North Otago got their Hawke Cup cricket campaign off to the best possible start with a first innings win against Southland in Oamaru during the weekend.
After finishing the competition in bottom place last season, it was an encouraging start for the team.
Earlier this year North Otago coach Glynn Cameron was talking his troops up and told the Oamaru Mail he thought his side was capable of winning the three team competition. Evidence from this weekend's performance suggests Cameron is certainly on track to achieve his aim.
But there is still a lost of hard yakka to be done. North Otago play Central Otago in Alexandra this weekend, and if they can pick up more points in that game Cameron's confidence will increase further.
The impressive aspect about the performance against Southland was the individual brilliance from several players.
North Otago batted first and stamped their authority on the match was a solid batting display.
Opener Scott Simpson applied patience at the crease. He batted 181 minutes and faced 164 balls for his 55 runs.
He worked the ball into gaps well, and combined that with the occasional boundary to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
All the top four batsmen got a start, but a big score eluded each of them.
After making a good start, North Otago had a mini collapse and were 158 for six. But a timely innings of 56 from Craig Smith put them back on track.
Smith occupied the crease for nearly two hours and dashed Southland's hopes of bowling the home side out cheaply.
He hit eight fours during his time in the middle and was the last man dismissed when the score was 250.
Southland made a brilliant start in their first innings cruising to 82 for two, but then North Otago dominated the rest of the match.
Opening bowler Bobby Singh was in dynamic form, snaring five for 31 as Southland struggled to 152, passing the follow-on mark by just two runs.
Smith continued his outstanding match, claiming three for 44, while leg-spinner Hayden McKenzie chipped in with two for 24.
Chasing an outright win, North Otago got off to a perfect start, with openers Simpson and Craig Smith putting on a 134-run opening stand.
Simpson finished with 75 from 113 balls, while Smith was more circumspect with 56 from 111 balls.
North Otago pushed on to 189 for six before declaring, leaving Southland a victory target of 287 from 40 overs.
But the visitors never seriously challenged the target and when stumps were pulled yesterday, Southland were on 102 for four.
Short Scorecard(s)
Representative - Hawke Cup - Zone Series
Southland vs North Otago at St Kevins College, Oamaru
North Otago 250 ( C.M. Smith 56, S.A. Simpson 55, D.J. Drew 32, C.A. Smith 19, P. Johnston 19, N.W. Rushton 18, A.B. Sewell 17 ) & 189-6dec ( S.A. Simpson 75, C.A. Smith 56, D.J. Drew 26 )
Southland 152 ( S. Singh 5-31, C.M. Smith 3-44 ) & 102-4 ( )
First innings win to North Otago