The match between Northern Districts and Central Districts has finished in a sensational draw in round three of the Provincial A tournament.
Chasing 262 for victory Central looked to be cruising until a string of wickets left them with a lot of work to do to get anything out of the game.
Northern opted to bat first and were buoyed by the return of Daniel Flynn to the line-up. Flynn will be satisfied with his first performance of the tournament as he made 48 from 38 deliveries.
Top scorer for Northern was Brook Hatwell who put on a brilliant partnership with Daryl Mitchell for the fourth wicket. Having put on 109 together, Central made an important breakthrough when Mitchell was bowed for 57.
Hatwell continued to excel until he was run out on 88 in the penultimate over.
He had done his job though as Northern finished their 50 overs at 261 for nine.
In reply Central were flying as they reached 51 without loss after just 5.5 overs. Marty Kain was then dismissed for 38, but opener Dean Robinson and number three Greg Hay would then punish the Northern attack as they put on 120 for the second wicket.
Robinson was going nicely and looked likely to bring up a ton, but was dismissed on 82 in the 35th over.
Not long after Hay too was walking towards the pavilion, after being dismissed for 57. Central had been looking in a dominant position, but with both key batsmen gone Northern sniffed blood.
Carl Cachopa made a crucial 43 not out, but couldn’t find anyone to stick with him in the final overs.
With two overs remaining Central required a very challenging 28 to win. They would have been baffled with how it had come to such a difficult situation, but Cachopa played brilliantly and scored the majority of the 27 runs Central made to earn themselves a draw.
To add to the excitement, Cachopa smashed four off the last ball to make sure Central didn’t leave empty handed.
It was a fantastic game to watch and the first draw of the tournament.
