Knights within ace of title

The Northern Knights aren't popping the champagne corks just yet.

The Northern Districts side closed in on the Plunket Shield title with a dominant 10-wicket victory over the Auckland Aces in Whangarei with a day to spare yesterday.

Led by Kane Williamson's standout 192 in Northern's first innings, the Knights picked up their fifth outright win of the first-class season.

That lifted them to 44 points after eight of the 10 rounds of the Shield competition, with their nearest challengers being the Central Stags on 26.

The Knights can clinch the title with a win over the Otago Volts next up at the same Cobham Oval venue starting on Saturday and finish their season against the Stags in Napier.

"We're close, but we're not celebrating yet," captain James Marshall said last night.

"We've still got two rounds to play and we want to continue to put the pressure on by getting maximum points.

"Having said that I was very happy with the way we played. To bowl them out on day one was a fantastic effort and then Kane batted exceptionally well with some supporting efforts.

"Then today (Sunday) we got some very good pressure from the bowlers and some poor cricket from Auckland."

When Auckland began their second innings trailing by 183, they showed little fight as Graeme Aldridge ripped through their top order.

The veteran seamer took the first four wickets to fall, ending with 4-19 as only Tim McIntosh (39) and a whirlwind 57, including six fours and four sixes from No10 Michael Bates, showed any resistance.

Marshall said his side also produced three outstanding catches – a one-handed diving effort from Daniel Flynn to get rid of McIntosh, BJ Watling taking a two-handed screamer to dismiss Tarun Nethula and a very sharp snare from Hamish Marshall off Williamson that saw the end of Gareth Shaw.

The skipper had plenty of praise for Williamson's knock, which lasted 463 balls and saw him hit 22 fours and two sixes off 352 deliveries.

"There was a lot of application and discipline involved," Marshall said.

"It says a lot of him that he reckoned he never felt `in' on the wicket.

"So a lot of credit to the guy – he knew he had a job to do, to be patient and to work hard.

"To get 192 at three runs an over on that sort of wicket showed a real maturity."

SCOREBOARD

Northern Districts First innings (overnight 348-7) B Watling c Jones b Shaw19 B Wilson c Young b Bates6 B Martin c Young b Shaw6 K Williamson b de Grandhomme192 H Marshall b Kitchen57 D Flynn c Nethula b Kitchen5 J Marshall b Bates40 J Yovich c Raval b Bartlett2 P McGlashan c Bates b de Boorder44 G Aldridge b de Grandhomme13 B Arnel not out0 Extras (4b, 10lb, 7w, 5nb)26 Total (for 10 wkts, 140.3 overs)410 Fall: 32, 36, 52, 175, 181, 282, 287, 396, 408, 410. Bowling: M Bates 27-10-53-2 (2w), D Bartlett 23-4-72-1 (2nb), C de Grandhomme 21.3-6-44-2 (1w), G Shaw 27-5-88-2 (4w), T Nethula 8-0-48-0 (3nb), T McIntosh 11-3-17-0, A Kitchen 7-0-31-2, A de Boorder 12-3-31-1, J Raval 4-1-12-0. Second innings BJ Watling not out5 B Wilson not out4 Extras0 Total (for 0 wkts, 1 over)9 Bowling: M Bates 1-0-9-0. Auckland First innings 226 Second innings T McIntosh c Flynn b Williamson39 J Raval b Aldridge14 R Jones c Yovich b Aldridge17 R Young c Williamson b Aldridge1 A Kitchen c Yovich b Aldridge6 A de Boorder lbw b Martin7 C de Grandhomme c Marshall b Arnel0 G Shaw c Marshall b Williamson28 T Nethula c Watling b Williamson4 M Bates c Marshall b Martin57 D Bartlett not out10 Extras (1b, 2lb, 2nb)5 Total (for 10 wkts, 63.3 overs)188 Fall: 14, 41, 44 , 52, 67, 68, 106, 110, 131, 188. Bowling: B Arnel 13-3-29-1, G Aldridge 13-7-19-4, J Yovich 10-1-34-0, B Martin 17.3-5-55-2 (2nb), K Williamson 10-1-48-3. Result: Northern Districts win by 10 wickets.

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