New Zealand sneak past Northants
New Zealand's dicey one-day form continued at Wantage Road, where they squeaked past Northamptonshire by five runs in their latest warm-up match for next week's NatWest Series
Wisden Cricinfo staff
20-Jun-2004
New Zealanders 253 (Shantry 5-37) beat Northamptonshire 241 for 8 (van Jaarsveld 102) by five runs (D/L method)
Scorecard
Scorecard
New Zealand's dicey one-day form continued at Wantage Road, where they squeaked past Northamptonshire by five runs in their latest warm-up match for next week's NatWest Series.
After winning the toss and batting first, New Zealand were rattled by Northants' left-arm seamer, Adam Shantry, who dismissed Michael Papps for a third-ball duck en route to a five-wicket haul, but Brendon McCullum and Jacob Oram contributed a pair of half-centuries, and Chris Cairns clubbed 46, to post a respectable 253.
There didn't seem to be much of a challenge in the offing as James Franklin and Daryl Tuffey grabbed two early wickets, but Martin van Jaarsveld stepped up the tempo to drive Northants towards an improbable victory.
When he fell for an excellent 102 from 112 balls (205 for 5), Gerard Brophy picked up the tempo with an unbeaten 57 from 41, but a late clatter of wickets undermined their challenge.