pollard) 0
SC Kuggeleijn c LJ Woodcock b GD Elliott 13
IS Sodhi c GD Elliott b BJ Arnel 35
JJ Boult not out 23
GW Aldridge not out 3
Extras (lb 2, wd 6, nb 1) 9
Total (for 9 wickets, 50.0 overs) 263

Fall: 1-29 (DG Brownlie, 7.2), 2-44 (BS Wilson, 10.5), 3-149 (DR Flynn, 31.1), 4-161 (DJ Mitchell, 32.6), 5-184 (JD Hickey, 35.6), 6-184 (TL Seifert, 36.1), 7-189 (MJ Santner, 38.1), 8-218 (SC Kuggeleijn, 44.1), 9-259 (IS Sodhi, 49.3)

Bowling: MJ Tugaga 8.5-0-43-0 (2w, 1nb), MR Gillespie 7.1-1-23-2, GD Elliott 10-0-52-2 (1w, BJ Arnel 10-0-57-2 (2w, LJ Woodcock 10-0-59-1, AD Day 4-0-27-1 (1w