Williamson's near-double century a winner

Northern Knights batsman Kane Williamson fell just eight runs short of a double century at Whangarei's Cobham Oval yesterday but the performance was still a match-winning one for the rising star of New Zealand cricket.
Williamson spent a mammoth seven hours and 43 minutes at the wicket, facing 352 balls and scoring two sixes and 22 fours in his excellent innings on a pitch that offered variable bounce and pace - before he was caught napping by a Colin De Grandhomme delivery that clean-bowled him.
The 19-year-old's form this year has been exceptional, with his 192 yesterday backing up a 170 against Wellington in the previous match and a string of big totals in the 50-over competition.
"This innings here was harder, you never really quite felt in on this wicket because it was quite variable and I was fortunate enough to get one or two chances and that's what you need on this sort of wicket," he said.
His recent form has seen his name mentioned as a possible bolter into the New Zealand test squad for the Australian series but Williamson said yesterday that he had not expected a call-up into the Black Caps.
"I hadn't expected any call-up to be honest, I've just been concentrating on batting and scoring runs," he said.
The Knights skipper James Marshall said last week that Williamson would be a better prospect for the winter tour to Sri Lanka.
"If that happens then that would be fantastic but I'm not getting too far ahead of myself in any way and I'll continue trying to work on my game," the Tauranga product added.
After a rocky start to the innings for the Knights, Williamson formed some lucrative partnerships with the other ND batsmen to take the total to 410 in 141 overs to give them a 183-run advantage over Auckland. Hamish (57) and James Marshall (40) and finally Peter McGlashan (44)  made significant contributions to the total.
Auckland needed a better batting performance if they wanted to stop the Knights from taking outright points but they were quickly in trouble, with a fired-up Graeme Aldridge taking the first four wickets to have Auckland 52/4 in the 21st over.
Bruce Martin trapped Andrew de Boorder lbw, recalled Brent Arnel had Colin de Grandhomme caught without scoring and then Williamson took the next three wickets, including the important dismissal of test opener Tim McIntosh, who had played well for his 39.
Number-10 batsman Michael Bates frustrated the Northern Districts bowlers by hammering 57 runs off 25 balls until he was trapped lbw by Martin but the last wicket stand forced the Knights to pad up again to score six runs for victory.
BJ Watling and Brad Wilson accomplished the feat without loss to earn the Knights a 10-wicket win but the match will best be remembered for Williamson's dogged knock and Auckland's rapid second innings capitulation.
Northern Districts opener BJ Watling and seam bowler Brent Arnel will miss the remaining two rounds of the Plunket Shield after being named in the Black Caps test team. Both were in the squad that played Bangladesh.
Scoreboard on page 9.