Cricket: Flynn refuses to dwell on loss

Daniel Flynn and the Knights next travel to Mohali to play the Kings XI Punjab early on Saturday. Photo / File

Northern Knights captain Daniel Flynn is chalking up his side's first loss at the Champions League as merely a bad day at the office.

Speaking after Northern Districts' run of four straight victories in Raipur was snapped by 86 runs by the Hobart Hurricanes, Flynn said his side understood T20 cricket was a fickle affair.

"Obviously, we'll take a few lessons out of it," Flynn said.

"They played very well but I don't think we'll look too deeply into it. We've got another game in a couple of days, so will look forward to that."

Momentum is everything in T20 and, after a decent Knights start with the ball, the Australian side seized it and never looked back.

"We thought we could have restricted them to a few less. But then we lost early wickets and were never really in the game from there."

The Knights were knocked over for just 92 in reply to the Hurricanes' 178/3, with only Scott Styris (37 off 27) and Tim Southee (21 off 12) reaching double figures.

The Knights now travel to Mohali to play the strong Kings XI Punjab early on Saturday, with a win needed to keep them in touch with the group leaders.

The success of the Knights so far is hugely significant for the region. Northern Districts have already cemented themselves as the new powerbase of New Zealand cricket, with no fewer than nine past or present Black Caps playing in the latest Champions League match.

Dean Brownlie has moved into the region - and let's not even talk about why Corey Anderson is not adding even more might to the middle over. In any case, two things are clear.

The first is that players want to play in the Champions League for varied and obvious reasons.

The second is the best way to do that in New Zealand, for the foreseeable future, looks to be as a Northern Knight.