Northern were stacked with a plethora of Black Caps but it was a former South African international who struck early with fast bowler Kyle Abbott (2-29) removing both Central openers in his first two overs. Will Young, coming off a match-winning 83 in the preliminary final, was caught behind for a two-ball duck in the second over and was joined by George Worker (13 from 15) two overs later when he also played a wild shot that resulted in an edge through to Tim Seifert.
The Central wickets and Seifert catches continued at regular intervals when the Black Caps spin duo of Ish Sodhi (2-30) and Mitchell Santner (2-23) were introduced and tore through the Stags' middle order.
The last thing you want to worry about in a Twenty20 match, especially a final, is failing to bat out your allotted overs but it looked a possibility with Central struggling at 120 for eight and 15 balls remaining. Adam Milne and Ajaz Patel saw them through to 147 for eight to at least give them hope with the pitch expected to get lower and slower as the game went on.
It seemed stacked in Northern's favour. Just under seven and a half an over needed to secure a third title with plenty of experience to fall back on. But it was a complete no-show from the Knights at the crease.
Milne (3-12), Patel (3-24) and Doug Bracewell (2-10) did the damage as Northern were bowled out with more than five overs remaining.