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Peter Meecham / Getty Images
Canterbury starter Henry Nicholls led his team to the title at Hagley Oval.
Canterbury won the Ford Trophy for the first time since the 2016-17 season, defeating the Northern Districts by eight wickets at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Saturday.
Henry Nicholls led Canterbury to victory with a magnificent undefeated shot of 127, with the Northern Districts bowling attack toothless as he struggled to put pressure on the Canterbury batters.
The northern districts went 289-7 after their 50 overs, while in response Canterbury hit the required mark with five overs to spare.
Having won the toss, Northern Districts got off to a slow start, before Jeet Raval was caught and thrown on an impressive individual play by Will Williams over five runs.
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After that, Katene Clarke and Joe Carter settled in to form a practical partnership. Clarke went on to score 82 runs from 104 balls, while the Northern Districts captain reached 70 from 82 balls.
Peter Meecham / Getty Images
Canterbury’s Will Williams caught superbly in his own bowling alley to fire Northern Districts starter Jeet Raval.
After the crash, Henry Cooper (20) and BJ Watling (31) contributed practical but not decisive shots, while this was followed by a typically swashbuckling tackle from Colin de Grandhomme, who scored 57 runs in just 37 deliveries, including five fours and two sixes.
The Northern District’s final score was competitive, if not too much toward the lower end of that.
Canterbury starting batsmen Nicholls and Chad Bowes weren’t in the mood to linger, going after Northern Districts bowlers early on.
That was particularly the case for Bowes, who scored 21 runs after facing just 10 balls.
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Northern Districts’ Colin de Grandhomme was his usual attack in the Ford Trophy final, but it was not enough to prevent Canterbury from being crowned champion.
They continued to carry Canterbury into the entire Northern District before the partnership finally came to an end when Bowes was left out with Joe Walker for 42 of 40 deliveries.
But the loss of that wicket did not derail Canterbury from the task at hand, as they went 200-1 after 33 overs, needing to score on 5.5 runs for the remaining 17 overs for the trophy. However, Ken McClure and Nicholls had no interest in hitting the target at such a smooth pace.
Nicholls regained his century with a direct drive off Walker’s pitch after 112 balls.
McClure scored 20 runs with a Scott Kuggeleijn when the goal was in sight, but then fell to Raval dodging a ball to Carter for 92.
However, Canterbury went home from there to take this title for the 15th time.
TAKE A LOOK
Ford Trophy Final at Hagley Oval, Christchurch
Northern Districts 289-7 50 overs (Katene Clarke 82, Joe Carter 70; Edward Nuttall 2-58, Will Williams 2-46, Daryl Mitchell 2-37) lost to Canterbury 292-2 45 overs (Henry Nicholls 127, Ken McClure 92; Joe Walker 1-44) for 8 wickets.
