Northern Districts Come Home Second In Plunket Shield Chase

A record 5th wicket partnership (against Otago) by Tim Seifert and Daryl Mitchell in the second innings gained a win for ND in their final match but couldn't secure the overall title of the Plunket Shield, finishing second on the table behind Canterbury.   Seifert slogged away for his highest score of 151 in 225 balls and Mitchell added 106 off 217 balls in the 226 run partnership before Scott Kuggeleijn and Ish Sodhi took over, Sodhi smashing a 6 in the final over to secure the match for ND. The win is bittersweet for ND who didn't collect the 4 bonus points needed in the first innings and had they done so would have taken out the championship with other contenders Auckland and Canterbury both losing their matches. 

Spin bowler Sodhi showed his class with the ball, collecting his first 10 wicket bag in first class cricket and best ever first class figures of 7 for 54.

Northern Districts won the match by 3 wickets (275, 350/7) against Otago (432-8 Dec, 189/8 Dec).

See full scorecard here.