Cricket: Onerahi claim title after tight tussle

Kaipara's Rory Christopherson fires a shot towards square-leg in the Northland Premier T20 final versus Onerahi. Photo / Michael Cunningham

A solid outing with the bat by Rory Christopherson wasn't enough to help his Kaipara side to victory as they narrowly lost to Onerahi in the men's premier grade Northland T20 final on Saturday.

The T20 decider proved to be a good match with both sides in the hunt for season accolades.

Onerahi's bowlers performed well, containing Kaipara to 116 runs off the first innings.

Juniad Khan bowled 2/9 off his four overs while Henry Cooper managed 3/12 from his time at the bowling crease.

With the Northland premier cricket season drawing to a close, Onerahi's hopes of making amends of their average season hinged on the second innings.

And Onerahi's batsmen didn't disappoint.

"We got off to a good start," said Onerahi allrounder, Henry Cooper.

"Brad Kneebone got 25, Tom Herman 16 and I ended with 35 not out."

Kaipara's bowlers proved challenging, however Onerahi's batsmen gradually got on top and it was their day to bask in glory.

Inside the 18th over and with a few wickets to spare, Onerahi seized the win with nine balls left in the innings.

After a challenging season for the Onerahi side, Cooper was upbeat about his side's finals win.

"It was absolutely bloody good," he said.

"We had a few players back so that helped with our consistency.

"We haven't gone that well this season in the other rounds and formats so to get this one is good for us moving forward."

In other games at the weekend, Kamo played Maungakaramea in the reserve grade T20 final and notched up a win inside the 19th over of the second innings to bring their season to an emphatic close.