Knights' big score no match for Auckland rain

If James Marshall had happened to bump into some blokes called Duckworth and Lewis last night, there might have been trouble.
Probably their calculators would have been despatched to the boundary with one swift swish of Marshall's bat, and with the form the Northern Districts Knights captain is in these days, there wouldn't have been much calculator left afterwards.
Because thanks to the so-called "Duckworth and Lewis" cricket scoring system, Marshall and his team mates lost a rain affected match to Auckland yesterday.
Marshall scored an impressive 87 off 102 balls, including 42 singles, before being run out off the final ball of the innings. At the time it looked like it might prove to be a winning knock in the Knights' 267 for nine.
Then the rain came.
So Auckland, who were winless after four one-day matches this season, snuck in for the victory. When the players trooped off in the rain, after 37.4 overs, Auckland's 188 for two was 11 runs more than they needed to get the points.
Riding on the back of a run-a-ball 108 scored by Paul Hitchcock, Auckland had done enough. But Marshall was keen to dispel any thoughts that this result might extinguish the Knights' aspirations of defending the State Shield one day title this season.
There might have to be a rapid turn around in fortunes though.
"It was a bit frustrating in some ways, but then again I think that we were never really in the game even though we scored a few runs. Auckland seemed to have control and in the end the Duckworth-Lewis system probably provided a fair result," Marshall said.
"But that doesn't make me feel any better about it," he said.
Certainly it doesn't seem to give Marshall any reason to start crowing about his batting form. Marshall has hit scores of a run-a-ball 69 against Central Districts, 33 off 27 against Canterbury and 93 from 101 balls in the one-run loss to Otago in Hamilton last Friday night before his 87-run effort yesterday. But it didn't make yesterday's result any easier to stomach.
"It is nice to be in the runs but I would take a few off the be happier to win a few games instead," he said.
The Knights have just five points from four games and need to win at least five of their remaining six games to force their way into the finals. They play Wellington in Wellington on Saturday.