Tulsi Wellington Firebirds 154 all out in 44.2 overs (Ish Sodhi 2-26, JOno Boult 2-15, Henry Walsh 31) lost to SKYCITY Northern Knights 158-7 in 44.3 overs (Daryl Mitchell 52, Scott Kuggeleijn 27*, Mark Gillespie 4-22) by three wickets at Hawkins Basin Reserve, Wellington
The Tulsi Wellington Firebirds struggled and failed to complete their 50 overs with the bat, in the face of a fine all around bowling performance from the SKYCITY Northern Knights. In return, a fired up Mark Gillespie had the Knights in all sorts of trouble before Daryl Mitchell was able to calmly lead his side to the win, which puts them top of the Ford Trophy table.
The Firebirds' innings never really fired, as the Knights were able to exert scoreboard pressure and take regular wickets. Scott Kuggeleijn and Graeme Aldridge took care of the home team's top order and from there the spin attack of Ish Sodhi, Jono Boult and Anurag Verma were able to wrap things up around the run out of top scorer Henry Walsh, who'd played steadily for his 31.
The Knights were in trouble when BJ Watling went cheaply at 3-34 in the tenth over, but Daryl Mitchell was able to dig in and rescue what could have been a sticky situation for his side. His best support came from Kuggeleijn, who took 77 balls over his 27, to see the Knights home.
