Cricket: CD to play Otago in Trophy final

By Terry Maddaford and NZPA.

Central Districts will play Otago in the final of the Shell Trophy after the teams drew their match at Alexandra yesterday.

The draw enabled CD to finish one point ahead of Otago. The five-day final will start on Friday at a CD venue yet to be decided on.

Otago declared their first innings at 276 for eight yesterday and Central Districts were 193 for four when stumps were drawn eight overs before the scheduled close.

It was always going to be unlikely that Otago would dismiss CD in the time available, but there were some anxious moments for their batsmen as spinner Paul Wiseman bowled his most productive spell of the season.

He took all four wickets to fall and he could have two or three more if mis-hits had not just evaded the fieldsmen.

In Hamilton, Canterbury needed just 82 minutes to end Northern Districts' misery in their lop-sided match.

Dismissing the home side for a paltry 80 runs in 41.5 overs, Canterbury won by a massive 302 runs, Northern's biggest loss in a match decided over four innings.

Chris Martin, one of the unsung heroes in the Canterbury side, picked up his second four-wicket haul for the match to finish with eight for 77 from almost 37 overs.

The Canterbury coach, Garry MacDonald, was full of praise for Martin, whom he has watched develop over the past two seasons.

"He is known among his team-mates as the "the Quiet Assassin" for the manner in which he just gets on with the job. No sledging or heroics - just genuine hard work," said MacDonald.

"Overall, it has been a rollercoaster season for us. We have had players going in and out pretty much from the start.

"Losing players to the national side should not been seen as a downside, rather as the opportunity to blood more players and attempt to attain the high standards we set."

Canterbury won Cricket Max and the Shell Cup and with luck could have made the Trophy final.

Northern captain Robbie Hart was disappointed, both in the outcome of the match and that the season had ended.

"It wasn't a great way to finish, that's for sure," said Hart after his side had crumbled from an overnight 44 for five. "We never gave ourselves a chance of making the final."

Auckland and Wellington lost any chance of pushing for a place in this week's five-day final when play at the Petone Recreation Ground was washed out for the third successive day.