Northern Districts will host next week’s State Shield semi-final at WestpacTrust Park in Hamilton after taking a 57-run win over Canterbury at Timaru’s Aorangi Oval today

Lynn McConnell25-Jan-2002Northern Districts will host next week’s State Shield semi-final at WestpacTrust Park in Hamilton after taking a 57-run win over Canterbury at Timaru’s Aorangi Oval today.To stage the game at Christchurch’s Jade Stadium, Canterbury needed not only to win the game but also take a bonus point. However, they never got close and were well beaten in the end.It was a tale of two batsmen for ND. Michael Parlane belligerent but effective in giving the innings some genuine thrust with his 64 coming off 75 balls and including seven fours.Parlane used his feet well to find the length to allow him to loft the ball over the infielders, especially during the first 15 overs. His deft cutting also kept the momentum of the innings building when the balls were not there to be belted.By comparison, James Marshall played a more cultured innings for his 99 not out and the fact he hit only five fours says much about the nature of the innings.It was perfect for his side and he was unlucky that a scoreboard glitch in the latter stages of the innings had him thinking he had scored his second one-day century when he hit the last ball of the innings for four to fine leg.In reality, he needed to hit it for six. The scoreboard and the official scorers were not linked at the ground and the scoreboard attendants were relying on their own scorers.Marshall said it was Joseph Yovich who informed him during the lunch break that the scoreboard had got things wrong.”I wasn’t that fazed. I was just happy to get through 50 overs at the crease and get a good score.”It was difficult to start with, the wicket was a bit low and slow and it was hard to tell with the back of a length balls how high they would bounce.”It wasn’t a bad track and I think Gary Stead showed that when they batted.”We went out to get a good total on the board. Our batting has disappointed during the start and middle of the campaign but it has come together now and has given us a bit of confidence,” he said.Marshall said the ND players did not mind not having automatic entry into the final as they preferred to play in the semi-final and hopefully win that to get into the final.Marshall also enjoyed batting with Parlane who was playing only his second State Shield game for the season today.”It is good to have Michael back. He played a fantastic innings today to set up a big total,” he said.When Parlane and Marshall were batting together there was a happy blend in their approach and the score mounted at a greater rate than at any other stage of the innings.However, when Parlane departed, courtesy of a lightning-quick stumping completed by Gareth Hopkins after they had added 109 runs for the second wicket. Later on, Marshall received some good support, especially from brother Hamish, who scored 21 and Grant Bradburn who was 21 not out.Matthew Hart was shaping as a prospective contributor but in attempting to sweep Paul Wiseman he saw the ball fly high in an arc over Hopkins. It didn’t seem the chance could be taken but somehow Hopkins got out of his crouch behind the stumps, scrambled after the ball and caught the ball well behind the point where he started.Canterbury struggled to get the sort of start that would have made it competitive enough to put the pressure on the ND attack.Only Stead’s innings of 59 off 84 balls really offered Canterbury any hope, but when he was out in the 38th over at 155/6, the hopes rested with Darron Reekers coming off with a big-hitting innings.He hit one huge six out of Aorangi Oval from Bradburn’s bowling, but just when the improbable might just have been possible, Reekers was run out by Hart for 26 scored off 21 balls.Off the next ball, Stephen Cunis was run out by Graham Aldridge and the end was nigh with ND 175/9.Aldridge completed the coup de grace when bowling Chris Martin with the score on 181.