CRICKET - Hopkins takes aim at Kaipara

Charlie HopkinsThe task of making short work of Kaipara Flat's potent top order, falls to opening bowlers Charlie Hopkins and Jason Morgan in the Northland premier one-day final tomorrow and the pair are keenly aware they have to perform.
Hopkins, who joined the club this year as its professional, said the Kaipara top order has been one of the main reasons they are unbeaten in the competition.
"Brad Wilson's in pretty good nick for Kaipara and I suppose a lot of the game will depend on how well we bowl at him and the rest of the top order," Hopkins said.
The Lincolnshire medium pacer has returned good figures showing useful pace and swing, particularly after the competition exchanged artificial wickets for grass.
He has best figures of 4/22 off seven overs against City, and a total haul of 10 wickets which sees him third on the list of wicket takers behind fellow professionals Greg Strydom (13) of Onerahi and Kaipara's Tauseef Satti (10).
"The tracks are quite slow at the moment because it's been a bit wet but it's just like bowling in England really, so I'm quite enjoying it," he said.
Satti is another threat to the Maungakaramea bowling as is Northland under-19 batsman Kyran Dill. Both have healthy batting averages but it is Wilson, with an average of 166 from four matches, who will be the main target.
"If we can get him out early then I'd have thought we'd have a pretty decent chance of winning," Hopkins said.
The pace bowler says Maungakaramea's batting has been reliable all season.
"We're not really relying on just one person, everybody seems to be doing their bit," he said.
Hopkins plays for East Midlands club Bourne and heard about the Northland opportunity through Pete Morgan, who was based at Bledisloe last year, when the pair played county cricket together.
The two sides meet in the 50-over final at Cobham Oval from 11pm.
• Northland failed to consolidate their advantage in the hunt for a Hawke Cup Challenge this season after a mixed bag in Taupo at this week's Brian Dunning one-day tournament.
Northland beat Poverty Bay, drew a washed out match with Waikato Valley and lost to Bay of Plenty on Tuesday.
The loss means that Counties-Manukau and BOP remain in the hunt for a Hawke Cup challenge against holders Hamilton. Both provinces failed to gain on Northland in Taupo, however, returning the same win-loss ratio as Northland.