Northern Districts-Canterbury matches on the Cobham Oval pitch are starting to develop a low-scoring tradition. Last year, Canterbury struggled to overhaul the hosts‚ 134 in a reduced match of 43 overs; this year it was Northern's turn to struggle to a meagre target - 119.

Without Simon Doull, victory for Northern might not have happened. His 55, made up of clean hits, hopeful swings and judicious defence, shone out in a batting display by both teams that was as murky as the weather was for most of the day.

When he departed with the score 83 for five, the batting minefield that the Canterbury batsmen had found in the Cobham Oval pitch reasserted itself. Only Daryl Tuffey (14) reached double figures as Northern crawled through to their winning total of 121 for eight in the 29th over.

Paul Wiseman contained, Stephen Cunis took wickets - four in all. Chris Martin came back from an early Doull mauling to make life difficult after the big-hitting bowler had departed. But they all had the advantage of a pitch that gave too much to the bowler for a decent one-day contest.

It was very green, and the overhead conditions were heavy. Yet, surprisingly after last year's experience, Canterbury elected to bat first. And they suffered at the hands of bowlers making good use of the late Christmas gift - all out for 118 in the 44th over.

Canterbury's disappointing batting effort against Otago on Monday was repeated and there must now be some worry signs in the camp. The bid to increase the impetus at the top of the order by using Cunis failed, he scored four off eight balls and the failure of Michael Papps (0) and Gary Stead (9) put pressure on the rest of the side.

Shanan Stewart continues to impress and had the top score of 27 while Darron Reekers chimed in with a useful 25. But it was never going to be enough.

The wickets were spread among Joseph Yovich (three), Doull (two), Grant Bradburn (one), Graeme Aldridge (two) and Matthew Hart (one). However, the pick of them was Tuffey, his eight overs going for just 10 runs.

Of the Canterbury batsmen, only Stewart and Reekers passed 20.

For the bowlers, coming to Cobham Oval is developing into a late Christmas present. However, for two years in a row the pitch has played too large a role in low-scoring affairs. This time Northern go away with the points.

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