Both coaches expect a nail-biting finish on the final day of the Plunket Shield match in Napier.
Central Districts coach Dermot Reeve and his Northern Districts counterpart, Grant Bradburn, told SportToday four runs an over would be achievable after the Stags yesterday set a target of 406, with the Knights having
all day to overhaul the target.
Stand-in CD skipper Tim Weston declared at 531-7 after Bevan Griggs fell lbw to James Marshall, reversing his first-innings duck with 85 runs for a belated birthday gift.
Taradale batsman James de Terte was unbeaten on 77 and Weston had contributed 72.
"It's better than batting ND out of the game. This way we've got a game of cricket on," said Reeve, who expected CD spinner George Worker to roll up his sleeves today in the absence of a "Shane Warne in our side".
"We were at one stage thinking of batting into tomorrow but because Griggs and de Terte scored quickly, that'll give us two little bites with the new ball," he said, disappointed they hadn't enticed unbeaten ND openers Daniel Flynn (6 not out) and Michael Parlane (5 not out) to nibble.
It was imperative for young guns such as Doug Bracewell and Ben Wheeler to chase a win rather than settle for a boring draw, Reeve said.
Bradburn thought the four-day match was a classic game of two halves, the first two days favouring the seamers and the other two the batsmen.
"There was some wonderful batting today with [Peter] Ingram and Weston, and the other CD boys applied themselves really well but it's our turn tomorrow," said the former Knights batsman and international, adding that the relatively small boundaries and quick outfield should spice up the chase.
"We've won here chasing 400 before so we know it can be done."
Although middle-order batsman Joseph Yovich was out with a broken thumb on Tuesday, Bradburn didn't rule him out if the Knights became desperate today.
"Joey being Joey, it'll be hard to keep him out of the middle if he's needed. If we need him to either survive or bat you know what Joey will be doing, he'll be batting," said the one-day and shield-winning coach who pride in achieved the double despite feeding the national team a raft of players.
