Date-stamped : 28 Jan94 - 02:32 Central Districts v Northern Districts, McLean Park, Napier. Semi-final play-off played 27th January 1994. In a match of hugely reversing fortunes, Central deservedly made the Shell Cup final. On a pitch that sometimes held up a little a number of batsman who had looked comfortable were dismised when trying to force the pace. In retrospect skipper Grant Bradburn made a vital mistake when deciding to bat first. Rain was forecast to disrupt the first in- nings, and the slow outfield which cost Northern many runs got faster as the day progressed. Northern started well, with Young involved in two brisk partner- ships. When he departed at 48-2 his side had exceeded four an over, thanks mainly to some excellent running. Thomson then joined Burnett in a 61 run partnership, but accurate bowling by Duff and Twose, coupled with the slow outfield and some brilliant field placing by Twose, meant that the run rate dropped. A frustrated Thomson was caught at long on for 31 and after he was dismissed nobody was able to stay with Burnett for long. With only one boundary in the last 36 overs the final charge never really came, and only Burnett's excellent anchor knock of 76 not out (his only regret was not being able to find the fence) saw Northern through to 179-7 from 47 overs. Duff took 3-37 from 10 and along with 2 rain breaks played a major part in destroying Northern's momentum. After slumping to 16-2 McRae and Greatbatch seemed to put Central into an impregnable position. The pair kept up with the asking rate, with Tait going for 24 from 4 and Bradburn 10 from his only over. At 83-2 Cooper replaced his skipper, and immediately bowled McRae for 35. Greatbatch was then run out when Cooper threw down the stumps from point, although replays showed that the unsighted um- pire had made a dreadful error. Northern were now right back on top, and that umpiring decision could have ruined Central's cam- paign, because Thomson had been bowling tightly and Cooper con- tinued to bowl well. Blain however was immediately aggressive and successful, and with Twose providing good support Central regained the upper hand. After Twose left at 128-5 Blain and Duff carried on, until their team needed just 39 runs at 4 an over, with 5 wickets in hand. Blain had often hit the ball over the man in the circle at mid on and mid off, but when Doull bowled a slower ball Young was able to run back, turn, and hold an excellent catch at deep mid on. Doull soon had Duff as well, and enormous pressure was put on the last four Central batsman to turn the tide. Then two things happened. Firstly Doull finished his fine 10 over spell, in which he took 2-21. Secondly David Lamason, who strug- gled early against Doull, kept his head at the vital time. Wanganui's best cricketer had already won two or three matches with controlled hitting at the death, and on this occasion he played the perfect innings in the circumstances. He was aided by the running of Greatbatch, acting as a runner for someone who looked suspiciously uninjured when bowling. Many times Paddy turned ones into twos when running to the danger end, giving La- mason runs and allowing him to keep control of the strike. With the game quickly getting away from Northern, down came the rain. On came the covers, and it seemed that Central would be cruelly denied by the weather twice in these semis. It was a very similar situation to the infamous World Cup Semi between England and South Africa (forever immortalised in Geoff's sig file) but the Shell Cup rules were obviously different, because Northern's fast bowling rate worked against them. With enough time to bowl the remaining 16 balls before the scheduled finish time, man of the match Lamason showed that he was unfazed by the break, carry- ing on where he left off to see his side home with three wickets and five balls to spare. His vital 36 ball innings produced an unbeaten 26. After being robbed by rain in Christchurch, Central thoroughly deserved to win this match and host the final. That will be held in Napier on Saturday, and feature the two teams who have been the most consistent through the competition. Contributed by Jason (jmas@waikato.ac.nz)