A combination of brilliant bowling and sublime batting has secured an innings and 78-run victory for Northern Districts A over Central Districts A.

Scorecard

The hosts chose to bat first after winning the toss at Napier's Nelson Park and had a first session to forget; the ND bowlers on song as they reduced CD to 83/5, Brett Randell with three in the session.

When play resumed it didn't take long for the ND bowlers to finish CD off, Scott Johnston grabbing his second and third wickets and Jake Gibson securing a brace as CD were removed for 136.

The ND batsmen found the early batting just as difficult as the hosts, with early wickets seeing them head to tea at 12/2.

Opener Bharat Popli found an ally in skipper Joe Carter, and the pair nearly guided ND through to the end of the day, but Popli fell for 63 with the partnership having just passed 100.

The early wicket of Katene Clarke on day two brought Brett Hampton to the crease and his partnership with Carter pulled the game away from CD.

The pair batted with great confidence, adding 129 at a good clip before Carter fell agonisingly short of a century when he was bowled on 96.

One brought two for CD, as Hampton departed three balls later for a swashbuckling 81 off 100 balls - 268/6.

The lower-order all played handy cameos, combining for crucial runs to extend the lead and take a CD win out of the equation.

Number nine Radell was on 40 and, his partnership with number 11 Johnston at 60, when Carter called them into the sheds, declaring at 412/9; a lead of 276.

This gave the ND bowlers around 15 overs on the evening of day two to try make some inroads into the CD batting line-up and, they were rewarded with the wicket of Thomas Zohrab as Johnston had him caught behind by Ben Pomare.

The same combination struck again with the first ball of day three and, when Gibson had Josh Clarkson caught shortly after, ND had the early breakthroughs they were seeking, with CD 56/3 and roughly 85 overs to face.

A 76-run partnership provided some resistance for CD, but when it was broken by Joe Walker, what would prove to be the only CD partnership of note was over with CD still trailing by 146 runs.

When Hampton bowled Gill for the fifth-wicket, the end came relatively quickly; CD losing their last six wickets for 28 runs as Walker (4-34) and Johnston took four wickets (4-56)  apiece.