Northern Districts will meet Otago in the final of the HRV Cup in Hamilton tonight after a dramatic three-run win against Canterbury in the preliminary final last night.
Canterbury captain Peter Fulton blasted an undefeated 88 from 49 deliveries and combined in a fantastic 84-run stand for the fourth-wicket with Ronnie Hira, but his side could not find the 15 runs it needed from the last over to grab the win.
Earlier, Northern posted 181 for four, Black Cap Kane Williamson anchoring the innings with 79 off 55 balls.
He had support from Daniel Flynn, who kicked-started the innings with a hard-hit 26, and Brad Wilson, who chipped in with 22. Veteran all-rounder Scott Styris also made a valuable contribution with 29 from 23.
Spinner Rob Nicol was the pick of the Canterbury bowlers, conceding just 26 runs from his four overs.
Canterbury's reply ran into an Australian road bump in the form of New South Wales seamer Chris Tremain, who took two wickets with consecutive balls in his opening over.
When Dean Brownlie (16) holed out, the Wizards resorted to sending in left-arm spinner Hira, who whacked 43 from 21. But ultimately it was not enough with Canterbury restricted to 178 for seven.
Tremain bowled a fantastic penultimate over, nicking out Andrew Ellis and keeping the scoring to just five singles.
